Hardlopen

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Marathon gear 2021: Hoka One One Carbon X2

18 April 2021 — Posted in Hardlopen by Alex

For this marathon, I have doubted what shoes to use. I'm very used to low-/zero-drop shoes without much protection/cushioning, but recently, I bought my first pair of carbon-plated shoes at Runners World Rotterdam Centrum: the Hoka One One Carbon X2's.

First uses

I used them a couple of times before the marathon, and I wasn't really impressed. I did not really feel that snappy, springly carbon plate effect other talk about. I still don't, but in someway, it seems that paces faster than 4:00 p/km seem to go easier. They 'roll' more automatically – that is, until now, I have no better words for it. Another thing to keep in mind is that they do not really feel right in corners. I'm no expert, but it feels like slipping off of the edge of the plate or shoe when cornering hard. I've heard team mates talk about this too, albeit that the famous Nike Carbon shoes are supposedly much worse in this respect.

enter image description here The Hoka One One Carbon X2's

I chose these, because they have the lowest drop (5mm) as far as carbon-plated shoes go, and luckily they have wider toeboxes than other Hoka's. Still narrow, but less so. I did get some chafing on the front of my ankle the week before during test runs in these shoes, so I used some tape before the marathon to try and prevent that from creeping up again. It didn't work perfectly, but it was sufficient.

enter image description here One pair of Hoka's amidst all the Nike's

At the marathon

I do not regret wearing them for the marathon, not at all, but for me, these are just too much shoe. Don't get me wrong, they are very light, but they look and feel bulky somehow. This is probably just me getting used to these shoes, as they contrast a lot with the Altra's I usually wear. I wore the Hoka's during a couple of training sessions, and a tune-up race, and I think that enabled me to take an informed decision before the marathon.

Reviews

If you'd like to know more, check out the reviews at The 5K Runner, Runningshoesguru, Roadtrailrun, and Coachmag.

New Marathon PB: 2:46:37!

16 April 2021 — Posted in Hardlopen by Alex

On Sunday April 11th, 2021, I ran a marathon, which was organised locally as an alternative for the (again) postponed Rotterdam Marathon. I didn't really decide to register until a week before, but I'm really glad I finally did, because I finished in 2:46:37!

enter image description here Official time by MyLaps: 2:46:37!

Coming from a PB of 2:58 in 2018, that's much more than I dared hoping for. Those are not just words, which I will explain below.

The taper was less than perfect, of course, because of the late decision and the large number of unofficial races I ran prior. However, there were some races I ran as test for my envisioned marathon pace, which probably helped a lot – not in the least mentally. So, although I tapered for only one week instead of the usual two to three weeks, I did improve my carb loading by calculating my needs, cooking and preparing everyhting four days prior to the marathon, and rigourously carb loading and sticking to the plan for the next three days. (I'll post the calculations sometime later. For registration, I used MyFitnessPal.) I feel it really worked, because I did not experience any depletion during the marathon, which was a first.

enter image description here Start at 10:30 AM.

The weather conditions were okay-ish, because forecasts included snow, but they were clearly wrong. There was heavy wind, though, and given that the course was in a quite windy park, it made the course quite tough. However, as I was deciding on whether or not to compete, I heard a group of runners from another track club would start at 4:00 p/km pace, which would set a finish time of 2:48. That was my plan A. Plan B was to start at 4:05, and plan C was to start at 4:10. As I noticed the wind cycling to the course, I decided to go with the group, to keep each other out of the wind. Running slightly too fast would be preferrable to running somewhat slower, but alone. I did not regret this. I felt good and we started fast, around 3:53 p/km. We quickly got to a very constant pace just below 4:00 p/km (3:57, 3:58), and it felt right. Around half of the group fell behind during the second half, but in the end, we were a group of four and keeping each other out of the head winds for stretches of 2K, and later 1K, worked very well, and everyone did their best to help each other. What a great feeling to work together! Add to that the fact that my coach, Carla Ophorst, and team members from RA were there to support and provide advice, and you have all the ingredients for a great race!

enter image description here The race was very windy, but apart from that, the weather was okay.

Of course, running a marathon never really feels easy, but it were only the last two K's that really felt hard, perhaps because the group sped up a bit so close to the finish. I could exactly tell where it began to hurt: my upper legs started to feel really tired and to strain. What I learn from that, is that I can probably benefit from more squats and quad muscle exercises. That's great, because it is totally trainable. Back to the race: I increased my own pace to around 3:45 p/km, but the other guys went off a bit faster. In the end, I finished in 2:46:37, and they finished 7 seconds faster, so no real lag there.

enter image description here We worked together as group, keeping a very steady pace and keeping each other out of the wind.

I secretly hoped to finish around 2:50, which was already a stretch, so you can imagine how incredibly happy I was when I finished in 2:46. You can also imagine a new goal immediatly popped up... I'm going to aim to run a sub-2:45 in Rotterdam in the fall, if it's not postponed again. Yes, <2:45 is being ambitious, but given my current time, I think it is a realistic goal.

enter image description here Finish!

My coach and members of the team were there to provide support, which I greatly appreciate and which really helps mentally.

enter image description here Great support for all RA runners!

For now, I'm sticking to a recovery plan of four weeks, and I did not run for two days after the marathon. On Wednesday I did a short run, which felt okay. No pains except muscle aches in the upper legs, and some chafing from the Hoka's. If that's all, you won't hear me complain!

enter image description here The medal (although I'm not really a medal enthusiast, I do value this one very much)

David F. Cameron Prediction

03 November 2020 — Posted in Hardlopen by Alex

I have added a calculator that uses David Cameron's (1998) formula published for Statistical Services of A. C. Nielsen Co.

enter image description here Cameron prediction calculator

Cameron used a number of times of world-level athletes from 400M to 50 Miles in a non-linear regression model to predict race times. I'll present the formula below.

predicted time = (time_in/distance_in)distance_out((13.49681-0.000030363distance_in+ 835.7114/distance_in0.7905)/(13.49681-0.000030363distance_out+835.7114/distance_out0.7905)

Here, time_in is the known time from a known distance in seconds, distance_in is the distance in meters you put in. Distance_out is the distance in meters you want to predict the time of (predicted time, or time_out).

On the calculator page, you can just select your own time at a certain distance and predict your time for another distance without any statistical knowledge.

For more information, see the following links.

https://www.cs.uml.edu/~phoffman/cammod.html https://www.goandrace.com/en/race-time-predictor.php https://www.chatnrun.nl/calculator/faq/rp.php https://www.swimbikerun.net.nz/Calculators/RunningExpectationsCalculator

New calculator page

21 October 2020 — Posted in Hardlopen by Alex

I have updated and redesigned the calculator page. It's faster and more responsive than the previous version, and, lucky me, easier to maintain.

enter image description here Screenshot of the new calculator interface

I have added some new calculators as well, such as a simple pace to lap time calculator. The reason for this is that with the pandemic, I have run more track races than before and its pretty handy to know lap times instead of paces in such occasions.

My First Ultra

09 April 2020 — Posted in Hardlopen by Alex

Last Sunday I ran a distance beyond the marathon for the first time, one of the reasons being the frustration of having almost completed a tough training plan just when the marathon of Rotterdam got cancelled. Given the pandemic, I do understand and fully support this decision, of course, but it still sucks.

Trying an ultra-distance I didn't feel like racing on my own, because I do like having other runners around to group up with, keep each other out of wind et cetera, so I decided to try an ultra distance – a 50K, at long run pace, so around 4:30 per kilometer. Below you'll see the route.

enter image description here

It was a weird experience, running beyond 42K and especially doing it without other runners or people along the sides of the roads. Luckily, my wife was crazy enough to accompany me on her bike and provide me with support, drinks and, near the end, some small foods.

How it felt The only thing I regret is wearing Hoka Clifton's. Of course, they are made for long runs, but the toebox is so narrow that 35K may still be okay (I've worn them for most of my long runs), but not for more than that. I already felt chafing at 10K and I had two major blisters afterwards, while I actually never really have any blister issues.

enter image description here

During the run, there were the usual emotions: first 20K were fun, from 20 to 30K I felt okay, from 30 to 35K I was fed up with it, and from 35K onwards it was okay again, apart from the wind that got stronger and stronger. Hitting 42K I felt good until 47K and at that time, I just didn't want to run anymore. Of course, I kept on going, keeping cadence high and pace steady, but it felt like it cost a lot of energy. Which it probably did. Hitting 50K was a milestone, of course, and doing a 2K cooling-down felt okay, so mission accomplished.

Conclusion Would I do it again? Well, a 50K I'd do again, but only in an organised race, I think. And wearing different shoes, of course.