brief race news

Ok, I did it. I made the 2010 IAAF race walk world cup team. 4th place, 4:31:41 in the USATF championship in Phoenix. First 25k 2:12:44, last 25k 2:18:57. Not bad for me, only faltered a bit in last 10k. So, The world cup will be May 14-15 in Chihuahua, Mex. This is my third consecutive WC at 50 — 2006 in La Coruna, 2008 in Cheboxary. My other appearances were 1981 in Valencia, Spain and 1987 in NYC, both at 20 k. For you trivia afficionados, I think the span of 29 years between WC teams is the longest recored in the IAAF records from any nation.

I will give a full report in a couple days.

All my bags are packed, I’m ready to go…

So.

The 50k race walk is Sunday at 7. That’s Phoenix time, which is either 2 or 3 hours behind.

Forecast is for 55-65, partly cloudy. Can’t complain.

I haven’t walked  much this week. That’s probably a good thing. My legs have that achy feeling you get when you’re carbo loading. I’ll be good to go when I stretch Saturday night.

After I taper, I’m a little stiff for the first lap, but pretty soon I’m walking 5:00 per km with a heart rate of 130, same effort I use for a 5:15 pace in practice. But it would be foolish to walk faster than 5:20 per km, which is 53:20 per 10k, or 4:27 for 50k. A 4:27 will be good for 4th place, which is fine with me.

Tapering

Sunday I skied in the backcountry around our house for an hour and 40 minutes with the dogs, just slow touring in deep but light snow. Monday I took the day off and went to meditation class.

Here are pictures of Isabel (13) and Sal (11) at the ski race in Marquette:

faster than race pace

After a hard 25 k on Tuesday, I din’t train much the rest of the week. I felt a slight cold coming on.

Friday and Saturday I was on my feet in the cold watching ski races for many hours. We got home around 5 and I scooped the driveway. I would have to go in at noon Sunday to work out. Then I decided to go in Saturday night instead.

By the time I got to the indoor track and got dressed, I had just over an hour and a half to walk before closing. I figured I could do 16k (9.9 miles). That would be 70 laps. My first laps were on a decent 50k pace, and as I came through 1600m in 8:46, I was accelerating a bit. the metric 2 miles was in 17:13, so 8:27 for the second 1600m. 4800m was 25:30, and 5k 26:31. Okay, that’s 53 for 10k, 4:25 for 50k. I felt very good, better than last week. Three days off had been worth it.

I passed the next 1600 in 8:06, then 8:02, then 8:04, for 9600m in 49:42 and 10k in 51:42. So the second 5k was 25:11. This would be too fast for a 50k. In 2006 in Clermont, I walked that pace (around 5 to 5:02 per km) from 5k to 35k, and then it took 58 for the last 10k, for a time of 4:21 for 50k.

My next splits were 8:05, 8:00, 7:53, and 15k in 1:16K 37 (third 5k in 24:55). I passed through 16k in 1:21:32, and 16.667 km (one-third of a 50k) in 1:24:49. That works out to 4:15 50k pace. My final 10k, from 6.667 to 16.667 was just under 50 — too fast!

My back was sore after, My HR was in the high 130s at the end. I felt very fast. felt great. I could have walked 2:33 for 30k, but obviously not that pace for a full 50k. I should have walked the last 5K in 26:30 again to practice that pace.

Finished with training

Ok, I have done all I can in the last month to get ready for the 50k race walk. Now I just do some easy walking the next week and a half, stretching, eat and sleep well, and give it my best effort. Then I am planning to take 5 weeks away from the indoor track, just ski and snow shoe, and then 9 more weeks of race walk training leading up to the World Cup.

Last night I walked 25k in 2:10:52, with 5k times of 26:33, 26:16, 25:51, 25:58 and 26:14. My legs were tired and my left hip was sore from a fall on the ice. My back hurt this morning. There is new snow to be scooped.

I will walk for a slow 45 minutes or so indoors tonight, with full sweats and rain layers.

tight turns and tired legs

So, I skate skied for a couple hours Sunday. Monday night my legs were a little tired. I warmed up for 5 minutes, and then had time to do 10k before meditation class. Because the weight thrower was in the corner and I didn’t want to get hit by a flying steel ball, I used the inside lane — 200m with no banking. My idea was to walk at a relaxed pace, heart rate @130, just like in a 50k.

My 2k splits were 10:29, 20:50, 31:06, 41:17, 51:25. Too fast for a 50k race — 4:17 50k pace, and actually the last 5k was at 4:14 50k pace (5:05 per km.) Also, my HR was around 125 through 5k in 26:00, then up to the mid 130s in the second 5k.

By the way, 92 steps per 100m in the first 5k, 90 per 100m in the last 5k. So about 1.10 meters per step at 5:10 per k pace. That’s what old age does to you.

Today I’ll feel better I think. My last long walk — and easy 25 or 30 km. 11 days to my race.

Last One, Fast One

Friday I hoped to get out early and walk 25 k at 5:20 per k before a dinner party. Alas, by the time I got to the gym I only had time for 16k (and even at that ended up a half hour late). I warmed up for a few minutes, then started the watch.

The first 10k were routine. My heart rate was around 130. This is a pace I hope to hold for 50km. 1600m splits of 8:34, 830, 829, 827, 821 and 818, plus another 400m, brought me through 10k in 52:43.

From there, I began to accelerate. 8:17, 8:11 and 7:57 gave me a time of 1:15:04 at 14,400m. The last 1600m I walked as fast as I could, 6:51, for a total time of 1:21:55. Of course, it’s not the average pace, but my speed over the last mile, that was noteworthy.

Saturday I walked a slow 5 miles with the dogs and then took half the middle school ski team at practice. My legs were tired. I am postponingcmy last long walk until mid-week. I plan to do a long ski tomorrow.

15

15 days til I fly to my race, so I did 3 times 5k with 6 minute recoveries in 24:32, 22:43, 23:48.
I’d like to do 25k at 5:2o per km today if I have time after work.

Fast 40

After a good 8-day training cycle, it’s time to begin tapering for the 50k.

Because I walked 50k in 4:37 last Sunday and 20k in 1:39 Thursday, I took 2 easy days in a row. After watching the kids in ski races most of the day, I got to the indoor track around 3. I wanted to walk 30 to 40k at a decent pace, 55 per 10k or better. I was really hoping to drop to 53s in the last 20k.

I did 3 laps warmup and stretched, a little more warming up than usual, so I could start off like in a 50k race. I ended up doing 175 laps (7 laps per 1600m) for 40k. The splits are for each 1600m, unless otherwise indicated.

My first split time was 9:03. then 851, 846, 842, and I felt very good with just 21 miles to go.  I decided I could risk going a bit faster. 8:26, 8:18 and a 400m in 2:05 brought me to 10k in 54:11. The next 1600m splits were 820, 820, 819, 820, 8:18, 817, and another 800m in 4:07 for 1:46:07. It is easy to keep such an even pace on the track — 71 seconds times 7 is 8:17 for 1600m or about 8:20 per mile, so I just stayed on that pace.

I was feeling good, starting to push the pace a bit too much — 813, 811, 814, 816, 818 and my breathing was still good but there was a dull ache in my left hip. I stopped the watch for about 30 seconds and took 3 ibuprofen. I hadn’t stopped it to that point, grabbing my drinks off a chair for a lap at a time, barely slowing. Another “mile” in 8:23 and 5.25 more laps brought me through 30k in 2:37:52. I had just clipped off my last 20k in under 1:44, but I figured I would get stiff and have to settle for a 55 last 10k. At that point I was hoping to crack the 3:32 range with a couple more miles under 9. I just wanted to keep the miles well under 9 as long as possible. I passed the metric “19 miles” in 2:40:00 with an 8:25 1600m, them 832 got me to 32 k, about a minute shy of a real 20 miles, in 2:48:32. I expected to hit 9:00 from there. I did 8:35 for the next 1600m, but maybe the pills were kicking in, or maybe it was just getting near the end psychologically, because I dropped a couple of 8:21s after that, for 3;13:49 with just under 2 miles left. At this point, sub 3;31 was assured. I thought I just might have a chance at breaking 3:30 so I pushed hard. My penultimate 1600 was 8:03 and the last was 7:52 for a time of 3:29:44 for 40. I only stopped the watch at 17 miles; the rest was continuous, picking up my RC cola along the way. I drank 3 bottles of cola.

My 10k splits were 54:11, 51:56, 51:45, 51:52. I walked the whole way with good straight legs. I am feeling very good about the 50k race in 3 weeks. I plan to take 3 very easy days, which fits with my work schedule, then some easy speedplay next Thusday. This will be a recovery week. Then the following week, some good work, and the last week recovery for the race. They say doing hard speedwork degrades your endurance, a “fact” I have not been able to verify, but I am going to resist the temptation to test myself with a 46:00 10k or somesuch. I will focus on good technique and some relaxed 5;10 per km walking mainly.

Isabel Sophie "Swift Legs" Sharp

A strong 20k

I was a little tired Wednesday when I walked slow, but felt smooth walking fast. It has been 4 days since my steady 50k walk. I decided to give it a go at 20k in 1:46 or better, mainly because I wouldn’t have as much time tomorrow.

I warmed up for 2 or 3 minutes and realized I fely pretty good. I figured 1:44 or better would not be a problem; maybe 52 for the first 10k and see how I felt. I did the first 1600m in a very relaxed 8:40, just getting into my technique, warming everything up. I expected the seond 1600m would drop to about 8:20, but soon I was walking laps at not much above 5:00 per km pace. My second 1600m in 8:12 and third in 8:09 brought me to 4800m in 25:01 and 5k in 26:02.

By then I could hold back no longer. I was in a good rhythm. My next three 1600m splits were 8:00, 7:55, 7:54 for 50:47 at 1ok. from there, I accelerated to 7:46, 7:44, 7:46 and then 15k in 1:15:01. Cleraly I would break 1:40 for 20k. I did 7:43, 7:45, 7:35, and the last 800m in 3:44 for a 20k time of 1:38:53. My 5k times were 26:02, 24:45, 24:14 and 23:52. My 10k splits were 50:47 and 48:06. Basically, if I had walked faster in the first mile I could have broken 1:38. The last two miles were hard, but I maintained pace and actually got faster.

A short cooldown and drove home. This is the best 20 I have walked since I was a young man of 48.