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Apr 2017
2:38pm, 7 Apr 2017
368 posts
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J2R
Interesting! I would have imagined you could help build your aerobic engine for running by doing long easy bike rides, then tune it with high speed running for mechanics. But you seem to be doing it the other way round, and it obviously works. I will say that I have noticed that when I've scored new running PBs it's often been at a time when I've been doing a reasonable amount of cycling as well. I've badly neglected cycling recently, though - I don't think I've been on my bike for 3 months. I love cycling in spring/summer, though, so I'll probably start next week.
Weather forecast not looking great for my sub-80 attempt unfortunately - after a cool Saturday, it's forecasting 20C on Sunday, before dropping off again on Monday :(. Not hot, but warmer than I've been used to so far this year.
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Apr 2017
11:14pm, 7 Apr 2017
60,380 posts
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Gobi
I have a running history and do enough to remind myself :¬)
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Apr 2017
10:44am, 8 Apr 2017
369 posts
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J2R
That raises an interesting question about sustaining running fitness. If one gets to a very high level of performance and then stops altogether, how long does it take one to revert to couch-potato norm? What is it that you are actually retaining?
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Apr 2017
10:56am, 8 Apr 2017
1,403 posts
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jdarun
So this is interesting (to me at least). I had a look at gobi's history as recorded here on fetch. The PBS are quite old and fast times. More recent races are a little slower but actually the wava scores are edging up. Which seems to suggest he's getting relatively fitter, i.e. managing the inevitable age-related decline better than most runners (at least, most top runners, assuming that is the basis for wava). I wonder how common this is, i.e. do most non-pro runners find their wava scores increasing?
(Apologies for picking on Gobi but he has a long history here)
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Apr 2017
11:13am, 8 Apr 2017
370 posts
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J2R
My WAVA scores have been going up year on year, yes. I'm probably a bit unusual in that I was a late starter (mid-to-late 40s - I'm now 56) and I've actually been getting faster each year, at least until 2015. Didn't have any PBs last year but came close, though, and my WAVA scores last year were higher as a result.
I don't really think of the WAVA scoring as necessarily reflecting actual age-related decline in individual runners, but more the fact that people are dropping out because of injury or illness (which occurs more among older runners), and also perhaps because of loss of motivation. If your performance is inexorably going down each year, it's hard to keep wanting to push yourself. I've not quite hit that point yet...
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Apr 2017
11:18am, 8 Apr 2017
11,047 posts
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Bazoaxe
never in danger of bothering sub 80, so a bit of an interloper
I am like J2R in that my WAVAs are increasing year on year, however thats in part down to a renaissance in the last 2.5 years where I have PBd at most distances bteating time set back in 2009/10 as I approach 50.
Looking at WAVA, as long as I dont slow too much the WAVA will keep getting better
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Apr 2017
11:52am, 8 Apr 2017
371 posts
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J2R
Never say never, Bazoaxe! When I was your age, my best time for a half marathon was slower than your time from last year. I've knocked a few minutes off since. (Not quite enough minutes yet, though).
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Apr 2017
1:52pm, 8 Apr 2017
1,404 posts
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jdarun
As a late starter of course I've also been getting quicker and wava scores therefore going up (though not dramatically). Wondering how many years I've got left before I go over the top of the hill and start coming down the other side (in absolute speed)...
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Apr 2017
3:03pm, 8 Apr 2017
3,094 posts
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57.5 Degrees of Pain
Nice to see this thread back. WAVA is a bit like winning age group bling. If you are still on your feet your own performance does not drop a lot, but a higher % of the competition is injured at any one time. I peaked at 49, and various factors (not least of which was getting my A goals of sub-80 and sub-18 5k) have meant my actual times have not got back to those heady heights. A couple more years of age has padded the WAVA though.
As for suggestions for J2R? When I did my first sub-80 (A to B course with a strong tailwind) I ran to effort for 10 miles, then flogged my tiring body for 5km of pain when I knew it was on. Next week I ran a much more controlled race on a single loop course and did virtually the same time. Mainly down to a combination of confidence and lack of pressure.
My training is a bit like Gobi but without the biking. Lots of steady 8-10 minute miling (hopefully adding up to 50-60 miles/ week) with the odd hard parkrun or race for sharpness. It would not work for everyone but got me those 2015 PBs (bit more mileage then as I tried to do a longer run once a week) and has kept me injury free.
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Apr 2017
3:25pm, 8 Apr 2017
60,382 posts
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Gobi
JD - simply put back then I was a runner and so focused on speed and more speed oh and more speed over more distance - my focus was 100kms and yet I made good gains on all distances by training smart.
I never really focused on anything and my PBs over 5/10km half and marathon were all done off high mileage and without any real taper.
I was curtailed by injury in 2009 (two of them) and another final blow in 2012 which leads me to
J2R - how long etc. having gone snap again in 2012 I spent time trying to come back only for continuing issues to drive me to quit totally - in 2013 I ran 130 miles over a 6 month period and when I came back to running my test 5km in the October saw me run 19.34 for 5km. In the January still badly overweight I ran 37.48 for 10km as a pace maker. By the April I had run 16.45 for 5km.
Currently I can run 17.xx, 36.xx and 80 off what I do, the 10km and half done this year were actually in control as a pacer
ps. JD I am rarely offended :¬)
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The sub 1:30 half thread
Nov 2024