Midnight Run - The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror 13k Race Report

Author's note: Sorry about the delay in posting this. Racing in the middle of vacation can be an issue, what with the lack of access, and then real-life piling on once you get back. But finally, here it is.

I've done a night race once before. Actually, that's not exactly true, since it was an untimed run, but it was Central Park at midnight. Needless to say, these don't pop up too often on the schedule, so pre-race preparations are a bit different. I spent the morning with my wife at Epcot, then had lunch at the Italian pavillion, before relaxing for the afternoon back at our resort. I caught the bus to the start area around 8, and was in the holding pen by 8:15, leaving over two hours to cool my heels. And so, I relaxed and took in the atmosphere.

One thing I enjoy about the Disney races is the easy-going attitude. There aren't a lot of people there to truly "race" (although I guess I fall in that category), most are happy to finish and enjoy the experience. To make it a bit more fun for those people, they've added a few interesting elements to the night. In the start area there was a big "hotel registry" where all the racers could "sign in". So somewhere there's a big piece of cardboard with a few thousand signatures. Over the course of the race, there was a mystery to solve, as well. Since I knew I wasn't going to be taking part in that, I didn't pay much attention, but there was an apparent kidnapping of a Hollywood star, and a list of suspects on our bibs. Clues along the course would eliminate various suspects, and the culprit revealed at the finish. That would be fun for the less-competitive crowd. I, on the other hand, would be so short of breath that trying to solve a crime would potentially cause an aneurysm.

Since it was Halloween week, there were some costumes out and about, including a guy dressed as a girl scout (who I narrowly beat), various superheroes, lots of skeletons, and a guy dressed up as the Tower of Terror.

I set out for a warm-up jog with some openers, and to get a feel for the weather. Even though the sun had set hours earlier, it was still about 75F when the gun went off. There was a slight breeze that helped to cool a little, and the humidity wasn't as bad as it was in the mornings, so I liked that. Once the 5k race was sent off, I lined up right near the front to get a reasonably clear start. Lots of singlets from the local running clubs, so you could see who was here to race. And when the fireworks went off, it was time to race.

I had a few rough goals for the race, some within my control, some not so much:
1. Not go out like an idiot and burn all my matches in the first mile.
2. Finish in ~51:30, about 3:57/km.
3. Finish top 25 overall (on the first page of results), and top 3 in my age group.

It's hard not to get swept up in the initial rush off the line, but I did my best to manage. I kept an eye on my Garmin so I wouldn't end up at 3:30/km. A lot of people blew past me to start, but I was reeling them back before we hit the first mile marker. My first kilometre went in 3:58, so everything was right on pace. Much of the first part of the run is on closed highway, which might be a little depressing if you could see into the distance, but in the dark it was kind of nice to have nothing else to worry about. I kept slowly moving up the ranks, knocking out kilometres in 3:54-3:58. All of this bodes very well for a good finish. I'm working, but not having to push yet. Although I have been soaked with sweat since 3km.

As we approach the Wide World of Sports complex, the race turns onto a gravel road for a while (an interesting change of pace, hard to get the rhythm here), then to the 400m track to do a lap (tracks are springy and fast and so much fun to run on). By this point we were around halfway through, and my effort has getting a bit harder. I was still in 3:58-4:02/km range, but I could feel things slipping. Then we were back on the highways returning to Hollywood Studios.

With most of the last 3km inside the park, I had mentally divided the course at that point. Just get to 3km, then it was twelve minutes of Go Time left. The trick here was that once inside the park, there are a lot of corners and mild elevation changes that seem to hit the legs. As we passed a volunteer, I swear he called out "You're in the top fifteen", although it must have been top 50. Buoyed by my imaginary news, I kept the pressure on during the twelfth kilometre. I felt slow during 11, so I went that little bit harder. Unfortunately, the jets only had about 1.5km of juice in them, and the last kilometre was a struggle. It was there that we hit the only real rises of the day, and it felt like I had run into a wall. Just as the finish line came into sight, I was caught and passed, and a voice said, "He did the work to catch up, let him have it", then another voice said, "Screw that noise, sprint it home", so I did, beating him to the line.

Official results:
Gun time: 52:35, Chip time: 52:33
32/3247 overall, 5/249 AG (really 6/250 if you include the Open winners)

I'm a little torn about how I feel about this race. I didn't quite make my goals, but it's hard to be too disappointed. On the good side, I didn't bolt out of the gate costing me the day. I also stayed close to even pacing all the way through. I didn't have the one or two horrible splits that plagued so many of my races. And hey, top 1% is hardly a bad day. Sure, you have click to page 2 to find me, and I won't be getting a trophy. I know I lost some time due to the climate, but probably not the minute I missed my goal by, so there's fitness left to build.

The Garmin was great, although I'll need to compensate for not running the tangent in the future. It claims I ran 13.1km, so assuming about 0.5-1% margin of error, I'll need to adjust my target paces in the future (1-2 sec/km). I also need to work on developing more power in my stride. My cadence was 98-102 spm through the race, which is at least a little too high, so it looks like a diet of striders and hill sprints for much of the winter/spring.

Now I'll take a few weeks of semi-recovery before swim club starts back up (and pre-season mentality along with it). Next year won't have nearly as much on the calendar, giving me a chance to build some serious base then speed, which I can unleash in a big way in coming seasons.

The day before

Just to work out the kinks from the flight, and to try to get used to the heat/humidity, I knocked out an easy little run around the resort. There's a path around the lake that's just shy of 2km, so I did four laps, with a few sixty second pickups thrown into the second half. I felt pretty good, although I was doused with sweat by kilometer three. Hopefully it won't be too bad tomorrow night. I'll have to make sure I keep up the fluids and energy, or things could turn south pretty quick.

Run: ~7.5 km, ez, w/4x60s @ 4:00/km

Before I fly away

It's on the brink of vacation time, and tomorrow I get to head south to sunny Florida. While it's not the point of the vacation, I will be doing my last race of the year, and depending on how I react to the heat and humidity, I hope to do fairly well. I won't have computer access while I'm away, so the lead-up and race report will be written and back-dated upon my return.

And to keep things loose, I knocked out an easy 3 miler tonight. Nothing special, just moving the legs.

Run: 3 miles @ 7.5 mph

I'll see everyone in about a week.

ToT 13k Hard Workout Countdown - #1

This is it, the end of the line. All that remains is a couple of easy runs, a couple of openers to wake up the legs after travelling, then it's time to toe the line for the last time this year. Seven weeks without a race has been a bit strange after a packed summer, but there's been enough other business to keep me occupied. But I'm ready for one more kick at the can.

Tonight was pretty easy in comparison to the hard runs of the last six weeks. Just some T-pace work, with longer rests than usual. After seeing my running cadences over the weekend, I know better than trying to change that in the last few days before a race. Only an idiot would muck about with something like that at this point, instead of waiting for long months of the off/pre-season.

OK, I'm an idiot.

I played around with my stride and such, just to see if I could lower my stride rate, and to a point I did. I was able to get down to 91 spm (down from 94-95 spm at this speed), but that felt a little strange. My footfall would get a little clunky if I didn't focus on the smoothness. I think I'll be able to do some work over November and December and find ways to maintain a fluid stride while gaining speed through stride length. This Saturday, I wouldn't be surprised if I hit the 98-100 range again. It's what I've been doing, so it's what I'll keep doing. "Run whatcha brung", as they say. Or "dance with what brung ya".

Run: 48 minutes, w/4x5 minutes @ 9.3 mph + 2 minutes @ 7.5 mph

Well, that settles that

Today was the last day with a race-pace effort. Similar to those previous, it was five hilly miles, at a relatively easy pace, then all-out for three miles, shooting for my projected race speed. I was able to shave off a few more seconds from last time, and I had to dig pretty deep to get that.

First thing settled: the 310xt does not accurately measure speed/distance with the footpod indoors. My outdoor running speed was about 4:00/km (approximately T-pace), which produced heart rates about where I am during T-pace workouts. So the 9.3 mph on the treadmill is pretty much 9.3 mph outside. It's definitely not the 10.0 mph the footpod thinks it is. I'll try recalibrating it again tomorrow and see if things improve, but if not, at least I know where I stand.

Second thing settled: The rest of the winter and next spring will involve a lot of time trying to lengthen my stride at speed. I spent a lot of time working on a quick turnover, but now I seem to have a near-constant stride length, and can only speed up by increasing cadence. Long-term, that won't work, I'll hit a wall I just can't get through. So now I need to change my plan slightly to increase flexibility and build explosive power in my stride. I'll do intervals at speed and try to force my cadence down. I'll attack the hills more on my long runs to develop bounding power, rather than manage hills as in race strategy as I do now. I won't try to change things before my race next weekend (it's a little late for that), but I think this will be a good plan of attack for the pre-season.

Run: 13.5 km, 40:22/20:05

Upping the power

Another two hour ride, again spiced up with a couple of half-hour efforts. I felt pretty good, and didn't feel like I was that close to any threshold. It was just a good piece of work, followed by an afternoon of yardwork. Lots of raking and mowing. If you own a maple tree, chop it down before it's too late.

I've added the Garmin speed/cadence sensor to my bike, so I can keep recording all of my workouts. My only problem is, the Garmin heart rate strap isn't picked up by the i-Magic. A bit of an annoyance that I don't have it onscreen, but I'll have to live with it for now. Anybody get this to work?

Bike: 120 minutes, zone 1-2, w/2x30 minutes @ 225w

Another easy run

Run: 3 miles @ 7.5 mph

ToT 13k Hard Workout Countdown - #2

We're at the point now where there's some hard work in each day, but with extra rest. So today had some T-pace intervals, but with three minutes of rest instead of the usual one. This kept a fair bit of energy in my legs, considering by the end of it I had twenty minutes of harder running completed. That's when the fun began, with a 12 minute acceleration run. For this, I started at a moderate effort, then increased the pace every minute, until I was finishing with a minute at I-pace. In my case, I started at 8.0 mph, then upped the pace by 0.2 mph at every minute, finishing at 10.2 mph. I learned pretty fast that there was some fatigue present, since my effort was laboured earlier than I would have expected. The last two minutes were some of the hardest work I've done outside of a race.

Once again I had the footpod going, and as usual, the pace was estimated to be faster than what the treadmill claims. Similar to the i-Magic power readings, it's not necessarily about accuracy as it is about consistency. In my records I differentiate between treadmill runs and outside, so the differences are taken into account to figure out my workload.

A nice thing about the footpod is measuring cadence. Because of this, I may be adjusting some of my training focus for part of next year. At E-pace intensities, I'm holding a steady 90-91 spm. This is right where I should be. However, as the speed goes up, my cadence picks up more than I think is appropriate, at ~95 spm for T-pace, and 98 spm for I-pace. I think I need to work on my leg strength and increasing my stride length, so I can run these speeds at lower cadences. I'm relying too much on turnover at higher speeds. Without a longer stride, my maximum potential speed is capped by how fast I can get my legs around, and that has to be approaching the limit. I think I'm one of the few people who actually have to put in a concerted effort to bringing turnover down.

Run: 64 minutes, w/4x5 minutes @ 9.3 mph + 3 minutes @ 7.5 mph, 12 minute acceleration run (start @ 8.0 mph, increase 0.2 mph every minute)

Some more recovery

Run: 3 miles @ 7.5 mph

ToT 13k Hard Workout Countdown - #3 - Attack of the Pod People

Along with the 310xt, I picked up the footpod. What this allows me to do is get speed/distance readings even when I'm running inside, based on calibration to my stride.

(It is also useful outdoors, as it can track cadence, or be used as a surrogate any time you lose the satellites.)

Now, I don't believe that the readings will be perfectly correlated to outdoor speed, just as I didn't believe that the treadmill was exact, either. But I am surprised by the differences in the readings. If anything, I would have guessed that the treadmill was overestimating, saying it was running faster than it was. But based on today, it was underestimating, by a considerable margin. My warm-up E-pace run is at 7.5 mph (4:58/km). The Garmin measured this as 4:35-4:40/km. The adjusted T-pace for today was 9.1 mph (4:05/km). According to the 310xt, I was knocking out a kilometre every 3:49.

Either way, I got in a solid 30 minute effort, so the day is a success. I guess we'll find out during my next hard run outside (race or otherwise) which is a closer measure of reality.

Joining the 21st Century

So first, the run. It was cool, almost cold, although it was starting to warm up in the sun by the end of the day. The wind, however, was pretty sharp. Any time I was exposed it seemed to drop a few degrees, and progress was slowed. (It turns out the wind was over 25 km/h, gusting over 35.) But even with that, I had a really good day. The first lap went at the usual pace, followed by a relaxed two-miler, then I turned the second-fastest lap I've done, and wasn't really leaving it out there. The effort was easier than two weeks ago, for sure. Things are progressing.

And I got to play with a new toy. As an end-of-season perk, I picked up a Garmin 310xt, a GPS-enabled watch and HR monitor. I'm still working out how to maximize using it, but so far it's interesting. I was able to not stare at my pace all the way, instead just glancing on occasion. I don't know if it acted as a carrot in any way, but the feedback was good. I think this will be useful in my upcoming race to keep from ripping up the first mile, and dying from there.

More to come as I figure out all the secrets.

Run: ~20km, 40:07/16:20/37:02

Turkey Day ride

Tonight I'm off for Thanksgiving dinner, so it was a must that I get in a good ride beforehand. An hour and a half, two by twenty minutes at a decent effort, and all was right with the world. I feel good, pleasantly taxed, but ready for a good run tomorrow, that will include a bit of a surprise.

Bike: 90 minutes, zone 1-2, w/2x20 minutes @ 250w

Early bath

Due to the Thanksgiving weekend, we got sent home early from work, so I took advantage and got a bit longer run in. Still nice and easy, just a couple of extra miles.

Run: 5 miles @ 7.5 mph

ToT 13k Hard Workout Countdown - #4

We're now at the point that the high-end should be built, so less work is needed up there. Instead I got a little more of T-pace, with just a couple of really fast intervals. The run went really well, I was surprised by how well I handled the first I-pace interval since it followed short rest, but I guess some days I have better legs than others. I hope this keeps up for another two weeks or so.

Run: 54 minutes, w/4x4 minutes @ 9.3 mph +1 minute @ 7.5 mph, 2x4 minutes @ 10.2 mph + 3 minutes @ 7.5 mph

Sorry

Anyone else bored of me going for short recovery runs?

Run: 3miles @ 7.5 mph

I did take a look at tomorrow's run. Now I have to admit to a little bit of nerves. It shouldn't be that bad, but it could be. I guess I'll find out about 40 minutes in how bad it will be.

ToT 13k Hard Workout Countdown - #5

Tuesday is T-pace day. It seems to fit doesn't it. Tonight was as much work as the 3x12(2) workout of a few weeks ago, but shorter reps (and subsequent shorter rest). Six times through, 6 minutes on, one off. I'm not sure about my reaction to this. My breathing seemed more laboured than I would expect, but deep into the workout it remained the same, and my legs always felt good. So, some good some bad. I'll take that for now.

I am really starting to be convinced that the problem has been my lack of medium to long, slow/steady runs this year. That's a lesson I'll take into next year and the future. I can probably get away with a bit less speed work, and more long aerobic work. It's all one long experiment.

Run: 62 minutes, w/6x6 minutes @ 9.3 mph + 1 minute @ 7.5 mph

Finding a bit more speed

My long runs are alternating between overdistance for my upcoming race, and essentially the race distance with a fast (race effort) finish. Today was another fast finish. I opened with about five miles at a reasonable but not taxing clip, through the hills to get some good work into my legs, then set out for three miles at a hard effort. As long as I could keep my focus on what I was doing, I felt fast but under control. When my concentration started to waver, it felt like I was losing something and needed to pull it back. Muscularly, I felt good, and was held back by my aerobic system. This may be indicative that all my speedwork this year, though it's helped build the high end, may not have enough to keep up my aerobic strength. I'll test this theory again next year, with more running based on the long steady distance plan. Even with that, I came in faster than I did when I first did this test two weeks ago. I gained about 12 seconds, which may not seem like much, but four seconds per mile is a pretty good improvement. I have some plans that may help parcel out my energies at the race so I can avoid my mistake of going out too fast. We'll have to see if I can get it together in time.

Run: 8.5 miles, 40:23/20:10

Do work, not much

I really enjoy rides like this, even if stuck on the trainer. This is something like my usual modus operandi when riding outside, and I find it to be a real benefit. I'm never killing myself, and I don't feel shattered at the end, but I know I've done a solid bit of work. Long intervals, in the no-zone (Z3). Some say this is useless training, but I really get something out of it. At the very least, it's a good way to make it through the off-season.

Bike: 120 minutes, w/2x30 minutes @ 210w

Need more rest

I went out for a nice little run this morning. I hoped to get in about 5 miles, but called it a day at three, since my hip was still a bit off and I could feel my stride compensating. Tomorrow is one the bike, so I should be healed for the long run on Sunday.

Run: 3.19 miles, ez

ToT 13k Hard Workout Countdown - #6

Tonight was the same workout as two weeks ago, with the short I-pace efforts on short rest, but with an extra time through. Like last time, it's the two minute efforts that kill. By rep four or five, it's a state of oxygen deprivation during the last few seconds. But I survived, and I'm getting stronger. I can feel a little stiffness in my hip, so I probably ended up overstriding to keep up with the pace during the workout. It should be fine tomorrow.

Run: 2.5 miles, ez

Run: 50 minutes, w/5x(2 minutes @ 10.2 mph + 1 minute @ 7.5 mph, 1 minute @ 10.2 mph + 30 seconds @ 7.5 mph, 30 seconds @ 10.2 mph + 1 minute @ 7.5 mph)