“Good things come slow – especially in distance running.”

[DopeyBadger]

Pondering as I type this to go out at 8:45 pace and see how long I can hold on knowing the second half could half miles over 9:00 due to fighting the wind.

How many other people run this race, and how many finish around the 2hr barrier? You may have the opportunity for some drafting that would cut down on the impact of the wind. Although I seem to remember you being relatively tall, or am I misremembering?

 

[LSUlakes]

How many other people run this race, and how many finish around the 2hr barrier? You may have the opportunity for some drafting that would cut down on the impact of the wind. Although I seem to remember you being relatively tall, or am I misremembering?

Last year they had 1,752 finishers in the half. 22 people finished from 1:59:00 to 2:00:00. Pacers for 1:50:00, or 2:00:00. Finding something in the middle would be nice. I'm 6'-5" so drafting doesn't work so well lol. On my last race I found a group early on that held a pace that I was not planning to run. Thought I would be much slower that day, so if I can stumble upon a group running the 8:45 pace and I dont have to think about it I'll have a much better chance of making it. Last week I had some good runs that have boosted my confidence. My typical 3-5 mile runs have been around 8:30 ish pace and did 5 miler a week ago with a warm up (9:17) and cool down (8:40) mile and miles 2-4 as 8:00, 7:50, and 8:00.
If we want to get real crazy and believe in Garmins race predictor, it has me at 1:48:41 lol. So I highly doubt Im near that but maybe 1:55:00 could be in the cards? Would be nice to secure a coral A POT for WDW this weekend which I think would require a 1:54:30 or better...

 

[DopeyBadger]

Last year they had 1,752 finishers in the half. 22 people finished from 1:59:00 to 2:00:00. Pacers for 1:50:00, or 2:00:00. Finding something in the middle would be nice. I'm 6'-5" so drafting doesn't work so well lol.

That's what I thought. Yea drafting at 6'5" is tough, and probably will be some, but minimal, assistance.

If we want to get real crazy and believe in Garmins race predictor, it has me at 1:48:41 lol. So I highly doubt Im near that but maybe 1:55:00 could be in the cards? Would be nice to secure a coral A POT for WDW this weekend which I think would require a 1:54:30 or better...

The 24 min 5k says a 1:52 is feasible, and the two 10 milers say around a 2:01. I'd err towards the 10 miler if you don't feel as if your endurance has increased a ton since the 5k. I'd probably say stick with the 2hr pace group through the first half, and then turn it on late if you find you've got boundless energy remaining. Even though the first half is with the wind, then you'd just be saving energy before it gets tough.

 

[LSUlakes]

That's what I thought. Yea drafting at 6'5" is tough, and probably will be some, but minimal, assistance.



The 24 min 5k says a 1:52 is feasible, and the two 10 milers say around a 2:01. I'd err towards the 10 miler if you don't feel as if your endurance has increased a ton since the 5k. I'd probably say stick with the 2hr pace group through the first half, and then turn it on late if you find you've got boundless energy remaining. Even though the first half is with the wind, then you'd just be saving energy before it gets tough.

I feel I've gotten some better runs in since the 5k, but not as many as I hoped until more recently. The smart thing to do is to probably aim for the 2 hour goal as you mentioned and see if maybe I can turn it up some on the back half. I still have a half in March, the weather can be anywhere from 40 to 75 on race day for that one though lol.

 

[LSUlakes]

Louisiana Half Marathon
Will add a more detailed report later but official time 1:54:35 / 8:45 pace. I’m very pleased with my outing.
Now it’s time to get the gumbo going!

 

[flav]

Congratulations

 

[LSUlakes]

Louisiana Half Marathon Race Report:

Temps ranged from 42-46 during the race with a NNE wind 10-15 MPH and cloudy.
Woke up at 4:00 AM and left the house at 5:00 for the ~20 minute drive downtown. Attended the special 26.2 minute mass at 6:00 AM, actual mass time was 29 minutes lol. Left mass and got into the corrals around 6:45 AM. Race went off exactly at 7:00 AM. I found myself a little to far back in the corrals and spent a lot of the first mile weaving in and out of traffic. By mile two things spread out enough and I was able to more or less just run with the people around me. I missed mile one on my watch and just saw the total of mile 2. Did some math and thought the first two mile wouldnt have a huge difference between them. I was wrong and realized it when mile 3 split time showed up. I knew I needed to slow down some. Found a nice comfortable pace and did well until mile 9-10 ish when I started to pay for those first few miles. Miles 11 and 12 were just a bit brutal. They had some hills portions and headwind. My wife and kids came out to support dad around mile marker 13. It was a awesome boost to see them with the last little bit to go.
The first mile or two are the same as the last two, with a decent sized overpass and small rolling hills, which feel like mountains on the return trip lol. My goal was to finish under 2 hours, with a goal B of 1:57:30 and a goal C of 1:55:00. So here's how the miles went:
Mile 1 - 9:10
Mile 2 - 8:30
Mile 3 - 8:20
Mile 4 - 8:34
Mile 5 - 8:36
Mile 6 - 8:38
Mile 7 - 8:36
Mile 8 - 8:32
Mile 9 - 8:40
Mile 10 - 8:52
Mile 11 - 9:01
Mile 12 - 9:05
Mile 13 - 8:29
Mile 13.2 - 7:59
Garmin Time - 1:54:38, Official Chip Time 1:54:35.6

Course support is awesome with plenty of drink stations. They also have unofficial drink stations that may include adult beverages of all kinds. The post race finish party is good. I was wet and cold from the race and did not care to stay for to long. We stayed long enough for my son the play on the jump jump house, let the get some king cake and jambalaya. I had some chocolate milk and water. It takes a few hours after a run like that to get hungry. Drove home and started cooking a gumbo to get us through some cold days ahead! Apparently tomorrow we are projected to get 3-5" of snow! This is a huge amount for south Louisiana and the grocery stores look like a hurricane is coming. Little bread, milk and adult beverages remaining lol. Schools are closed for tomorrow and I image its going to be a "work from home" day for me. Tuesday also happens to be my next running day, so a snow run should be fun!
Overall I exceeded my expectations... but mostly by accident... a happy accident. The real question is how close is that time to me getting into corral A for the 2026 marathon a Disney? I think its to close to chance it and I will more than likely run another half in 8 weeks to secure a better time... hopefully!

 

[col1]

Congratulations

 

[LSUlakes]

Recovery week (which did include some running) and SNEAUX week is over. First lets talk about this sneaux!! Last Tuesday we got ~8" of SNEAUX in Baton Rouge, LA! It was a winter wonderland, we did all the things, and had a great time. Early in the morning just as it started to stick to the road I went out with my dog and got 3-4 miles in. Awesome time. The next day, when it was ice though... nah no running on that stuff! Also cooked some pizzas in out brick oven outside that night and delivered to a couple of the neighbors. For us, any snow is a core memory type of event, but that much snow is a 100 year type event. It Was AWESOME!!!!!

Back to running. So I do not have a POT for corral A and will have one last chance in March to get there. I feel confident I will get one but I want to see how much progress I can make in the 7 weeks to the race. After discussing with a trusted running friend of mine I have a jammed packed schedule to follow. Each week will look about like this:
Monday - Mile Repeats 5-9 miles
Tuesday - Recovery runs 3-4 miles
Wednesday - Tempo runs 6-10 miles
Thursday - Rest
Friday - Easy run 3-4 miles
Saturday - Long Runs 12-15 miles
Sunday - Rest

Weekly mileage will range from 31-40 miles. Should be interesting to see how I handle the work load, and also making a huge assumption that life wont throw some sort of event my way. I hope it doesn't happen, but some things are just out of my control.

First two runs of this week have gone as planned and hoping the rest of the week is more of the same.

 

[GollyGadget]

I love going for a run just as the snow is starting to fall. Glad you got to enjoy it a bit!

Excited to read about your PoT quest. You got this!

 

[LSUlakes]

I love going for a run just as the snow is starting to fall. Glad you got to enjoy it a bit!

Excited to read about your PoT quest. You got this!

It was a run to remember for sure! It seemed so quiet outside while snowing and peaceful. Thanks for the support as well! I am glad tomorrow is a rest day because my legs are feeling a bit tired today.

Mondays mile repeats had a average pace of 7:43, and the recover paces ranged from 9:30-10:00. Todays "tempo" run had a mile warm up and half mile cool down that are both 9:25 pace. Thought that was interesting, the 4.5 miles between those two I averaged a 7:52 pace.
I need to get the mile repeats a little quicker (7:30ish) and I am good with the tempo run pace. Looking forward to a good meal tonight and a early bed time hopefully. Friday is a easy 4 and 13 miles for the long run Saturday.
I did get over 100 miles with todays run for the month. Since my return to running I think this is the second time doing so in the last 6-7 months.

 

[LSUlakes]

For fun I was reading over some of my first post of this thread from March 2023. Thats been a hot minute since then... I read one of my post where I was discussing weight loss and it seems I kinda got away from that as a topic as part of this whole deal. Perhaps I have mentioned it in some updates, I dont recall. So from March 2023 to about May 2024 I did not make much progress in the running or weight loss department. Realistically it probably got worse. Around mid May of 2024 I started logging my weight and started walking. I had no choice as my lab results were getting really bad numbers that if I did nothing I would cause permanent and irreversible damage. So I got up and took little steps. At my heaviest weight I was 268.5 in May and unable to run a mile. Today I hit ~105 mile for January and weighed in this morning at 216. My post from 2023 said I would be very happy to get back to the 210's, and I am. I'm not begging for a few more, but I do think they will come as I continue to up my training. It's just cool to look back over time and see my mindset then and the struggles... then to turn it around and start hitting goals I set back then. So as the title says, good things come slow! Sometimes it take a while to just get started, but once I get back into it and realize how much I enjoy it, I wonder why did I let it go in the first place... I know the answer to that, its a lazy one.

 

[col1]

For fun I was reading over some of my first post of this thread from March 2023. Thats been a hot minute since then... I read one of my post where I was discussing weight loss and it seems I kinda got away from that as a topic as part of this whole deal. Perhaps I have mentioned it in some updates, I dont recall. So from March 2023 to about May 2024 I did not make much progress in the running or weight loss department. Realistically it probably got worse. Around mid May of 2024 I started logging my weight and started walking. I had no choice as my lab results were getting really bad numbers that if I did nothing I would cause permanent and irreversible damage. So I got up and took little steps. At my heaviest weight I was 268.5 in May and unable to run a mile. Today I hit ~105 mile for January and weighed in this morning at 216. My post from 2023 said I would be very happy to get back to the 210's, and I am. I'm not begging for a few more, but I do think they will come as I continue to up my training. It's just cool to look back over time and see my mindset then and the struggles... then to turn it around and start hitting goals I set back then. So as the title says, good things come slow! Sometimes it take a while to just get started, but once I get back into it and realize how much I enjoy it, I wonder why did I let it go in the first place... I know the answer to that, its a lazy one.

Great progress on both fronts, congratulations

 

[LSUlakes]

Got a little down time at the office so I wanted to go over last weeks training. 31.7 miles for last week.
Monday - 5.1 Miles total, 3 mile repeats, ave pace 7:43. Recovery paces 9:20 - 10:00 ish pace.
Tuesday - 3 Miles easy around 9 min pace
Wednesday - 6.1 miles. Recovery pace 9:25, tempo pace 7:52
Thursday - Rest
Friday - 4 miles around 8:45 pace
Saturday - 13.5 mile LR at 9 min pace

It was a good week of training! I need to have a bit more difference in mile repeats and tempo runs paces, so I set out this week to do so.

So far this week I have done the following:
Monday - 6 Miles total, 4 mi repeats, ave pace 7:26. Recovery paces 9:00-9:30
Tuesday - 4 miles around 9 min pace
Wednesday - 6 miles total, 5 tempo miles at 7:50 pace recovery around 9:30 - 9:45 pace
Thursday - I will go ahead and just put rest here since thats the plan.

I am happy with the runs I have done this week. I have 3 on Friday and 15 Saturday. The temps around here are getting in the lower to mid 60's at 6:00 AM. Not really loving that, but it has not been to bad yet. I am also noticing the recover paces are all over the map, but not really sure if thats something to be overly concerned about. Also down another pound since my last post to bring me to 215. Going to have make sure a pay a little more attention to staying hydrated this week with the warmer temps and higher RH%.

This Friday is pizza night at our home. So it looks like pizza for carb loading... not sure how thats going to go. I do make my own dough and sauce (mostly), so maybe thats better than the big chain places for me... Who knows lol. Saturday post long run, I am taking my son to his friends b-day party and when we get home we are going to cook up some lasagna and bake it with the leftover heat of the brick oven. Will also cook some meal prep stuff for the week. Saturdays are big cooking days for us at the house, which is something I really enjoy doing.

Thanks for reading along and I hope to post again next week with running updates!

 

[col1]

Got a little down time at the office so I wanted to go over last weeks training. 31.7 miles for last week.
Monday - 5.1 Miles total, 3 mile repeats, ave pace 7:43. Recovery paces 9:20 - 10:00 ish pace.
Tuesday - 3 Miles easy around 9 min pace
Wednesday - 6.1 miles. Recovery pace 9:25, tempo pace 7:52
Thursday - Rest
Friday - 4 miles around 8:45 pace
Saturday - 13.5 mile LR at 9 min pace

It was a good week of training! I need to have a bit more difference in mile repeats and tempo runs paces, so I set out this week to do so.

So far this week I have done the following:
Monday - 6 Miles total, 4 mi repeats, ave pace 7:26. Recovery paces 9:00-9:30
Tuesday - 4 miles around 9 min pace
Wednesday - 6 miles total, 5 tempo miles at 7:50 pace recovery around 9:30 - 9:45 pace
Thursday - I will go ahead and just put rest here since thats the plan.

I am happy with the runs I have done this week. I have 3 on Friday and 15 Saturday. The temps around here are getting in the lower to mid 60's at 6:00 AM. Not really loving that, but it has not been to bad yet. I am also noticing the recover paces are all over the map, but not really sure if thats something to be overly concerned about. Also down another pound since my last post to bring me to 215. Going to have make sure a pay a little more attention to staying hydrated this week with the warmer temps and higher RH%.

This Friday is pizza night at our home. So it looks like pizza for carb loading... not sure how thats going to go. I do make my own dough and sauce (mostly), so maybe thats better than the big chain places for me... Who knows lol. Saturday post long run, I am taking my son to his friends b-day party and when we get home we are going to cook up some lasagna and bake it with the leftover heat of the brick oven. Will also cook some meal prep stuff for the week. Saturdays are big cooking days for us at the house, which is something I really enjoy doing.

Thanks for reading along and I hope to post again next week with running updates!

Hey if Pizza is for carb loading I am here for that

 

[LSUlakes]

Time to recap my most recent training runs. The last few days have been warm, especially this past weekends long run.
Friday was 3.25 miles @ 8:36 pace
Saturday, 15 miles @ 9:23 pace. The last 2-3 miles were hard but we made it! Longest run in probably 6-7 years.
Sunday, Rest
Monday - Sick Day
Tuesday - 7 miles. 4 mile repeats at 7:11, 7:27, 7:30, and 7:34 with .5 mile recovery pace around 10:00. A good run!
Wednesday - 5.15 miles Easy @ 8:52 pace
Thursday - 8 miles. Mile warm up, 3 miles @ 7:42 pace. .5 mile rest, another 3 miles at 7:48 pace, followed by .5 mile cool down. Also happy with this one.
Rained last night and temps were in the low 50's this morning and should stay cool until Saturday of course! Long run this weekend is 12, so it should not be to bad, and tomorrow is a rest day.

Monday i had to miss out on my run because eating hooters wing sauce on fried wings for the super bowl was a bad idea. Lesson relearned there lol. I had hopped to go camping this weekend with my son, but Saturdays weather is looking like there is a potential for some big storms to move through and I am only willing to deal with some much while sleeping in a tent under trees in high winds lol. It is opening weekend of LSU baseball so we have that to look forward to!!!

 

[LSUlakes]

Well I did end up going camping Friday and come home Saturday. Missed the long run, but ran 4 miles at home Friday morning, then had a 2 mile hike that afternoon in the woods. Saturday mid morning after consuming a few to many wobble pops I ran 3 miles at the park before we packed up and headed home. It was a short but fun trip and I am glad we got to go because the next 4-6 weeks are busy and I am not sure how many more trips we will get to get in before its to warm. I draw the line when lows dont get below 70, especially with high humidity around here. This morning though I had a great workout of 8 miles. 5 mile repeats with .5 mile recovery in-between.
Recovery pace average of 9:46
Mile 1 - 7:13
Mile 2 - 7:17
Mile 3 - 7:25
Mile 4 - 7:24
Mile 5 - 7:22

Recovery run tomorrow. Cool temps have returned this week with some cold temps in the mid 20's coming later this week. I'm not a fan of the 20's unless we get some snow to go along with it lol. Which is NOT happening this time!

 

[LSUlakes]

Time for my weekly training update. This past week was the peak week before my half, now 3 weeks away.
2/17 - 8 Miles total, 5 mile repeats
2/18 - 4 Miles Easy
2/20 - 9 Mile Tempo Run, Two tempo segments of 3.5 each. Forgot to select my workout before starting and did not realize until I was expecting my watch to beep to start the first tempo segment. Things look odd after hitting the lap button. I know I was a few seconds slower than I had wanted.
2/21 - 4 Mile recovery run
2/22 - 15 Miles with the last 3 at HMRP. The 15 were much easier this week than the last time I covered the distance, but I failed to hit my desired pace for the last 3 miles. The run also went through a "color run 5k" that I did not know was happening and there was no way around the path. They were about to dust me with whatever that stuff is and I was like, please do not throw that green stuff on me or my dog lol. They lol'd and withheld dusting us, so it was all good. Ended the week with 40 miles.

I have not completed my run yet today as it was 45 and raining this morning, and well thats no fun for anyone so after work I have some miles to get it. Good news is the sun is out and its 66. Should be around that temp range when I get off of work this afternoon and get out the door. Short sleeve shirt it is!

Registered for a 5k in April this morning called the Fat Boy 5k. MY favorite local 5k with good food post race. They also have weight categories if you choose to participate in them. For men, it starts off with being over 200lbs. Well, since I'm 6'-5" being over 200 isn't a hard thing to achieve. In fact I haven't been below 200 since high school. Sitting at 213 range at the moment. Probably wont win anything in my weight division, but I most certainly wont overall or even in my age group. Looked up last years 40-45 finish time and I would need a bike to compete with some of those folks. Welp, thats all I got for now, two more good weeks of training and a easy week the week of the race.

 

[LSUlakes]

Yesterday was a interesting day.
Lets go over the good stuff first. I had a 10 mile tempo run. 1/2 mile warm up, 4 miles at HMRP, mile recovery, another 4 miles at HMRP, 1/2 mile cool down. Goal for my upcoming half is 7:45 pace as of now. First 4 mile segment averaged 7:40 pace. Second 4 mile segment averaged 7:48. The exciting part about this is the run as a total was my second fastest 10 miler ever! I havent been able to update that spread sheet with a PR at a distance or 2nd place PR in years!!!! Havent really run much in the last 5 but still! I looked up the old run and it was 9-10 years ago!
Second good thing of the day was my cardiologist told me my EKG is much better than last years and BP was great, plus the weight loss. So the heart Dr is happy, and that makes me happy.

Bad news, on the way to bring my daughter to the dentist, we got in a little car accident. No injuries and we were not at fault, but it put a damper on such a good start to the day. Had to reschedule the dentist appointment, bring her back to school only to pick her up about 2.5 hours later. Ended up having to just take a whole day off of work. Dealing with insurance is going to fun I'm sure and getting damaged repaired is going to a process. The good thing here is neither DD or I are injured, so for that I am grateful.

Its also the last weekend for king cake season here as Mardi Gras ends Tuesday. I justify eating a piece here and there as long run fuel prep lol. As far as Mardi Gras goes, the king cake is really the only part that I care for, all the other stuff isn't for me. DW and the kids on the other hand are big fans of all of it lol.

 

[LSUlakes]

End of month summary.
February 2025 was a great month of running imo. I improved nearly every metric that Garmin checks for and just feeling good about my training. Finished out the month with 137 miles ran and dropped another 3.6 pounds. Total weight loss since April 25, 2024 is 56.1 pounds.
March will start off with a 14 miles, with the last 4 at HMRP. Next week is another challenging week of training before a week taper before my half. Post half marathon I will turn my focus to improving my 5k time before a April 12 5k. Wont have much time after a recovery week, but I will see what we can do.
Predictions for the half this March 1:42:30 is the goal, but a few things go right and I think I can get below that. For my 5k in April 22:15.