Weight Classes for Running

2/1 run 68 mins Company Mill Trail redemption run @ Umstead with left foot taped

HR avg 165 max 176

I felt like Company Mill beat me down last time, so I needed redemption before Uwharrie.  It was a risky proposition, as having another bad run before race day would be demoralizing.  Well I got my redemption but nearly took myself out of the competition in the process.  I dropped about 32 seconds a mile if you believe my Timex Global Trainer and, although, my average heart rate was unchanged I significantly lowered my maximum heart rate.  On my last run I ran over 4 minutes (non-consecutively) with my heart rate in excess of 176, so this was a real improvement in efficiency, as well.

I made an adjustment to my fueling strategy.  Even though I blamed my waxy maize mixture on my poor performance, I actually think the extra calories are helping.  So this run I filled my Nathan Quickdraw Elite 22oz bottle with the mixture and carried a Fuelbelt Sprint 10oz Palm holder full of water in my other hand.  This worked out to be a good combination, and I was nearly empty by the end of the run.  I am a little disturbed by the fact that I drained about 32oz of fluid in 68 minutes of running.  The upside to this is I find I feel a LOT better when I get done the more I hydrate and eat during the run.  This seems to be a great strategy to improve my recovery on a weekly basis.  For those of you interested,  I've been using 1 scoop of this stuff for hydration on the run.  I don't know the ratio of waxy maize to maltrodextrin, but at 17.99 (sour grape on sale) for 30 servings with 5 grams of BCAA's, that's a hell of a deal.  I'll use up the bottle before I re-evaluate again.

Now back to the taking myself out part.  I rolled my ankle.  I normally trip or stumble a few times, sometimes in spectacular fashion but I haven't truly rolled an ankle yet, until today.  I think the saving grace was the heavy taping on my left foot.  I could feel the tendons and ligaments stretch and rebound all the way to the inside of my foot as I rolled over the outside.  I don't know if I could have remained upright without the heavy taping.  This was around the 3.5 mile mark on a flat section with lots of ground cover.  I still don't know what I stepped on beneath the pine straw.  Thankfully the swelling seems to be minor at this point and I was able to run out the rest of the trail (over 2 miles).  I think the heavens were smiling upon me when I stopped by Bull City Running Company on my way home.  I found a pair of Zensah compression socks in the clearance bin!  I got home and stuffed my cankles into them hoping for a recovery miracle.  I guess it's wait and see time.

So I was thinking on my run today about weight classes.  In wrestling, weightlifting and many other sports weight classes are a standard.  I'm not measured against those that are significantly heavier or lighter than me, but in running it's just one big free for all.  I think this is blatant weightism! (yes, Wikipedia says that is a word)  We need race day weigh-ins!  I'm not asking for anything crazy, just 50lb classes or an over and under 200 for men.  Actually I would just be happy to see competitor weights on a finishing time list.  I find it's difficult to set goals for myself, when I can't find any numbers for high level runners over 200lbs, perhaps because there are none...  It's also misleading to call a race series The Fat Ass...yet there is no requirement for participants to have a big, fat ass.  That's false advertising and should be against the rules!  I'm going to start my own Fat Ass race, only all participants will be required to have big, fat asses.  Stocky, husky and big boned builds will be accepted on a case by case basis.

Note to the +1:  I expect to see your new blog post tomorrow, since I "fixed" your computer ;-)