I can't remember where I found this blog post - but, I've been meaning to write something about it for awhile. It's a discussion of a psychology study regarding how the number of competitors affects how hard individuals compete. Simply, we are less motivated when the group size is larger - even if the odds of winning were the same.
That last point is the most important part - because, when it comes to racing, most of us are used to more people in a race means that there are more good runners - and therefore we have a worse chance of winning. But, in this study the same percentage of students would win a prize. It's as if you went to two different races, one with 100 people and one with 10,000 people. And the prize structure was that the top 10% received a prize - meaning that 10 people got a prize in the first race and 1,000 people got a prize in the second race. This study seems to show that most people will be more motivated in the first race than the second.
Since I did write my thesis on performance in groups based on the status of the individual - I have a few comments on this study. First, I am constantly intrigued by how people behave around each other - I many times surprise myself with my own behavior - much less other people. What's so incredible to me is that for the most part our behavior is mostly driven by a very simple concept - we pursue pleasure and avoid pain. But, we quickly understand as children that it's not always that simple. We might want to grab a hotdog off the grill - but, then we feel pain when we touch the grill. Although we quickly understand not to touch the grill - other lessons are much harder to learn - especially when it comes to interpersonal relationships. We constantly make bad decisions or wrong assumptions when it comes to others - even when it comes to people we've known our entire lives.
Given this complexity - some people just give up. They claim they don't care what other people think - because they've "learned" that it's impossible to figure out how others will react to them - so, it's "better" to just give up. Of course people who really take that to heart are usually very lonely and unhappy - most of the rest of us who say that are just kidding ourselves. We DO care what other people think - especially on a sub-conscious level. Studies like this one show how we are constantly monitoring our situation in regards to the others - in this case, we will try our hardest only if the group is small enough that we can't be "anonymous".
Like with social loafing, groupthink, and the bystander effect - we don't care as much about our behavior if we think that both pleasure or pain will be spread out to the group - instead of being focused on ourselves.
Last week
Monday: 4 miles
Tuesday morning: 4 miles
Tuesday afternoon: 10 miles 8X800m 90 sec rest (2:34.7, 2:33.6, 2:34.0, 2:34.8, 2:32.1, 2:29.7, 2:28.2, 2:20.7)
Wednesday: 8.5 miles
Thursday morning: 4 miles
Thursday afternoon: 11 miles 12X400m 400m rest (71.8, 72.0, 70.2, 71.3, 69.7, 69.5, 69.3, 68.7, 68.3, 67.5, 66.8, 66.3)
Friday: 8.5 miles
Saturday: 17 miles
Sunday: 8.5 miles
Total: 75.5 miles
This week:
Monday: 10 miles
Tuesday morning: 4 miles
Tuesday afternoon: 10 miles track workout
Wednesday: 10 miles
Thursday morning: 4 miles
Thursday afternoon: 12 miles 4X2 mi tempo
Friday: 6 miles
Saturday: 10 miles possible track workout
Sunday: 17 miles
Total: 83 miles
Monday, July 27, 2009
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Great Lakes Relay
If I had to choose my favorite “moment” of the great lakes relay it was sitting on the beach – enjoying the best weather of the weekend and a few beverages - socializing with the other teams we had competed against as the remaining 84 teams came through the finish line. The lake was glistening – reflecting a cloudless sky – framed by the huge sand dune bluffs on the shore – and then a dude with a green lycra body suit that covered his entire body including his face ran out on to the beach and started dancing with random people.
It had been a long three days to get to this point. From ~4:30am, when we woke up each morning, until 3-4pm (1pm on the last day) when we finished each day – it was a continuous cycle of navigating/driving, estimating arrival times so that you had the proper amount of warm-up, finding some “privacy” in the woods, making sure you understood the directions, running your leg, warming down, getting something to eat/drink, and helping your teammates to do the same. It was no wonder that we were ready to pass out around 7pm every night.
I ran for “M-10”, the defending champions. Other than myself, M-10 had five Michigan grads, two Calvin grads and two current Michigan State guys. I think at least three of my teammates had run sub 14:30 5k’s this last spring – including a 37 year old. But, there were some other stacked teams as well. The “younger” Michigan team (named “Very Nice” – a Ron Warhurst phrase) had some studs on the current Michigan team – including Lex Williams – who apparently ran the last 5k of the Big 10 outdoor 10k in 14:10 this year. The other main competition was a team of Eastern Michigan current and alumni - including two guys who ran just over 50 minutes at the George Washington Parkway 10 miler in April.
The first day was eye opening for me. Approaching Oscoda High School – I felt like we were in the car convoy at the end of “Field of Dreams”. Before the race my best guess was that maybe 20-30 teams were in the relay – since it was mostly Michigan people and it was about 4-5 hours from civilization (aka Ann Arbor). But, to my surprise, there were 84 teams toeing the line on Friday morning at 6am – meaning that there were 240 cars (3 cars per team) carrying over 800 runners. Organized chaos is a pretty accurate way of describing what I saw on that first morning as people rushed back to their cars after the start to make their way to the correct leg.
Of these 84 teams, only two would receive trophies. One trophy is for the “open” division, which can include up to three females. The females receive a handicap – so, that a team with 7 guys and 3 girls can compete with a team with 10 guys (M-10 had 10 guys). The other division was for “mixed” which was for teams with four or more females.
Most of the legs were on the Shore-to-Shore trail which traverses the state from Lake Huron to Lake Michigan. The trail was originally designed as a horse trail. If you haven’t been to northern Michigan – there is one important feature when it comes to running – the top 6-12 inches of earth is made up of primarily sand. This meant that the constant horse traffic dug a trench about 12-18 inches wide and 2-6 inches deep. Where the sand was really bad and the brush to the sides was relatively light – it was best to hop out of the rut and run along the less sandy sides. The first two days were almost entirely on this trail – and three out of my six legs were on the trail – so I had to get rid of my Patapsco induced phobia of trails pretty quickly.
My first leg was a simple four mile loop on roads – but, even then I wasn’t quite sure I was going the right way at one point. My first turn was onto a “road” that was just two tracks with grass growing in the middle. My first leg was also a little odd in that I couldn’t see any other runners. My goal was to run “tempo” pace – but, not seeing anyone else meant I didn’t run with any real urgency.
My second leg of the first day started very differently with my teammate leading two other runners sprinting out of the woods – I instinctively attempted to put some distance on the other two by pushing hard the first few hundred meters into the woods – but, one guy was right on me. He eventually passed me and ended up gapping me by 15-20 seconds over three miles even though I was going at pretty much race effort. That’s when I realized that instead of 26 miles of tempo effort over three days – quite a bit of it would be race pace because you don’t want to be the guy who puts your team back a few minutes – as you most likely would be greeted with a comment like “what happened, did you get lost?” Sometimes guys who were about to go head-to-head against someone they knew was better they would preemptively state that they weren’t going to get lost – so, nobody should ask them when they were done.
As a team we were pretty happy – there weren’t any huge screw-ups – just a few hiccups. But, in the end the two younger teams were too strong for us after accounting for the handicap – although we ended up with the fastest overall time by ~40 seconds – which is incredibly close since the race was 270 miles long. Overall it was one of the most fun running events that I’ve participated in. It was less like a race and more like a “festival” of running. Of course the other guys were key to the whole experience – not only was everybody good – they were also a lot of fun to hang out with around the campfire.
It had been a long three days to get to this point. From ~4:30am, when we woke up each morning, until 3-4pm (1pm on the last day) when we finished each day – it was a continuous cycle of navigating/driving, estimating arrival times so that you had the proper amount of warm-up, finding some “privacy” in the woods, making sure you understood the directions, running your leg, warming down, getting something to eat/drink, and helping your teammates to do the same. It was no wonder that we were ready to pass out around 7pm every night.
I ran for “M-10”, the defending champions. Other than myself, M-10 had five Michigan grads, two Calvin grads and two current Michigan State guys. I think at least three of my teammates had run sub 14:30 5k’s this last spring – including a 37 year old. But, there were some other stacked teams as well. The “younger” Michigan team (named “Very Nice” – a Ron Warhurst phrase) had some studs on the current Michigan team – including Lex Williams – who apparently ran the last 5k of the Big 10 outdoor 10k in 14:10 this year. The other main competition was a team of Eastern Michigan current and alumni - including two guys who ran just over 50 minutes at the George Washington Parkway 10 miler in April.
The first day was eye opening for me. Approaching Oscoda High School – I felt like we were in the car convoy at the end of “Field of Dreams”. Before the race my best guess was that maybe 20-30 teams were in the relay – since it was mostly Michigan people and it was about 4-5 hours from civilization (aka Ann Arbor). But, to my surprise, there were 84 teams toeing the line on Friday morning at 6am – meaning that there were 240 cars (3 cars per team) carrying over 800 runners. Organized chaos is a pretty accurate way of describing what I saw on that first morning as people rushed back to their cars after the start to make their way to the correct leg.
Of these 84 teams, only two would receive trophies. One trophy is for the “open” division, which can include up to three females. The females receive a handicap – so, that a team with 7 guys and 3 girls can compete with a team with 10 guys (M-10 had 10 guys). The other division was for “mixed” which was for teams with four or more females.
Most of the legs were on the Shore-to-Shore trail which traverses the state from Lake Huron to Lake Michigan. The trail was originally designed as a horse trail. If you haven’t been to northern Michigan – there is one important feature when it comes to running – the top 6-12 inches of earth is made up of primarily sand. This meant that the constant horse traffic dug a trench about 12-18 inches wide and 2-6 inches deep. Where the sand was really bad and the brush to the sides was relatively light – it was best to hop out of the rut and run along the less sandy sides. The first two days were almost entirely on this trail – and three out of my six legs were on the trail – so I had to get rid of my Patapsco induced phobia of trails pretty quickly.
My first leg was a simple four mile loop on roads – but, even then I wasn’t quite sure I was going the right way at one point. My first turn was onto a “road” that was just two tracks with grass growing in the middle. My first leg was also a little odd in that I couldn’t see any other runners. My goal was to run “tempo” pace – but, not seeing anyone else meant I didn’t run with any real urgency.
My second leg of the first day started very differently with my teammate leading two other runners sprinting out of the woods – I instinctively attempted to put some distance on the other two by pushing hard the first few hundred meters into the woods – but, one guy was right on me. He eventually passed me and ended up gapping me by 15-20 seconds over three miles even though I was going at pretty much race effort. That’s when I realized that instead of 26 miles of tempo effort over three days – quite a bit of it would be race pace because you don’t want to be the guy who puts your team back a few minutes – as you most likely would be greeted with a comment like “what happened, did you get lost?” Sometimes guys who were about to go head-to-head against someone they knew was better they would preemptively state that they weren’t going to get lost – so, nobody should ask them when they were done.
As a team we were pretty happy – there weren’t any huge screw-ups – just a few hiccups. But, in the end the two younger teams were too strong for us after accounting for the handicap – although we ended up with the fastest overall time by ~40 seconds – which is incredibly close since the race was 270 miles long. Overall it was one of the most fun running events that I’ve participated in. It was less like a race and more like a “festival” of running. Of course the other guys were key to the whole experience – not only was everybody good – they were also a lot of fun to hang out with around the campfire.
Last Week
Monday: 7 miles
Tuesday morning: 4 miles
Tuesday afternoon: 10 miles 4X(1000m 500m) (3:12, 1:31; 3:07, 1:29 ;3:06,1:25 ;3:01,1:27) 2X200 (33.8,30.9)
Wednesday: 4 miles
Thursday: 6 miles
Friday: 15 miles GLR ~7 miles
Saturday: 16 miles GLR ~11 miles
Sunday: 13 miles GLR ~ 8 miles
Total: 75 miles
This Week:
Monday: 7 miles
Tuesday morning: 4 miles
Tuesday afternoon: 10 miles Track workout
Wednesday: 10 miles
Thursday: 11 miles possible track workout
Friday: 8.5 miles
Saturday: 18 miles
Sunday: 9 miles
Total: 75 miles
Sunday, July 12, 2009
GLR week
My TWSS equivalent training group in Ann Arbor, before I moved to Baltimore, included some guys who organize a team for the Great Lakes Relay every year. I always wanted to run - but I always had a conflict. The GLR starts on the east side of the state (about the same latitude as Green Bay, WI) and finishes in Empire, MI on the Lake Michigan side. In between are 264.75 miles broken into 54 legs run by 10 guys. The nice thing about the GLR is that it is run over three days and each day has a manageble number of miles so that you're done each day by mid-afternoon (knock on wood). Much more civilized than the "run through the night" option that lots of these long distance relays seem to use.
As you can see from the voluminous nature of my training summary for last week - I've started to kick up the intensity. The Jack Daniels training book that I'm following for my goal Army 10 miler race suggests running three hard workouts or two hard workouts and a race per week.
Looking back on my marathon training - I had only one week with three hard days in a week. For my 10 miler training I'll have about 7-8 weeks with three hard days. So, although I won't be running as many miles as I did for Boston - it will be an adjustment. Of course no other week will have three "hard" days in a row like I've got this week.
Last Week:
Monday: 7 miles
Tuesday morning: 4 miles
Tuesday afternoon: 10 miles 2X(800,1600,800) (2:34, 5:07, 2:30;2:30, 4:56, 2:21) 90 sec rest after 800 & 2 min after 1600
Wednesday: 10 miles
Thursday: 12.5 miles 3X2mi @ tempo (5:32+5:32=11:04; 5:24+5:29=10:53; 5:17+5:23=10:40)
Friday: 6 miles
Saturday: 10 miles 4X(200m R pace 200m jog 200m R pace 400m jog 800m R pace 400m jog)(33.3, 35.9, 2:20.7; 33.1, 34.1, 2:20.5; 32.9, 34.1, 2:20.8; 35.0, 35.7, 2:19.5)
Sunday: 16 miles
Total: 75.5 miles
This Week:
Monday: 7 miles
Tuesday morning: 4 miles
Tuesday afternoon: 10 miles track workout
Wednesday: 6 miles
Thursday: 4 miles
Friday: 15 miles GLR ~7 miles
Saturday: 16 miles GLR ~11 miles
Sunday: 16 miles GLR ~ 8 miles
Total: 79 miles
Sunday, July 5, 2009
1st loser on the 4th
Yesterday proved why one should never tie one's ego to winning. Sometimes it's all about who shows up.
Yes, I know, that does sound like something only a loser would say.
Yesterday I ran the African-American 5k in Baltimore. The prize for first place was two round trip tickets on Southwest to any place in the country. After looking at the results from last year I thought that I had a decent chance. I thought I could run about a minute faster than the winning time from last year. So, I registered after making sure that most of the guys I knew could beat me were out of town for the holiday or not interested.
Yes, I was running this race pretty much entirely to get some free plane tickets. Usually, I'm not the kind of runner who see how much money I can win at local road races - primarily because it isn't terribly motivating for me. I like big, historic races - where being in the top 100 is an achievement. Not to say that I don't enjoy winning - I do - I just don't want to be "one of those guys" who searches for the "easy money" or "easy victories."
So, in my own world view, I got what I deserved when I showed up to find out that two of the local Ethiopians were running the race. The race was pretty much over after 50 meters - he ended up beating me by a minute. So, very quickly I had to reconsider my goals. I decided that since I hadn't run a 5k for awhile I needed to test my fitness. So, I just ran as hard as I could and ended up with a 15:54 (although the course may have been about 10-15 seconds short). This was about what shape I thought that I was in - so, that was good. And the awards ceremony was awesome. They had a radio personality from Baltimore as the emcee. Judging from his girth he hadn't attended too many races in the past - although he ran the race - coming in last place. He did a great job on the awards - he had a little funny comment for everybody who came up.
One thing I've learned in my old age is that the world is a much better place if you let go of your pre-conceptions of what life should be about. Sometimes people, experiences, jobs etc end up being valuable in very different ways than you first expected. The key is remaining open - and not let disappointment get in the way of having a good time.
Last Week
Monday: 7 miles
Tuesday morning: 4 miles
Tuesday afternoon: 10.5 miles Tempo workout 2X15 min at the magic garden
Wednesday: 8 miles
Thursday: 16 miles
Friday: 4 miles
Saturday: 11 miles 5k race
Sunday: 10.5 miles
Total: 71 miles
This Week
Monday: 7 miles
Tuesday morning: 4 miles
Tuesday afternoon: 10 miles Track workout
Wednesday: 10 miles
Thursday morning: 4 miles
Thursday evening: 10 miles possible track workout
Friday: 9 miles
Saturday: 6 miles
Sunday: 16 miles 8 mi of tempo
Total: 76 miles
Yes, I know, that does sound like something only a loser would say.
Yesterday I ran the African-American 5k in Baltimore. The prize for first place was two round trip tickets on Southwest to any place in the country. After looking at the results from last year I thought that I had a decent chance. I thought I could run about a minute faster than the winning time from last year. So, I registered after making sure that most of the guys I knew could beat me were out of town for the holiday or not interested.
Yes, I was running this race pretty much entirely to get some free plane tickets. Usually, I'm not the kind of runner who see how much money I can win at local road races - primarily because it isn't terribly motivating for me. I like big, historic races - where being in the top 100 is an achievement. Not to say that I don't enjoy winning - I do - I just don't want to be "one of those guys" who searches for the "easy money" or "easy victories."
So, in my own world view, I got what I deserved when I showed up to find out that two of the local Ethiopians were running the race. The race was pretty much over after 50 meters - he ended up beating me by a minute. So, very quickly I had to reconsider my goals. I decided that since I hadn't run a 5k for awhile I needed to test my fitness. So, I just ran as hard as I could and ended up with a 15:54 (although the course may have been about 10-15 seconds short). This was about what shape I thought that I was in - so, that was good. And the awards ceremony was awesome. They had a radio personality from Baltimore as the emcee. Judging from his girth he hadn't attended too many races in the past - although he ran the race - coming in last place. He did a great job on the awards - he had a little funny comment for everybody who came up.
One thing I've learned in my old age is that the world is a much better place if you let go of your pre-conceptions of what life should be about. Sometimes people, experiences, jobs etc end up being valuable in very different ways than you first expected. The key is remaining open - and not let disappointment get in the way of having a good time.
Last Week
Monday: 7 miles
Tuesday morning: 4 miles
Tuesday afternoon: 10.5 miles Tempo workout 2X15 min at the magic garden
Wednesday: 8 miles
Thursday: 16 miles
Friday: 4 miles
Saturday: 11 miles 5k race
Sunday: 10.5 miles
Total: 71 miles
This Week
Monday: 7 miles
Tuesday morning: 4 miles
Tuesday afternoon: 10 miles Track workout
Wednesday: 10 miles
Thursday morning: 4 miles
Thursday evening: 10 miles possible track workout
Friday: 9 miles
Saturday: 6 miles
Sunday: 16 miles 8 mi of tempo
Total: 76 miles
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Western States
One of our Baltimore running group members did something that is still a completely unfathomable to me - Alyssa ran 100 miles up and down mountains. Her race report is pretty inspiring.
However, I have to say that leading up to the race and during the race I had some mixed feelings about her doing this. Part of me was thinking, "what is she trying to prove?" and "why would you put yourself in a situation like that?" While I was following her progress on the shaky web service of the Western States website, I couldn't help but have the same feelings of having a friend go through a major surgery. It's different than a normal race - you just hope they survive the thing without any lasting ill effects.
But, after reading her report and finding a quote from George Sheehan, M.D. (I'll post a little bio on him later) I feel differently. Yes, some of my change in perspective might come from the fact that she actually survived (and won her age group) - but, I also realize that Western States is in some ways the ultimate test. And I have to applaud anyone who values pushing themselves to the limits (within some bounderies of safety). Although, I don't run ultra's - it's the same feeling of self discovery and challenge that motivates me - and I can certainly respect that. The late Dr. Sheehan's quote sums it up much better than I can.
"We run long to learn our inner most self. In the long run we get down to bedrock. We find courage and strength we never knew we possessed. We give witness to a person we have never been before.
The run is like religion and play. It resembles art and music, it fills an area of life that is of tremendous importance but has no practical value. And like those other similar activities, running is among our most important functions. It helps us discover and form the self, we find where we are and where we are going. We learn who we are and who we might be. The long run is a place of self discovery."
George Sheehan, M.D.
However, I have to say that leading up to the race and during the race I had some mixed feelings about her doing this. Part of me was thinking, "what is she trying to prove?" and "why would you put yourself in a situation like that?" While I was following her progress on the shaky web service of the Western States website, I couldn't help but have the same feelings of having a friend go through a major surgery. It's different than a normal race - you just hope they survive the thing without any lasting ill effects.
But, after reading her report and finding a quote from George Sheehan, M.D. (I'll post a little bio on him later) I feel differently. Yes, some of my change in perspective might come from the fact that she actually survived (and won her age group) - but, I also realize that Western States is in some ways the ultimate test. And I have to applaud anyone who values pushing themselves to the limits (within some bounderies of safety). Although, I don't run ultra's - it's the same feeling of self discovery and challenge that motivates me - and I can certainly respect that. The late Dr. Sheehan's quote sums it up much better than I can.
"We run long to learn our inner most self. In the long run we get down to bedrock. We find courage and strength we never knew we possessed. We give witness to a person we have never been before.
The run is like religion and play. It resembles art and music, it fills an area of life that is of tremendous importance but has no practical value. And like those other similar activities, running is among our most important functions. It helps us discover and form the self, we find where we are and where we are going. We learn who we are and who we might be. The long run is a place of self discovery."
George Sheehan, M.D.
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