Hey Dev,

I don't belong in the same comment as the Konaexpress and Allen F. as for me
motivating you COOL, I'm returning MANY MANY favours there!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

NOW GO AND GET YOUR CAR FIXED OR I'LL NEVER KEEP UP.

It's 19 km for me for run to work one way, if I tried to run to work and home again
I'd be out of this challenge in 2 days.

Thanks for putting this together it's great!!!!!!!!!!
Peter
P.S. Your driving my poor coach crazy, at least 3 of his people are in this.

Dan is correct....I try and dive in a few times per day and inspect the spreadsheet to make sure there are no glaring errors and then do "sorts" on the various sheets. Dan also seems to do this nightly. We just don't want people sorting in case the 'daily log" sheet was somehow mucked up (and it is easy for someone to mess it up). For that reason, I also try and "back it up" into an xls file every few days in case we have to revert...and yes, we can also revert to google's previous saved revisions, but its good to have a known backup copy!

Peter, each time, I check the sheet it seems like I enter my data and then you pull away from me....I'm not fixing my car till I pass you on time. Of course, it will take me all week to achieve that as I log most of my run miles mid week when I do less XC skiing...on the weekend, when I am focusing more on XC skiing long, all you guys pull away!

Dev

I can't believe people are complaining about this "challenge". I could post that I ran 25k every day in 80 minutes and you might call bs on me after a few days but no one could prove that I wasn't doing it..... Then I could WIN! What a legend I would become :)

This challenge is about having some fun and keeping yourself motivated. I've been running through shit for a week and a half and will post back to back 60 mile weeks for the first time in years. 25 years ago I ran every day from the 2nd week of November until Easter and had my biggest every single year improvement in track. I've decided (partly because of this challenge) to try the "no days off" thing again. I likely won't run as fast on the track next season (I likely won't race anything on the track!) but I'm hoping to bring my run back to where I think it should be after a crappy 2007 season where I wasn't very focused. When I check the tabs for the ranking categories I'll admit that part of my type-A, crazy competitive brain wants me to rank number one for speed .... I can actually run that fast .... really I can.... but the somewhat more intelligent part of my brain encourages me to just run steadily through the slush and ice and not risk injury trying to do something stupid so that my name is at the top of a spreadsheet on ST.

ps. I did add an extra 15 minutes to my run today since I know that Friday I have swim meet set up duty and will likely only have the minimum 30 minute run .... gotta love challenges!

I appreciate the spreadsheet as I live in a cold and snowy area and it is motivating to have a place to record runs beyond the good old paper running log. I had planned to run 300 miles in December before the I noticed the spreadsheet while lurking slowtwitch so it was a nice find. I really haven't ran much since the mid 90's, primarily dabbling with bikes and du's. I decided this fall that my clock is ticking and I want to run good again for two main reasons. Below are the top few slots from a local road race in August of this year. My first reason to try and recapture my youth is because my 14 year old son gives me a ton of crap because he beat me all summer (this was a pancake flat 5k, he usually ran really low 17's and me really high 17's). Second, he has a ton of potential and wants me to get faster to be able to push him. My second son is 13 and has more potential so my goal is to catch my oldest son below (now 15) and stay ahead of my youngest son. Plus, when I'm in good running shape the bike is always easier too . . . but bike shape doesn't translate to the run for me. Thanks for the spreadsheet - Jeff J

Place[/url] Name Age Time Gender 1 Jaron Jones 14 16:33 m 29 17:01 m m 17 17:06 m 16 17:18 m 5 Jeff Jones 37 17:19
m

The new "Ranking by Age Group" sheet is up. No surprise, the largest group is M35-39 with 25 entrants and the second largest is M40-44 with 23. A total of 46 folks have chosen not to specify AG; your names are grouped together at the end of the list. And it looks like the "Dev 100/100 Challenge" is extremely popular - a total of 188 people have started logging their runs so far.

To make things work I had to make a few minor changes to some of the AGs that were entered by you, usually things like changing "Wxx-xx" to "Fxx-xx" or removing embedded blanks. If it was anything else I sent you a PM. As with all the other Ranking sheets, keep in mind that although your personal "stats" are updated automatically as soon as you make a new entry on the DailyLog sheet, the order that your name appears only gets changed a few times a day.

The other change you may have noticed is that on the main sheet the daily columns are narrower. If you are using a screen resolution of 1024x768 or greater you will now be able to see 3 weeks worth of entries along with the cumulative totals without doing any left-right scrolling. This should make it easier to see any trends for both you and your training buddies. As the challenge approaches week 4 Dev will probably start "hiding" the columns for earlier weeks. (But maybe not, it's up to him.) If he does, don't panic, your log entries are still there and are still part of your totals. They just won't be visible.

Finally, a few more thoughts on making your entries on the DailyLog sheet:

*** "Find Yourself"

To find your name you can:

a) Scroll down the sheet watching all the colors fly by. Squint your eyes a bit and it may remind you of your hippie days.

b) Just "remember" your row and scroll there.

c) Use the Ctrl-F trick (with IE at least) to let your browser find your name for you.

Whichever method you use, don't forget to click on the cell where you want to start making entries. If you just start typing without doing that initial mouse click you will overwrite the contents of cell A1 ("Name") and it seems that someone does that on a daily basis.

*** "Think Miles"

The 100/100 challenge is international in scope and Dev has requested that all distances be shown in kilometers for easy comparison between runners. If you are used to thinking in terms of miles instead of Km you can dig out your pocket calculator, or you can go to one of many different "conversion" web sites, or (perhaps easiest) you can just let the spreadsheet do the work. For example, if you ran 5.7 miles, instead of manually converting 5.7 to Km you can just type in the appropriate cell:

=5.7*1.61 [Enter]

The spreadsheet will do the math and show the result in Km (keeping Dev happy) but you get to "enter" miles (plus a few other keystrokes) making life simpler for you.

*** "Estimate Distance"

Several people, myself included, don't keep track of actual distance run; we just keep track of time. But if you at least have a rough idea of your typical pace you can let the spreadsheet calculate your approximate distance for each run. The equation is:

Distance in miles = Minutes run / Estimated pace (decimal form) * Km conversion

So if you ran for 45 minutes and you estimate that you typically run at a 9:30 pace (just as an example) you could type in the appropriate cell:

=45/9.5*1.61 [Enter]

There is even a way to set things up so that you don't have to do any extra typing; the spreadsheet can calculate your approximate distance as soon as you enter a time. It's a little more complicated so if you are interested just email or PM me.

Dan

LOL! Who needs drugs?

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CAMPAGNOLO GRAN FONDO NEW YORK

the somewhat more intelligent part of my brain encourages me to just run steadily through the slush and ice and not risk injury trying to do something stupid so that my name is at the top of a spreadsheet on ST.


Come on man....do it for the spreasheet....you're our great hope of having someone out of 40-44 take the top of the leaderboard for speed!!!!

Also, everyone, Dan deserves a huge thanks for making all these cool options happen. Without his work, Allen would not be dreaming about dislodging CPTChaos and J Jones at the top of the speed leaderboard...regardless, I think I will pay big time next summer as I typically have some semblance of hope of keeping up with Allen in early season tris as he shows up in full "train heavy, race heavy mode". It usually takes him till mid July to get to "train heavy, race light mode".

Allan, since I am unwilling to gain 20 lbs, instead, I am running twice a day with a my 10-15 lbs backpack to and from work. I actually took it off yesterday for 5 minutes, put it in a snowbank and did some pickups and was flying and realized what happens to you guys when you loose those 20 lbs after 'training heavy' all winter!!!

Dev

I can relate to that. I've caught myself a couple of times wanting to edge just a little faster on my easy runs. I can also relate to running through slush and ice and don't forget the spray from those cars and trucks that like to go by just a little too close just to let you know who owns the road. Funny thing about running through shit is that those runs give me the most satisfaction as I log my run in the google ss despite the crappy conditions.

-richard

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June 22/08 - Ironman Nice
Sept 14/08 - Muskoka 70.3

You've certainly owned the spreadsheets. That's impressive. I'm in awe of your contribution.

Next, you need to make the names of the people who miss their daily runs blink. That way it'll be easier to make fun of'em.

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Dev

"since I am unwilling to gain 20 lbs" ..... it has never been a case of being "willing" to gain the extra weight, but more a factor of being "unwilling" to turn down the egg nog and goodies that are so prevalent this time of year :)

This morning was a 6 x 2k loop in the -14C weather at 5:30 am so that should help a little with my speed ...... and to keep me from packing on the weight so that I'm not in "race heavy" mode for Muskoka and Peterborough next summer.

I'm going to have back to back 60 mile weeks for the first time in years!

Allan, the problem is that once you have a pile of K's accumulated, individual runs have meaningless contribution to your average speed. The only way to be high in the average speed rankings is have very low mileage and all fast, or be a Kenyan and run all your miles fast.

As for training heavy race heavy, on this morning's 40 min run (preceded by 40 min indoor bike and 60 min XC ski), I had the backpack stuffed up to 15 lbs...but I'm not going to be wearing said backpack at Peterborough and Muskoka....with back to back to back 20+ hour weeks, I might be down to "race weight" by Xmas, which will be a good thing for my XC ski races that come up 6 weeks from now. I never get to 'race light' during XC ski race season...always seem to be carrying an extra 5 lbs over my races that average 2500-4500 ft of climbing over 50K....

Well, I just hit 100 miles (160K) for the challenge....I'm about 1/7th to my personal distance goal of logging 1000K over 100 days, so bit ahead of pace with room to slack off or focus on other sports. Having a broken car and run commuting is really helping!

Dev

Hi Dev - Can you add me to the spreadsheet? I have some back-logging to enter.

Thanks.

You have been added. You should have an email confirming this shortly.
-richard

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June 22/08 - Ironman Nice
Sept 14/08 - Muskoka 70.3

Dev,

What kind of pack do you use for your run commute?

My backpack that I use for running is a Jack Wolfskin. Its not a huge one, just large enough for my laptop, cell phone, clothes for the day and for my lunch. I have dress pants that don't wrinkle and just wear a sweater at work, so no worries about ironing or looking like a slob. I have a 7 year old version of this pack.


VELOCITY 12
Compact, lightweight and fully featured, this sports-styled bikepack has space for tools, provisions and windproof clothing. Bike-specific detailing includes a helmet lashing cord, a raincover and safety reflective elements. The ACS TIGHT carry system is perfect for fast-action sports and combines a stable, full-contact carry with breathable materials and a central air duct for climate controlled carry comfort.

• full contact ACS TIGHT carry system with optimum climate comfort
• main compartment with extended zip
• one flat front pocket with key carabiner, 2 mesh side pockets
• helmet lashing cord at the front
• LED clip holder
• integrated rain cover
• PREPARED FOR HYDRATION: hydration system compatible via inner pocket with hose ducts and fixings
• chest strap with whistle
• reflective elements on the pack, zip extensions, rain cover and shoulder straps

My version has no hydration system...


In the past, I just used for bike commuting, but it is really good for run commuting because the shoulder strap chords "move". The bottom part of one shoulder strap, passes horizontally through the pack and emerges as the bottom part of the other shoulder stap. So as you run and pump your arm, the strap moves but the backpack stays put on your back instead of moving too much with your upper body.

Dev

nice! Here's mine - well similar.... It's smaller as I don't need to bring a laptop back and forth.

The only reason I have to take a laptop back and forth is because I waste too much time on ST at work and have to work at night most days...however, I also have to be in communication real time with our Japan+China+Korea teams at night (their morning) and with our Europe teams in the morning before I work out (their mid day)...that and having to make more useless posts on ST both at night and at 5:45 AM before working out....as such, the laptop serves multiple purposes beyond being a deadweight that is part of the "train heavy, race light" program!!!

Dev

It's kinda funny, I feel like a slacker for only running once today. Now that's a paradigm shift for me. Originally I was worried about the lack of rest days, but I'm learning that 'run easy' days are just as good. It's starting to come easier, I've always heard that it takes 3 weeks to create a habit. Almost there - and my dog is lovin' it!

I'm tempted to run again tonight but I got my ass dumped on at work (I'm still here at 8:30pm, grr), but luckily for me I found beer in the cold room. Can't complain about a 'research' job with a 100sq ft. sorry ~9 sq meter beer cooler. Ah, science.

This challenge sucks, and the spreadsheets are stupid. Y'all are going to hurt yourselves.






















(Didn't run tonight for no particular reason. Just stuffed my face...)

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I like the hurt

That's the beer talking.

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Also feel like a slaker for only running once today. Really is a lot easier pysically to do 2 30 or so minute runs than one 60 min run. Logistically a pain in the ass though. Ironically after 4 hours stuck in the airport tonight I met a guy who owns a gym 3 miles from the apt. Next time I am here I will make better use of the time.

Brian, after I run home today with my 15 lb backpack (the Peter Reid approved "train heavy race light" program), I'll have 20 runs down and 80 runs to go....its actually starting to feel really good and easy running 2 per day...my daily routine is get up, ride 30 mins on the rollers, head out the door to the golf course across the street, XC for 60 min and then return home, throw the backpack on and run to and from work, return home hop on the rollers for another 10-20 min to spin out the legs...4 days in a row of 3-4 hours of training.....gotta like the "eat more, train even more" program...should hit my 3rd 20+ hour week in a row, so I should have some solid fitness for my XC ski races starting in Jan-Feb-Mar...then recharge and flip the focus to prepping for St. Croix!

Dev

Nope, I still made it out for 5.5 x 1.61 at 6am this morning. Damn that felt good. Nothing like running while the sun rises to put me in the right mindset to enter this mornings meeting where management tried to roast me over a fire. I handled that shit!