Lance Armstrong 5k

I have found that cycling is pretty easy for runners to pick up. Provided they are highly aerobic trained and have some speed. IE 5k 10k guys who can run 51-54 in the quarter. Milers do well in time trials and can throw down in a sprint.

I ran this race and regulary run 5k's. Here are my general observations.

1) Lance was running hard. He went out conseratively, and then put forth a pretty good effort, in my opinion.

He was not puking after the race.

He did seem at least (minimum) 10 pounds heavier than I remember seeing him each August after Tour wins.

2) Course was accurate. I would describe this course as more than "rolling hills". It is pretty difficult, although not impossibly so. Additionally, the North wind was whipping at about 20-25 mph Saturday morning. The 1st 1.2 miles were uphill and DIRECTLY into the North wind.

3) Overall times were generally 40-50 seconds slow for most runners.

I have no dog in this hunt. These are just my observations from Saturday morning.

Thanks for the info. It fits in with several other seemingly reliable sources we've had on this so far. So.........what are we left with???

We have Lance being in possibly 17:30 shape (on a flat course) after maybe just jumping in this for fun, without a lot of run training, and being far from top shape.

I say it's not a bad start if he is gonna try running more seriously. Remember, Lance is an ULTRA-ENDURANCE guy. The drop off for him from 5k pace to marathon pace is probably a lot less than for just about anyone. I find that the hardest thing to do after doing lots of cross -training (and little or no running) is to run FAST for shorter distances. The general endurance is there and I find will translate over to running endurance not too badly, but when you don't stay in touch with SPECIFIC RUNNING SPEED work, it feels really fast when you try to race a shorter distance at a quick pace. In other words, most Tour de France bicyclists, even if they are decently natural runners, would have a LOT of trouble hopping on a track and running a single 65 second lap. When you have not run close to that speed in any way for any distance ( in running, basketball, soccer, etc) recently, your coordination and specific ability to do so is gone. It just FEELS just incredibly fast if you have not touched that speed recently (like you are running a MJ 43 400). It takes awhile to get that back. Lance, if he wants to, will get some running speed back, and then......look out!

Lance's goals are clear in the following link (3rd paragraph).

For those who don't want to read the whole article, here is his quote: 'Asked whether he preferred golf to a marathon now, he said, " No doubt: marathon. I would like to train to run under two hours and 30 minutes, and perhaps I will shoot for two hours and 15.'

Don't bet against him....

While I think it's unlikely, I certainly wouldn't bet against Lance running a sub 2:30. It's not totally unreasonable.

I really admire Lance for giving it a shot, either way.

I'm not really sure I understand the resentment towards Lance. He's just a guy with a goal. Why not support him?

I get that there is a certain group who think Lance is dirty, but what about the Lance bashers who think he's clean? Or are there any?

second thoughts wrote:

But then I thought, damn, he was willing to puke after a 5k race - how many people have the guts to work that hard and not back off?

vomiting after a race isn't a sign of working hard as much as it's a sign of poor conditioning. Go to a high school meet and you will see kids vomiting all over the place after a 20:00 5k, but how many times do you see people vomiting after an Olympic final? If you're in good shape, you probably won't vomit no matter how hard you run, unless you do something stupid like eat a bunch of food shortly before.

yea, I totally dropped the ball there, I meant to say that if you took every person in the united states that ran a 2:20 marathon, they'd be at least able to run 15:30 or 5 minute pace...

sorry about that...lol

lance's result wrote:

http://www.doitsports.com/newresults3/client/22068_22102_2006.html

Here are the results. This 5K is put on by his Ex, Kristin.

Lance got smoked by a 51 year old.

ok - now your post makes a lot more sense

giddy wrote:

yea, I totally dropped the ball there, I meant to say that if you took every person in the united states that ran a 2:20 marathon, they'd be at least able to run 15:30 or 5 minute pace...

sorry about that...lol

A Cat 3 rider.

As a solid 10k runner I found the transition to cycling a great challenge. Time trials I cannot compete with the cat 1/2, but anything else, especially very hilly courses, I am competitive.

does not matter how hilly the course was. 18'20 sucks, I ran faster when I was 13 years old. SUCKS!!!

[quote]gabberjr wrote:

Let me tell you guys something, take your 5k effort and do that for 2 to 3hours and there is your bike race. quote]

Oh, I see. Wait, are you telling me that you can run for 3 hours at your 5k race pace?? I mean, if you can put the same kind of effort in for 3 hours in a bike race as you can for 16 mins in a 5k that's pretty amazing. I would even go so far as to say that you are TOTALLY EXAGGERATING. At the end of a 5k you are at the brink of collapse if you run it all out. Don't tell me you could put that kind of effort in for 3 hours on a bike. That's ridiculous.

I am not a big Lance Armstrong fan. I do, however, admire that he ran this 5K knowing full well his time and place would be posted for everyone to see. It takes a lot for someone as famous in athletics as he was to do this, especially since he knew his time would be well short of anything he ever did biking. Its the same way I felt about MJ playing baseball....it takes guts to try it especially when you will be seen as a failure in it even though you did a good job.

Easy wrote:

MJ playing baseball

Just to say, despite the common perception, for MJ to hit .200 against professional pitching, stepping in cold as a 30+ year old, is actually pretty phenomenal.

The guy is obviously incredibly well conditioned but has no reactive strength so his economy sucks and that's why he's running slow right now. There is little/no elastic component in cycling but elastic strength is huge in running.

Ever notice how elite marathoners have so much skinnier legs than elite cyclists even though most cycling races last a heck of a lot longer than marathons? A runner's strength is in their connective tissue. A cyclist will have a much smaller strength defecit than a runner.

Who knows what Lance can do? I'm surprised only one person brought Paul McMullen up.

excellent point. i had forgotten about McMullen's brief bike racing efforts. i don't remember all his results, but generally speaking, he did pretty well in the pro 1/2 category (i have no clue if he had prior cycling experience or somehow weaseled a massive upgrade to race in this category). in particular, he placed high up in the Michigan State Time Trial Championships in 2002.

Rock for Light wrote:

The guy is obviously incredibly well conditioned but has no reactive strength so his economy sucks and that's why he's running slow right now. There is little/no elastic component in cycling but elastic strength is huge in running.

Ever notice how elite marathoners have so much skinnier legs than elite cyclists even though most cycling races last a heck of a lot longer than marathons? A runner's strength is in their connective tissue. A cyclist will have a much smaller strength defecit than a runner.

Who knows what Lance can do? I'm surprised only one person brought Paul McMullen up.

had a couple of minutes to kill at work

Race Results for

Bike Sport MI State TTrial Championships

Shelby Twp, MI

(Event Information)

USCF Individual Time Trial on 06/29/2002

Men - Cat 1/2

Place

Name

Time

License

Bib

Team

1 (1 - Cat1) Toutenhoofd Nico 130154 139 Excel Sports

1 (1 - Cat2) Petzold Tom 27969 137

2 (2 - Cat1) Card Jonathan 6078 130 Uppgren Associates/Cane Creek

2 (2 - Cat2) Bowman Dan 149353 140 Suburban Homes/WSC

3 (3 - Cat1) Bruley Anthony 80460 131 Suburban Homes/WSC

3 (4 - Cat1) Archer Tom 153642 133 Ford No Boundaries/AAVC

4 (5 - Cat1) Gottwald Christopher 42621 147 Bicycle Action Project

4 (3 - Cat2) Weinert Jeff 37591 142 Suburban Homes/WSC

5 (4 - Cat2) Kase Marc 47976 146

6 (6 - Cat1) Uhler Darryl 36191 138 Sububan Homes/WSC

6 (5 - Cat2) McMullen Paul 153647 141 Uppgren Associates/Cane Creek

7 (7 - Cat1) May Stephen 134837 143 Maple Leaf Cycling Club

7 (6 - Cat2) Stephenson Jason 160931 145 Suburban Homes/WSC

wow

i highly doubt he ran 4:18 in hs. I was in hs at the same time in Texas and i would have remembered that. He also left hs competition after his soph year so if he did ran a decent time it would have been in his first year. anyone running that fast as a soph would be remembered