Well done! There's a difference between being "training fit" and "race fit". It's much more a type of mental thing begin "race fit". And most of us will be going through that in these times. Good luck forward mate.
Wouldn’t be a Kofuzi race effort without some retching sounds...! Great effort! I know it wasn’t what you hoped for but better to learn more than in a real race 👍
Your performance is great! I am just exploring time trials myself, and I am 100% sure that real racing is different. The good: in a TT I don't go put too fast. The bad: it's really tough to squeeze the last amount of energy out of my legs w/o the race environment. My empirical estimate: whatever you achieve alone over a 8k or 10k, in a real race you would be 45s faster - at least. Cheers
Loved seeing your post race analysis in real-time! Captures what most of us do following a race LOL. At least I'm pretty critical of my performance, so it's cool to see how others do it
Nice race! It’s tough to run fast on your own like that, it takes a special type of mental capacity to be able to have the same focus as if you were in a “live” race. Speaking of, you may want to look into NWI area for some races. I just ran a 15k on Sunday as well and it went pretty good as far as the set up and organization. Thanks for the detailed recap, I really enjoy your insights on your own performance 💪🏾
‘Dig the upload... especially the “takeaway”. I think you did very well, and you want to get better at racing. I always think of my running... or any other solo physically challenging task... as an opportunity to dig deep into the darkest crevices of my brain. I develop resolve there - resolve against my inner voice asking “Do you really need to accomplish ‘x’? No one will know what you sought to accomplish”. Going there and dominating those weaker thoughts makes the finish sweet. You dominated your thoughts on this run. That’s a greater accomplishment than anything else ‘cos that discipline is what truly gets you through the journey. Nice one. ✌🏽💙🏃🏽♂️
That was a heck of an effort Ko - fantastic running 👏. Virtuals are so hard mentally compared to an in-person race - let’s hope this summer is full of proper racing again 😊
Loved the breakdown at the end, and fair play, you clearly knew what had happened as the data backed up what you said! That shows how in tune you are with your body which is fantastic! I miss the crowds too!
Don't beat yourself. You did awesomely well. Over analysis, it won't necessarily solved anything. You already answered yourself. You need people around.
Excellent job Mike! Interesting to hear the post race feedback as you’re seeing for the first time. Running with your head cutoff...hmm, you’re on to something there. Also the intro music 👌, sounded very RATM or Soundgarden like.
Dude, that’s stellar! You were wearing a facemask! Oxygen intake is -10% with that accross your face. Try that again in the middle of the night without a facemask and you’ll go sub-30 I promise, I’ve done the math in training and virual half marathon race (-20 sec/km).
Nice job. About turning off mile splits: I get the purpose of this during training, but during a race I definitely want to know where I'm at so I can control my pace and adjust as necessary.
I think with this being a virtual race, the headwind, carrying the camera, and wearing a mask, there is every reason to think you could hit that 31:30 in proper racing conditions.
that is pretty good tbh! i just did my fastest run at 8k 2 days ago, 47:55, 9:33 min/mile pace (5:56min/km), 165 bpm avg heart rate. ive a long ways to go, but eventually id want this pace to be my easy pace at some point
Good run. Looking at your Strava the weather seems to be suggesting, as you touched on, that there was a 7 mph headwind all the way. That could well be the difference between a 32:00 and 31:30 especially if you had run it the other way with then an effective 14 mph differential. Might also explain that you felt you set off a bit too quick as, due to the wind direction, it was effectively harder than it might have been with a favourable wind. I also think with fairly short races like 8K that you often need to do a few couple of weeks apart just to get more used to doing them especially if has been a long time since you last raced one.
Awesome review/ analysis. I too find it next to impossible to "race" virtual races. Need the crowd, and need people ahead of me to chase after/ go on cruise control with.
Re: going out too fast, welcome to the 99% club of runners..who always go out too fast! It’s apparently nearly universal amongst us mortals. But you still got a nice PR. 🥵 Factor in no other runners or spectators, no real races in so long, and it was something you should feel very good about.
I wonder if you had a good pacer? I lucked out in my first half marathon, and I had the perfect pacer for me. I broke that pr a year later at a meetup run, totally unplanned. I lucked out and had a perfect pacer for 8+ miles so I decided to go for a hm pr. Oh, and also I think this was great. I feel like your mind and body learned a lot from this. If you did a few more it'd get even better.
Congrats! And please don’t be disappointed. Like everyone is saying, racing alone is a lot tougher. Btw, something wrong with your left eyelid? Seems to be a bit swollen.
Have you tried putting together a power-based pacing plan/workout on your watch? Your strategy was great! Getting an alarm for going over your power target at the start could have helped you stick to your plan.
@@kofuzi if the goal is to learn how to do it purely by feel, this was a great learning experience! Thank you for sharing your process and experiences. Hope you get to race more in person this year :)
That is a time to be extremely proud of! Question: What percentage of your race time (success) do you attribute to the Jack Daniel's plan versus experience from running over time (ex. getting stronger/better via experience)?
Pacing can be challenging. Try running your easy runs at a perfectly even split. It'll mean you would probably look down on your watch a lot more than you normally do. But when you nail down pacing even on easy runs, it helps your body learn pacing based on pace rather than running on effort. I also find running in KM helps with better pacing. A mile is just too long to stay consistent for me. Great job nonetheless.
I think you're used to using HR and power as a tool to limit your runs (correctly), but in this case (short fast race) you need to use those metrics to PUSH your self. You're staying too close to marathon HR here, but you could be MUCH higher. Hoping that sounds more like positive motivation than negative criticism (I'm suggesting this could be closer to your half marathon pace at current fitness). Well done on this one!
Still a good TT Mike. Something I observed from following your channel tho: you seem to repeat this pattern of "surge start; panic dip" from a bunch of races you share. Why not use your gadgets to help you strategise pace (your watch, stryde's racing app)? That's what they're there for - offload the live thinking to a computer and just run objectively. If I surged that far above intended race pace, I'd just stop, count that as final warm up stride, and go again - it's only a solo TT after all! Anyway, sorry for the internet coach blather. Keep up the great work!
Something that’s really tough to nail is getting to the right pace in the first minutes. But couldn’t your Stryde really help with that? During practice couldn’t one see that one needs ~X amount watts to hit a certain pace, and then have watts showing on your watch and you pay close attention to it in the beginning?
If you kept going do you think you would have broken your 10k PR? With the amount of miles you've been logging I bet your long distance strength + shamrock speed block I would be curious!
Great effort, especially solo!..I will say though, you definitely need to do a better job of plotting a course. It's bitten you in the past for other time trials. Lessons to be learned there 👍
8K is 8,000m man. There is no assumed approximation. As long as you were doing an 8K, I would measure in metric and not in miles. I would even train and get accustomed to K splits etc. In fact you know your 5-mile best now. I know it is the same... and it isn't. You cannot account for the fact that if it were a race you'd be bumped around so the distance wouldn't be exact. Even on the track you get in line to run 5K for example, you might end up running an entire K in lane 2 or 3. So, shoot for the distance without 'what if's' Some suggestion here, you've been training for heart and power and at the end of the day you seem to be hitting those targets, but the actual time is off. Maybe you should try shooting for specific time for reps as well as perceived effort. Regardless of what heart rate of power says, if it feels easy it is easy. Only love man, what you're doing is very inspiring keep at it, keep it up! Don't forget that not every race is a PR. Let's go for a sub-40 10K now!!
It was something new I thought I’d try. I rather liked it. I felt it was as useful as drills and strides for prepping muscles. But I thought it was far more useful for prepping the mind for the effort. Although, perhaps it over-prepared me for fast running.
So happy to get a reply from you, Kofuzi! I should have extended my comment a bit, which is coming from experience. Yes, I think that for an actual race, you want to be as fresh as you can be. Fitness is already there and 4-6 long strides (20-30s) should get your muscles ready for the effort. Sometimes (I include myself here) we overdo because we are lacking confidence in our physical/mental capacity. Same as with a rest day on the same week as a race, when you are used to running every day...anyway, congrats for the really good content you deliver and keep on pushing and enjoying running!
Head cut off, head cut off!!! Gotta try that one. Awesome job Kofuzi!!!
Running in race conditions ( with a pack) cannot be underestimated. Good effort!
I had been underestimating it. I’m recalibrating my understanding
Well done! There's a difference between being "training fit" and "race fit". It's much more a type of mental thing begin "race fit". And most of us will be going through that in these times. Good luck forward mate.
Well done Mike! Considering you’ve been running solo and no real racing, to be around your PB from two years ago is massive. Keep up the good work!,
Superb effort, alone is really tough Mike :)
"You run, you race and you learn." Succintly put! The next best thing to a PR is walking away from a race having learned something. Well done!
thanks! hopefully, a PR will be coming soon
00:20 the WARN UP is a WARNING to all those that get in your way of completing this shuffle!
Great job kofuzi!!! Your drive toward goals always keep me motivated. You are awesome!!!
Saturday I was able to participate in a trail 10k run. Was fun, accept got lost and did 9.5 miles. Thanks always for your encouragement!
Wouldn’t be a Kofuzi race effort without some retching sounds...!
Great effort! I know it wasn’t what you hoped for but better to learn more than in a real race 👍
Some say Mike actually runs faster while holding a camera. It has become part of him.
I don’t always like a video before I watch it, but with Kofuzi I do. Looking sharp, even when nearly voming 😁👍
Thanks for this. It was insightful, incredibly well done virtually as a run and cinematographically as a vid.
Your performance is great! I am just exploring time trials myself, and I am 100% sure that real racing is different. The good: in a TT I don't go put too fast. The bad: it's really tough to squeeze the last amount of energy out of my legs w/o the race environment. My empirical estimate: whatever you achieve alone over a 8k or 10k, in a real race you would be 45s faster - at least. Cheers
Great job, kofuzi! Really enjoyed the musical/running footage.
You cued that song perfectly, Mike! :)
All black wardrobe ✔️, Wu-Tang socks ✔️, “green” adidas shoes, sorry, I meant to say yellow adidas pro shoes 😆😆 ✔️ Congrats Kofuzi 🎉🎉
Loved seeing your post race analysis in real-time! Captures what most of us do following a race LOL. At least I'm pretty critical of my performance, so it's cool to see how others do it
Nice race! It’s tough to run fast on your own like that, it takes a special type of mental capacity to be able to have the same focus as if you were in a “live” race. Speaking of, you may want to look into NWI area for some races. I just ran a 15k on Sunday as well and it went pretty good as far as the set up and organization. Thanks for the detailed recap, I really enjoy your insights on your own performance 💪🏾
Nice run and overall presentation, thanks for sharing the warm-up routine, I'll use it for my virtual half-marathon tomorrow.
‘Dig the upload... especially the “takeaway”.
I think you did very well, and you want to get better at racing.
I always think of my running... or any other solo physically challenging task... as an opportunity to dig deep into the darkest crevices of my brain. I develop resolve there - resolve against my inner voice asking “Do you really need to accomplish ‘x’? No one will know what you sought to accomplish”. Going there and dominating those weaker thoughts makes the finish sweet. You dominated your thoughts on this run. That’s a greater accomplishment than anything else ‘cos that discipline is what truly gets you through the journey.
Nice one.
✌🏽💙🏃🏽♂️
It's a win Ko! I think you had a 9 sec PR on the mile/km conversion. Rocking the Non Elite long sleeve 🤟🤟
That was a heck of an effort Ko - fantastic running 👏. Virtuals are so hard mentally compared to an in-person race - let’s hope this summer is full of proper racing again 😊
well said!
Really awesome effort, Ko, especially for a virtual race . . . I find them to be far more challenging than actual races.
I miss crowds
Both Wu-Tang & Kofuzi are forever.
It’s totally a WIN! (As another comment stated, 8K is slightly less than 5 miles). Great work!
You did great! Thanks for the motivation and the content!
Loved the breakdown at the end, and fair play, you clearly knew what had happened as the data backed up what you said! That shows how in tune you are with your body which is fantastic! I miss the crowds too!
I’m slowly learning
Great effort. I'm pooping myself just to do the Polar max run test. I never do time trials etc. To scared to hurt so much. Well done. Brave of you!
Don't beat yourself. You did awesomely well. Over analysis, it won't necessarily solved anything. You already answered yourself. You need people around.
Excellent job Mike! Interesting to hear the post race feedback as you’re seeing for the first time. Running with your head cutoff...hmm, you’re on to something there. Also the intro music 👌, sounded very RATM or Soundgarden like.
It’s kind of like the cyclists’ mantra, shut up legs, but flipped around a bit
Nice run! You've got a strong mental game.
Kudos running virtual...... without crowd support, and people to pass up, it's super hard to "keep grinding" in a virtual race. I would struggle too.
that's a great time, you kicked some butt!
Dude, that’s stellar! You were wearing a facemask! Oxygen intake is -10% with that accross your face. Try that again in the middle of the night without a facemask and you’ll go sub-30 I promise, I’ve done the math in training and virual half marathon race (-20 sec/km).
Nice job. About turning off mile splits: I get the purpose of this during training, but during a race I definitely want to know where I'm at so I can control my pace and adjust as necessary.
Nice race, Mr. Wick 👍👍👍
Haha!
Great job Ko, time trials are hard, better to have a rabbit if you’re going for a PR, wu-tang forever!
Well Done, you worked hard !
Great run @kofuzi. Fun to see you breakdown your results. Adios Pros?
I think with this being a virtual race, the headwind, carrying the camera, and wearing a mask, there is every reason to think you could hit that 31:30 in proper racing conditions.
I hope I get a chance to try in a race soon
that is pretty good tbh! i just did my fastest run at 8k 2 days ago, 47:55, 9:33 min/mile pace (5:56min/km), 165 bpm avg heart rate. ive a long ways to go, but eventually id want this pace to be my easy pace at some point
Great Video !
Good run. Looking at your Strava the weather seems to be suggesting, as you touched on, that there was a 7 mph headwind all the way. That could well be the difference between a 32:00 and 31:30 especially if you had run it the other way with then an effective 14 mph differential. Might also explain that you felt you set off a bit too quick as, due to the wind direction, it was effectively harder than it might have been with a favourable wind. I also think with fairly short races like 8K that you often need to do a few couple of weeks apart just to get more used to doing them especially if has been a long time since you last raced one.
Awesome review/ analysis. I too find it next to impossible to "race" virtual races. Need the crowd, and need people ahead of me to chase after/ go on cruise control with.
Re: going out too fast, welcome to the 99% club of runners..who always go out too fast! It’s apparently nearly universal amongst us mortals. But you still got a nice PR. 🥵 Factor in no other runners or spectators, no real races in so long, and it was something you should feel very good about.
Good job Mike!
I wonder if you had a good pacer? I lucked out in my first half marathon, and I had the perfect pacer for me. I broke that pr a year later at a meetup run, totally unplanned. I lucked out and had a perfect pacer for 8+ miles so I decided to go for a hm pr. Oh, and also I think this was great. I feel like your mind and body learned a lot from this. If you did a few more it'd get even better.
I have definitely been underestimating the value of a pacer/pack for fast running
Great job, time trials run alone are brutal.
i don't particularly enjoy them
Congrats! And please don’t be disappointed. Like everyone is saying, racing alone is a lot tougher.
Btw, something wrong with your left eyelid? Seems to be a bit swollen.
great job
Repping the Wu !
Have you tried putting together a power-based pacing plan/workout on your watch? Your strategy was great! Getting an alarm for going over your power target at the start could have helped you stick to your plan.
i had debated whether or not to do that or to race more by feel
@@kofuzi if the goal is to learn how to do it purely by feel, this was a great learning experience! Thank you for sharing your process and experiences. Hope you get to race more in person this year :)
You should try the same run with out the Mask, would be interesting
Coincidentally, I had a relatively empty lakefront for the run. I didn’t have to pull on the mask for very much of the race.
That is a time to be extremely proud of! Question: What percentage of your race time (success) do you attribute to the Jack Daniel's plan versus experience from running over time (ex. getting stronger/better via experience)?
Just in my experience in a 10K, I race 2 minutes faster than I run in a time trial. That's the power of people surround you.
incredible!
@@kofuzi I mean in total time between race and time trial. I use to run 53 minutes for the time trial and then 51 for the 10K race
I like the running videos but cannot figure out how you do it. Would you share how you take your running videos?
Pacing can be challenging. Try running your easy runs at a perfectly even split. It'll mean you would probably look down on your watch a lot more than you normally do. But when you nail down pacing even on easy runs, it helps your body learn pacing based on pace rather than running on effort. I also find running in KM helps with better pacing. A mile is just too long to stay consistent for me. Great job nonetheless.
I'm thinking for my next time trial, I'll set the watch to give me notifications at each half mile
Explain the shoe choice? Great video!
it has a lot of pop. the more I put into it, the more it seems to bounce back. and it's just a lot of fun
racing time with a selfie stick! You're amazing, but wouldn't that take your time down quite a bit?
For me, probably not. Perhaps if I were a bit faster it would make a difference.
Awesome! 5 miles is 8046 meters, so you ran almost an extra 50 meters if you are doing an 8K!
Impressive! How many miles do you have in those Adios Pros?
kudos...
btw, was that a long sock or a calf compression sleeve?
Long sock
I think you're used to using HR and power as a tool to limit your runs (correctly), but in this case (short fast race) you need to use those metrics to PUSH your self. You're staying too close to marathon HR here, but you could be MUCH higher. Hoping that sounds more like positive motivation than negative criticism (I'm suggesting this could be closer to your half marathon pace at current fitness). Well done on this one!
Interesting. It’s not very different from some thing I’ve been mulling over. Glad to hear it from someone else.
Still a good TT Mike. Something I observed from following your channel tho: you seem to repeat this pattern of "surge start; panic dip" from a bunch of races you share. Why not use your gadgets to help you strategise pace (your watch, stryde's racing app)? That's what they're there for - offload the live thinking to a computer and just run objectively. If I surged that far above intended race pace, I'd just stop, count that as final warm up stride, and go again - it's only a solo TT after all! Anyway, sorry for the internet coach blather. Keep up the great work!
It is a pattern. I think I will load up some phases to the watch for my name TT so that I can get some alerts when I lose focus
@@kofuzi I'm sure it will help. That kick is for the final 400 where you can go as anaerobic as you like.
Something that’s really tough to nail is getting to the right pace in the first minutes. But couldn’t your Stryde really help with that? During practice couldn’t one see that one needs ~X amount watts to hit a certain pace, and then have watts showing on your watch and you pay close attention to it in the beginning?
did anybody else run the St. Paddy's 10K in Deer Park, il. It was a REAL race!
If you kept going do you think you would have broken your 10k PR? With the amount of miles you've been logging I bet your long distance strength + shamrock speed block I would be curious!
Great effort, especially solo!..I will say though, you definitely need to do a better job of plotting a course. It's bitten you in the past for other time trials. Lessons to be learned there 👍
So u don‘t check your time per km during your race to time ist better???
Running like a chicken with its head... well... you know... awesome job! Best results or not... HUUUGELY INSPIRING!!!!
Thanks so much DB!
8K is 8,000m man. There is no assumed approximation. As long as you were doing an 8K, I would measure in metric and not in miles. I would even train and get accustomed to K splits etc. In fact you know your 5-mile best now. I know it is the same... and it isn't. You cannot account for the fact that if it were a race you'd be bumped around so the distance wouldn't be exact. Even on the track you get in line to run 5K for example, you might end up running an entire K in lane 2 or 3. So, shoot for the distance without 'what if's'
Some suggestion here, you've been training for heart and power and at the end of the day you seem to be hitting those targets, but the actual time is off. Maybe you should try shooting for specific time for reps as well as perceived effort. Regardless of what heart rate of power says, if it feels easy it is easy.
Only love man, what you're doing is very inspiring keep at it, keep it up! Don't forget that not every race is a PR. Let's go for a sub-40 10K now!!
I feel the faster someone is, the harder it is to pace alone. how was your hamstring?
Why didn't you use your Stryd to pace yourself?
Could you find someone close to your fitness to time trial / “race” together? Even another person there pushing together would help a ton.
Basically "Virtual race" is not really a race. It's not the same.
Ko I can't handle it when you almost hork
Great effort for a fake race. Don’t feel down at all; when real races return it’ll be much better.
8K is only 4.97 miles, not a full 5 miles. So you ran past the “finish line” for about 12 seconds
For the next race, try to avoid those 2 min at threshold in the warm up. 100% wasted energy mate.
It was something new I thought I’d try. I rather liked it. I felt it was as useful as drills and strides for prepping muscles. But I thought it was far more useful for prepping the mind for the effort. Although, perhaps it over-prepared me for fast running.
So happy to get a reply from you, Kofuzi! I should have extended my comment a bit, which is coming from experience. Yes, I think that for an actual race, you want to be as fresh as you can be. Fitness is already there and 4-6 long strides (20-30s) should get your muscles ready for the effort. Sometimes (I include myself here) we overdo because we are lacking confidence in our physical/mental capacity. Same as with a rest day on the same week as a race, when you are used to running every day...anyway, congrats for the really good content you deliver and keep on pushing and enjoying running!
First
Why on earth were you wearing a mask outside?
The plucky pink lally raise because romania ethnopharmacologically face minus a dirty drain. old-fashioned, ceaseless good-bye
this is a machine, learning
why you are running alone and you wear a mask?? so stupid!!!! and also its very bad for your health
So u don‘t check your time per km during your race to time ist better???