DoppelLaufer Update

We had another great weekend of DoppelLaufer Racing!

Ronda (Fruitfly) ran just one second off her 5k PR and won a first in age group award!

Melanie (Mtaurus575) knocked over 2 minutes off her PR and is on the verge of breaking 30 minutes.

Cristina (CLS89) improved her half marathon PR by 6 minutes in just 6 weeks.

MaryAlicia, with virtually no training, came within 6 seconds of matching her half marathon record.

There are only 3 races left in this challenge unless we pick up some last minute contenders before January 1.

As of now the leaders in the 5k standings are:

1. squeakygirl
2. Surfing_Vol
3. Fruitfly

My final entry in this challenge will be next Saturday the 18th.  The Candy Cane 5k in Winter Springs, FL sponsored by Front Running Sports.

Here are the complete standings including all race results (17 runners in 39 races over 3 months, not too shabby):

And the sorted standings including only everyone’s best races:

(click to enlarge)

What’s next?

Charleston Marathon

January 15, 2011

A drove of DoppelLaufers will be meeting face to face for the first time when we invade Charleston next month for the Riverfront Race Festival. We will be running virtual non-virtual, non-virtual virtual, live, real, in-person (I’m at a loss for words for a change, but I think you get the idea) marathons and half marathons to kick off the winter season of virtual racing. The race will be followed, I’m sure, by the consumption of massive quantities of medicinal hops to help soothe our aching muscles.

I’m a little worried about how cold the weather will be for this race, but Mother Nature has graciously provided near record lows for Florida this week to help me acclimate. How thoughtful of her.

Wait a minute – I need to crank up this space heater a little.

Ahhhh.

Where was I?

Oh yeah - training. I modified another Hal Higdon Marathon program to set up a training schedule over the next few weeks. Here it is:

I also analyzed my last few months of training to try to figure out why I hit the wall at the Space Coast Marathon.

This is what I’m thinking:

• Overconfidence – shooting for 4 hours for my first marathon and starting out too fast.
• Inexperience – especially relating to eating and drinking during the race.
• Inadequate speed work and hill training – my training was pretty light on these workouts, mostly because of a bout with ITBS half way through and the fear of a recurrence that lasted for several weeks.

Fortunately, the sadistic leaders of WVR have scheduled a reprise of the notoriously difficult Victoria Park meets Deland Hills route next weekend. From my quasi-paranoid, self-centered, delusional world perspective, I know they did this solely to address the deficiency in MY training. So I will offer apologies in advance to the innocent neophytes who will be unwittingly subjected to this tortuous ordeal for the first time.

Good luck.  You may need it. ;-}

Doppelaufer PR’s are Dropping like Flies

Two races this weekend – Two new PR’s. Congratulations Fruitfly and tg16!

Here are the latest standings:

(Click to enlarge)

As always, you can follow along with all of our nonsense in our discussion thread at Cool Running.

Doppel Racing is Blowin’ Up!

All it took was a single belated announcement that the virtual race is on again, and new entrants started coming out of the woodwork.

(Click to enlarge)

We’re still getting new entrants at a fast pace, once the field gets more stable I’ll clean up this spreadsheet a bit and make it more easily readable.

Out of 13 racers in our last event, 10 set new PR’s. I hope this one is just as successful, as long as no one beats me. ;-}

I have not yet won an award for my running, but at least my excel skills are appreciated.



DoppelLaufer Turkey Bell Challenge

OK, OK we’re doing it again, you can stop the nagging now.  Yes, virtual racing is back!

We have expanded the challenge to include races of any distance (5k through marathon) through the end of the year, just in time for the holiday Turkey Trots, Gobbler Runs, Jingle Bell Runs, Candy Cane Runs, etc.

You can read the details and enter here, or just jump into our discussion thread over at Cool Running. or you can just send me your race info and 5k PR through my blog and I'll make sure you are added to the list. I will also be posting updates and results here in my blog.  

Check out my DoppelLaufer Virtual Racing page for past results and a brief history of this nonsense.

The Good Natured Taunting Continues

From the demented mind of JimDo64:


http://www.careerbuilder.com/monk-e-mail/?mId=37523527.2

Things are as wild as ever over in DoppelLauferland.

I promise, we will be running a third DoppelLaufer Virtual Race Race which will last through the end of the year so that it includes all of the Turkey Trots, Jingle Bell Runs, etc. A half-marathon virtual challenge for the spring is also in the works.

We’ve worked out the general framework and I should be able to post details next week, after my race this weekend.

If you have no idea what I’m talking about you can check out this page to get caught up.

DoppelLaufer Virtual 5k ver. 2.0 Results

The final results are in and the winner is:

WIguy

Here are the final standings:

We grew from 3 racers to 13 and out of that 13, 11 set new PR’s. The ability of the runners were widely varied with 5k times ranging from 19:00 to 44:00. Despite that variability the handicapping worked well and the adjusted times were very tight with many runners mere seconds apart.

The good natured taunting got pretty intense over the past few weeks, particularly out of our Rhode Island contingent but it was all in good fun. Our discussion thread has often dominated the running forum at active.com. We reached 1400 posts and 53,000 page views. Based on that ratio, I think quite a few people took vicarious pleasure from our nonsense too. New Balance received so many add impressions from that thread I think a new pair of shoes wouldn’t be out of the question. I’m not too shameless to beg - Hey New Balance – anyone reading this? I’d settle for a decent discount.  Forgive the pandering :-}

I think we may have time for one more fall virtual 5k before our northern DoppelLaufers have to retire to their treadmills for the duration of the cold dark winter. When they emerge in the spring, plans are already underway for a virtual half marathon.

Sweet Swag

I’m running in the Autumn Rock-n-Run 5k in Casselberry, FL this Saturday sponsored by the Track Shack and Florida Hospital so today I made the drive downtown to pick up my race packet.

The Track Shack has been a running institution in Orlando for decades. It really is a cool shop. If you ever visit you should make the drive up from the theme parks and check it out.

The packet pickup was quick and well organized as usual. I had a few minutes to browse the racks, but managed to keep my wallet in my pocket this time. (If you recall, last time I couldn’t resist a 20% off sale and took home a new pair of ASICS).

The swag was typical for a 5k around here. A handful of coupons, race fliers, samples of power bars and crackers, and of course a tech T. The T-shirt is pretty cool and may even see some wear when I’m not running.

This race is also my entry in the second DoppelLaufer Virtual 5k. If you haven’t been following along, you can see a list of the entrants here.

There are 14 racers this go round with race PR’s ranging from sub 20 to more than 40 minutes. The action will take place over the next three weekends, so watching the standings change will be like announcing a horse race in slow motion. If we designed the handicap system well it should be a photo finish.

You can follow along with the pre- and post-race taunting here.

My prediction, you ask?

johnnysocko:  The fastest among us, jsock, will have the best time outright but will fall frustratingly short of victory in the handicap adjusted standings.

dwm082:  Don will be dq’d for forgetting to post his results in the thread.  It will have been so long since he posted anything, that he will forget where it is.

JimDo64:  Jim will make the classic error of wearing a new pair of shoes at his race, will succumb to a blister, and limp across the finish line.

middleagedrunner will ignore the advice of her doctor, enter her race, shin splints and all, but will exercise caution and finish well over her current PR.

Maryalicia will race without her James Bond stroller, but racked with guilt, will return to the start to pick up her little girl and carry her the 3.1 miles to the finish.

thingmabobby will try to run the race barefoot and like Jim, will end up limping across the finish line on blistered feet.

SurfingVol will develop a run in his stockings, er . . . I mean "Zensah Sleeve," and the uneven compression will be too much of a distraction for him to be any threat on the race course.

WiGuy performed so well in his last race after fueling up with chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream that he logically decided to repeat the ritual. Following the same logic he will eat twice as much ice cream under the mistaken belief that it will mean twice the speed.

Squeakygirl and Papakeith will become so competitive at the starting line because of their little side bet, that they resort to tripping and hair pulling to slow each other down costing them both any chance of victory.

vcackerman – will miss his race in favor of a Hawkeyes tailgating party.

FaithUpHigh will have a camping flashback, get spooked by imagined spiders and snakes, and end up hopping and shrieking her way down the race course.

BowieLinda – Mysterious Linda was quiet as a church mouse throughout much of the DoppelLaufer taunting but will turn out to be the silent threat on the race course that everyone should have been worrying about. She will be a contender, but her downfall will result from throngs of paparazzi blinding her with flashbulbs, trying to get pictures of BowieDavid’s wife’s hot feet.  The result of an anonymous tip tweeted by JimDoGump.

Shona – in a last minute re-entry, Shona will enter a new 5k, but will accidently pack her climbing shoes instead of her running shoes for the race.

and the winner will of course be:

DoppelLaufer Virtual 5k Update

The starting gun will fire in 10 more days with what is certain to be the shot heard round the web.

Our virtual race has grown from 3 runners to 14, representing 12 different states from Florida to Washington and all points in between.

Here is the current list of participants, including handicaps:

As always the taunting and camaraderie continues here:

DoppelLaufers Good Natured Taunting and Race Reports Thread

The competition is fierce. At the moment, the most intense rivalry seems to be centered around a father/daughter pair from Rhode Island who are resorting to outright sabotage and dirty tactics to gain an advantage. The details are a little sketchy, but rumor has it that pancakes and bacon were involved

Virtual Racing is Back!

We virtually had so much fun with the first go round of the DoppleLaufers Virtual Race that we’re doing it again. Participation has virtually doubled already.

We expanded the time to include three weekends to make it virtually easier for people to find a 5k that fits their schedule (9/11/10-9/26/10) and we’ve worked out a handicapping system to virtually level the playing field. Runners of virtually any skill level have a shot at winning. We’ve already attracted people with PR’s virtually ranging from sub 20 minutes to 30 minutes plus.

You can see the details here: Doppel Games September Invitational Race for Virtually Anyone

And the trash talking continues here: DoppelLaufers Good Natured Taunting and Race Reports Thread

I also added a dedicated page for virtual race information here with a list of the participants, their races, PR’s and handicaps.

I will be running in the Autumn Rock-n-Run 5k in Casselberry, FL on 9/11/10.