Road Racing and Training Thread - Week Ending 2/10

dcrunner - congrats on the great race! It's always nice when you can surprise yourself. :)

Goal: Stay healthy

Goal Race: Gettysburg Marathon (4/28)

Goal Time: 2:55

Next race: Northeast Roadrunner 10k (3/3)

Week 7 of 18

M - Rest

T - 8mi easy (7:55), w/7x100m strides at the end

W - 11mi total (7:13): 2mi warmup, 7mi@MP (6:40 38 38 37 38 38 35), 2mi cooldown

Th - 7mi easy (8:04)

F - 9.75mi easy/recovery (8:29): broken down as 2mi warmup (9:18/mi), 6mi easy(7:47-8:01/mi), 1.75mi cooldown (9:28/mi). I helped rabbit my friends' MP workout.

Sa - 8.5mi easy in snow (7:58), w/8x100m strides at the end

Su - 14.75mi total (7:15): 3mi warmup, 6x1mi (6:22 32 29 25 27 26) w/.25mi recoveries (1:58-2:05), 4.25mi steady

Weekly total - 59 miles

Coach and I decided on Thursday night against racing the 5k on Saturday. Turns out our area didn't get too much snow from Nemo, and the roads were definitely clear by the time of the race (3:30 pm), but the winds were still whipping (20-35mph). I am really glad the race plans fell through because today's workout was another real breakthrough run for me. I feel like this week as a whole was a great transition from the shorter speed stuff to the longer tempo stuff. Adding some strides at the end of some easy runs gives me enough confidence at this point that my speed is still active.

What was also encouraging is that both Wednesday and Sunday sessions were on rolling courses similar to what I will face at Gettysburg. The hills didn't have any effect on my tempo or effort, so I know I am getting stronger.

Hope everyone else had a great week.

dcrunner - Congrats on a solid race, sounds like you ran it perfectly. Good work on finishing 2nd overall in the league standings...any prizes come with that distinction?

Numbersguy - Good stuff this week! Glad to hear that Nemo didn't hit you too hard where you're at. Looking at pictures from folks I know up there (including Another) there are some areas that were completely inundated with snow. FWIW, I love workouts like what you did Sunday, combining a long run (or middle long run) with a workout...I look at it as killing two birds with one stone.

Goal Race: Boston Marathon

Goal Time: 2:25

I had a pretty good week, I've been able to manage my achilles just fine. Early in the week, I was really worried it was gonna be an issue in the coming weeks, however it seems to be mostly a non-issue now. I suppose the ibuprofen regimen, religious icing, and stretching 3x per day has done the trick. The hard part now is keeping it away!

M: am - 6 easy (7:38) / pm - 6 easy (7:49)

Tu: am - 10 easy w/ random fartlek (6:33) / pm - 6 easy (7:38)

W: am - 15 easy (7:25) / pm - 6 easy (7:54)

Th: am - 10 total w/ 4 miles of in/out 400's (avg. 73.8/89.6) / pm - 6 easy (8:04)

F: 6 easy (8:02)

Sa: am - 8 total w/ 4 mile tempo (5:29, 5:26, 5:18, 5:17) / pm - 6 easy (7:59)

Su: 20 easy/progression (7:01) - 1st 10 @ 7:28, 2nd 10 @ 6:33

Weekly Total - 105 miles

YTD - 476 miles

Pretty happy with how the workouts went this week, really nothing too surprising except the long run. Lately, I've been struggling on runs after the 2 hour mark. But this run, I felt like crap for the first hour and felt great the rest of the run. I was even able to run 6:15's the last 5 miles without putting in any extra effort.

dcrunner0910 - brilliant race. What a fantastic way to close out your XC season. Congrats.

Numbersguy - great week with some excellent quality sessions in there.

pablo - very nicely structured week, impressive stuff. Pleased to hear the achilles is behaving itself.

Goal Race: London

Next Race: Bath 1/2M

M - 5 easy / 10 easy

T - 10 easy

W - 13 (incl. hilly (750ft climb) 11M loop @ 6:25m/m; 6:44m/m for the 13)

T - 5 easy / 10 easy

F - 12 (incl. 3k - 2k - 10 x 400m in 10:03, 6:39, 77.5 avg (79-75s), off 4 min, 3 min, 1 min rest)

S - 8 easy

S - 21 (incl. 3 x 5k @ 6:30, 6:12, 5:58m/m; 6:55 avg for the 21)

Total: 94

Decent week. Have got a number for Stamford 30k next Sunday which I'm planning to do as a training run.

Hope you all had a great week. Feel for the people on the East who got hammered with the snow.

pablo - since I didn't get to race yesterday, my coach wanted a "hybrid" workout/long run. So you and he must be on the same page. :)

And I am counting correctly? 4 quality runs for last week (fartlek, Pablo quarters, tempo, long run)?! If your Achilles isn't screaming after that, I would say you are in the clear!

BTW, I should have waited until this morning to post it, but did you see my post at the very end of last week's thread? I thought of you as I was finishing up that book...I think you would especially enjoy it if you haven't already read it. Called Chasing Ghosts by Philip J Reilly.

On the move and posting from phone so will reply tomorrow. Half Marathon in 3 weeks. Good XC race yesterday - last of the season.

Monday: 16km easy (16)

Tuesday: 2x5x1000m off 200 jog with 800m between sets + 6x100 sprints 3:09/09/09/09/08, 3:06/05/06/07/04 (21)

Wednesday: Rest (0)

Thursday: 19km easy (19)

Friday: 6km with my wife (6)

Saturday: Birmingham League D1, 31st in 35:07. Team 6th overall in league. (20)

Sunday: 30km steady (30)

Week total: 112km

Monday: fartlek 2 up and down, 2:30, 3, 3:30, 3:30, 3, 2:30 (8)

Tuesday: 8 easy

Wednesday: workout 2 up and down, 2x1000 6x600 (8)

Thursday: 8 easy

Friday: 4 easy

Saturday: 2 easy

Sunday: 10 mi

Total: 48

Fartlek: went okay, kinda cold and tight, normal workout

Wednesday: went very good, was outside on the track for the first time in months, went 3:30, 3:20, 2:05, 2:05, 2:05, 1:58, 2:07, 2:08. Kinda died at the end but a improvement from the last weeks workouts

Race: non-existent unfortunately. Went for my warm up and could not get loose or pain-free for the life of me. Had been running hard all week on a slight strain in my calf. I don't know what happened overnight but hurt a hell of a lot more on race day. Went to see a trainer who said it was my Soleus and I shouldn't run. Bummed out about that.

Overall my week was better until around Saturday then it went to crap. I was confident in all my runs that I was on the mend, but things just kinda wore me down by the weekend. Indoor is over now and I think a 3 day recovery session is in order. Gonna get some intensive icing, stretching and rehabing in and come back stronger. Confident I can consolidate my gains and come into outdoor a better runner.

Goal Race: Livestrong Half 2/17

Time: Who knows?

M- 5.1 @ 8:21/mile

T- 7 @ 8:04/mile

W- 5 @ 7:52/mile

T- 5.1 @ 7:58/mile

F- 5.5 @ 7:17/mile

S- 5.3 @ 7:37/mile

S- 7 @ 7:50/mile

TOTAL= 40 miles

YTD= 275.2 miles

Down week for me. Not really going to do anything except easy running and strides until the race next week. After that I'm debating whether to do speedwork and run some track races or increase my mileage and try to get to 70 mpw before doing anything else. Leaning towards the latter.

Happy Sunday fellow racers.

A nice even 40 miles for me this week. Nothing too crazy -4 mile trail/slightly hilly tempo for me Wednesday (6:42, 6:17, 6:00, 5:53). Please read on and give me some input on these runs if you have time.

DC - gr8 race, awesome season

Pablo - solid week (sick tempo as well)

Marm - good luck in the 30K

Brum - Nice CC race

Tiger - heal up my friend

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I’ve been getting back into tempos lately and would like to get feedback on what you all feel is the best way to do them. You can label them whatever you want (LTs, Tempos, Steady-States), but when I run them, it is primarily by feel and not by time. I’ve always liked starting out honest, but slowly building into a good, hard clip – maybe 65-70% for most of the run, then hitting the gas the last mile or so and negative splitting. When I do them right, that last mile really isn’t that much faster than the one before, but it feels faster and hurts like hell. The benefits IMO are twofold: 1) I am able to gradually ease my 42 year old bones into some pretty fast running without the shock of blasting off the line and 2) I finish strong and with confidence for my upcoming races, but still get to taste the pain that will accompany a hard effort. If anything, I probably run the last few miles too hard, but like to push.

The other school of thought is that you run consistently hard, but in control, throughout the run, which is obviously more in-line with a real race situation. I will do these occasionally, but even then, my last few miles are almost always faster than the 1st. Usually not true in races. If I ran my races the way I ran tempos, I would lose at least 30-40 seconds on the 1st 2 miles because of my slow start. Those are seconds I could never get back no matter how dramatically I negative split the race.

A 3rd and even more drastic way to run these is to blast the 1st mile and then try and tempo out the remainder of the run with respectable splits. This is how Gerry Lindgren reported he would run hard 10 milers. Seemed to work for him. Putting yourself in immediate oxygen debt, going in the hurt locker and never coming out. Does not sound fun, but I’ve been in my fair share of races that have gone out too hard and became gutchecks. Again, another good way to simulate a possible race scenario. Probably no longer a true “tempo,” but I don’t care about the label. If it will help me run faster, I will give it a shot.

I am looking for feedback on what method has worked best for all of you. Should I stick with how I’m doing them? Try a variation? Thanks in advance.

dc- Nice race! Good time to collect silver....

numbersguy - Nice 7 mile tempo run. I also like the structure of your sunday run.

pablo - lots of quality. glad your injury is under control

marmite - as always: the ultimate role model

Well, i received accolades from the group here last week for my busy week but it jinxed me for this week.... I had another redeye on Monday night (my 3rd in 8 days) and it really killed me this week.

M: 4 treadmill recovery. Then red eye flight.

T: zonked

W: 3 treadmill. Stopped early. Legs like lead.

R: tired

F: 18.5 with 16 (7:22) undulating difficult course.

S: 6 treadmill recovery

S: 16 (7:47). Out at 8:00 and back at 7:35.

Week: 47.5

Friday was quite good. An 8 mile route with only ups and downs (nothing flat). I did the first loop at 7:16 and the second loop at 7:28. Feeling ok for the light week but annoyed at the low mileage.

I'm going to follow my normal pattern of posting now and commenting later, but already I see some good stuff. Solid week for me of mostly volume with just a bit of harder efforts thrown in.

Goal: 2:4x

Races: Boston/Pocono

Mon - 6 (7:35 Easy)

Tues - 4am 10pm (7:54am, 7:42pm. PM included weekly group hill run and 1x1200 at the end in place of strides on a snow covered track.)

Wed - 15 (7:00 Moderate effort outbound of 7:10-:15's. Added some 1/2 MP fartlek on the way back just to make the run more interesting. 6x 3-3:30 at 6:20ish with 1:30-3 recovery at probably a little over 7)

Thurs - 6am 4pm (7:46am 7:26pm Tired)

Fri - 7.5 early pm, 6 slightly later pm (7:04,7:18 Weather/schedule split my run up and I ended up running at 2 and 6:30. Felt pretty tired)

Sat - 8.5 (7:30 Wind sucks! Easy but way tired. Included 8x100 on an only very slightly slippery and snow covered parking lot)

Sun - 20.2 (7:22 Avg. Really eased into it, but then spent most of the first 12 in the 7:20-30 range. Picked up to 7's for 4-5 miles, got back to a marked two miles near the end thinking I was wiped out and wouldn't be able to run hard, but picked it up to roughly 6:40,6:30.)

After the way I felt Saturday I was just hoping I could finish my whole run on Sunday. Very pleasantly surprised by how I was able to run, but I'm feeling pretty tired right now. Had the perfect combination of partners for the run. One for the first 11+ who was tired and kept us moderate before he stopped then one who is faster and pushed me for the second half. He actually dropped down to sub 6 pace for a bit during the two mile push at the end.

dcrunner: Very nice! Always great when you surprise yourself. And congrats on 2nd in your category!

Numbersguy: I like that sunday long run with the marathon goal pace miles built in. I think they really help

pablo: looking good pablo. glad the Achilles is feeling better.

marmite: Liking that long run mixed with some faster stuff also. Are you just going to run your normal long run pace for the 30k or pick it up some?

brumrunner: How long are those XC races?

tiger: How did your sunday 10mi run feel after saturday?

darwinian: enjoy the easy running of the down week.

has been: For the tempos I like working into a nice negative split. I feel like it gets you working hard when your body is tired and wants to slow.

CTA: rough week with the traveling. Couple of nice long runs mixed in there at least

VF: Solid week and nice long run. Exactly what I like doing for mine, slowly building the whole way.

Goal race: Boston 4/15 2:37-2:40

Mon: 22 + 5 + XT (27)

Tues: 8 + 5 easy (13)

Wed: 12(9building) + 8 (20)

Thurs: 8 + 6 easy (14)

Fri: 8.5 easy/accel (8.5)

Sat: 12 (9building) + 8.5 + XT (20.5)

Sun: 20 (20)

Total: 123

Mon: 22 in 2:41 or so. Added a 2nd run with leg cross training.

Wed: 9mi building 618,617,614,602,553,555,546,543,538. Was dead the day before with work being busy and not much sleep. Took 400mg caffeine about an hour before the run. Surprised how much that helps.

Sat: 9mi building 616,618,610,601,557,555,547,543,539. Feeling much better today, no caffeine needed haha.

Sun: 20 in 2:26 was spent by 20, wanted to get 20-22 so I figured that was good enough. Slowly progressed from 740s-650s.

One more week in the 120 range, even though I dont think it will be possible next week. Hopefully drop back down to 100 or so and start doing some marathon specific stuff.

Found out the local YMCA has an alter g and has decent pricing. I may look into it and start adding 2 easy runs a week on it.

nice job above- alot of miles getting run

2/24 7mi marathon relay leg

5/12 delaware half

10/13 chicago full

46 in 5 days...far from the 55 in 3 days i did last week

28" of snow for me from this storm- i had to treadmill today so im going to have to be very creative with my runs the next couple weeks. sucks-i had been running in the trails the week leading up to friday too

Oops. Total for the week 87.2

May as well comment a bit.

dcrunner Nice.Congrats on the successful XC season.

Numbersguy Glad you bagged the race. Yesterday was NOT racing weather around here. Some solid work this week even without the race.

Pablo Your "off" pace for your Pablo Quarters is about my "on" pace. Great week.

marmite & brum Nice weeks with some good quality in there.

Tiger_Runner Sorry about the race, but it would have been a shame to have a setback after running well early in the week.

has ... was I'd say some variety is best in the long run. I tend to do most of mine in the fairly steady category, but there are days when I will just slowly ramp up and the occasional day when I start too fast, say a loud "Oh s***!" to myself after about a mile and try to hand on. Certainly using more variety has you ready for whatever race day brings.

CTA Think of it as an unplanned recovery week. You'll probably feel great this coming week.

NP1112 Damn solid week. Nice progressions.

Hi Folks,

Great job everyone. Keep rocking!

Goal- 5k 2/17 18:36

half mary 3/9- 1:28

Philly marathon 2:55 this fall.

HELLISH week of work for me. Although I felt some random sharp pain in my achilles after my run on Monday (no pain during the run), so perhaps the timing was fortuitous.

5 miles monday-749 pace- felt like garbage.

Sunday- 5.26 7:50 pace miles on track barefoot. was flying towards the end and the cobwebs are out. Looking forward to less work and more running now that a huge project has wrapped up :).

Cheers All

numbers- great week for you... was the 6*1mi today done at 10k or MP?

pablo- great news on the achilles... and a massive week as well! i agree with you about the combining long runs and workouts... its something i may start doing once race pace stuff kicks in... and yes prizes are given out. i finished 4th overall last xc season and got a little shield, maybe 2nd place gets something more eye-catching!

marmite- awesome week ben. i like the friday workout you did... may have to use that one myself :)

brum- nice stuff this week, especially the k's session... great result for you and your team in the brum league. what team do you run for?

tiger- sorry to hear about you pulling out of the race. your 3 day recovery plan sounds like the right thing to do.

darwinian- normally after a target race, i move onto just training for random races. so for me i'm training for a 10k in May, after that i'll just be running 5ks through the summer so a lot of fast sharp interval sessions. take advantage of your race pace and build up on it!

has been- going out hard and trying to maintain it might be a good approach, as it gets you in some sort of race simulation perhaps? i find it hard to do tempo runs without my watch because i always go out too hard at the start, i've learn't a lot about pacing myself correctly by using my garmin. its about doing whats best for you!

CTA- nice friday workout. lot of treadmill running done, has the weather been pretty bad over there?

vf- a decent week. it amazes me whenever i feel drained after a run and then go the next day and feel fantastic! the body is fascinating sometimes...

np112- wow thats a big week! 123 miles and some great sessions... always great to see that sort of training come together!

themack- ouch 28" of snow, sounds bad!

great weeks by everyone, especially those traveling or dealing with the snow. any work you can put in is better than no work, especially when you are healthy/able/motivated!

goals: sub2 8, sub4 15, sub15 5K, spring/summer 2013

next race: 800/3200 double 2/16

M - pm1 weights

pm2 8 easy + 8x strides

T - am plyos + track 10xflying30m

pm - 12 easy/steady

W - 9 easy + 9x strides + core work

Th - am 5 on track (2warmup, workout, 1cd)

(2-2-2-3-3-2-2-2) @ 800m pace w/200 jog recovery

(30-29-29-45-45-29-29-29)

pm - 12 w/fartlek 6x(3on,2off)

F - am 9 easy + 10x strides

S - am 8 easy + 8x strides

pm - plyos + track 4x100m,1x300m (12.7,12.7,12.8,13.0,42.1)

S - 15 w/30min tempo + core work

78 total

tired this week physically and mentally as the last 4 weeks (73,71,83,78) were my biggest volume-wise in over a year and a half (plus i'm doing an additional ~4 hours of weights, plyos, sprint work, core, etc.). looking forward to keeping the volume up for one more week, taking a crack at my 800m PR on Saturday, then taking a down week to recover a bit & plan out the next few months training + races.