Road Racing and Training Thread - Week Ending 7/20

Goal races:

9/20 Air Force Marathon (2:24:59 or faster)

8/17 America's Finest City Half (1:06:59 or faster)

"B" races - 5K this weekend, 10K next weekend.

Week 4 of 13 - 113 miles.

Monday: 18 miles (12 miles AM with 10 @ 6:10, 6 easy PM)

Tuesday: 16 miles (8 easy AM, 8 easy PM)

Wednesday:21 miles (14 AM with 24x400s, 7 easy PM)

Thursday: 16 miles (10 easy AM, 6 miles easy PM)

Friday; 11 miles (6 easy AM, 5 easy PM)

Saturday: 18 miles (12 miles AM with 10K race in 33:04, 6 easy PM)

Sunday: 13 miles medium long-run.

Up-and-down week. I ran the longest 400s workout of my life on Wednesday with one of my new training partners. We were both racing the 10K on Saturday so he proposed running the workout with one of the local female elites and running a bit faster every other one. (so we ran 75-70-75-70 etc...) We averaged 70.2 for the fast ones and 74.6 for the slow ones. (average rest was 64s in between)

The 10K was on a slight downhill course, although most people still end up running 30-40s slower than they would at sea level. I was hoping to run in the mid-low 31s but just absolutely fell apart around 2.5 miles. Rough mile splits - 4:56, 5:06, 5:17, 5:28, 5:23, 5:48. The first 2 miles is where the elevation loss took place so the slow down for miles 3-5 wasn't as bad as it seemed but it still sucked. The last mile I was in no-man's land so sad to say I pretty much gave up at that point. Probably my worst race since January of 2013, but I think I was due for a bad race and it's probably better that it happened now than any other time. I think I know why it happened so I just need to adjust my training a bit the next few weeks.

I think my body is pretty much on edge at this point, so I cut my planned long run from 20 to 18 to 15 then to 13 today. I have a couple of races coming up that I would like to run better in so I am going to drop down and probably run in the 80-90 mile range for the next 3 weeks before tapering a bit more for the AFC half.

Hope everyone else had good weeks.

Goal - Race XC, Week 8/25

M: 5 mi

T: 5.3 mi w/ 5 min @ 6:24 pace

W: Off

Th: 5 mi w/ 3 Hill Sprints, Strength and Core after. 1st time in 4 months. I was pleasantly surprised that I could do 30 nose to ground pushups without too much difficulty.

F: 3.7 mi

S: 6 mi w/ 15 min pick up @ 6:57 pace

Total - 25

Hey everbody! :D

Goal Race: Dublin Marathon

Goal Time: Sub 3

Mon: 8m ez (7.48)

Tue: 6m w/2x2m @ 10m pace w/2min rec (6.31)

Wed: 8m ez (7.45)

Thu: 1x9min(5.50)1x6min(6.52)1x12(8.00) w/3min rec

Fri: rest

Sat: 10k race (39.47)

Sun: rest

Total: 36m

Very happy this week! Hit my goal of sub-40 in the 10k. I was starting to have doubts about my sub-3 goal but this has given my confidence a boost.

I bought a road bike during the week and started doing some cross-training in the evenings( just some easy cardio in low gears with a high cadence). Tuesday's session was in preparation for a 10 miler next Sunday which will be my last race for a few weeks.I took Thursday's session was a little easy bar the first rep. I always like to get a good interval rep in a few days before a race. I sat back on the second rep and I paced a clubmate on the last one.

Race Report:

I got my race number and info on Friday which included the route and elevation info which gave me a huge scare. The elevation profile showed an elevation gain of 950ish feet in the first 4km and numerous other climbs of between 300ft to 500ft at monstrous gradients. I braced myself for a day of torture and no chance of hitting my goal.

Mile 1: 6.24. Held myself back alot. I usually start way too fast but I wasn't going to take any chances on this course.

Mile 2: 6.32. Started to hit the bottom of the climb and the road was gone and changed to trails just after 3k. I felt very strong considering I usually struggle on climbs.

Mile 3: 6.15. Lovely downhill section through the woods!! I felt very controlled at this stage and was picking up alot places.

Mile 4: I have no idea of mile splits from here on in as I never looked at my watch. Still gaining places and avoiding horses and carts. Probably the flattest section of the course.

Mile 5: Really rolling section with sharp inclines and declines from just after 4miles. My hill strength seems to be improving alot. My pace wasn't suffering as much as I thought it would. Still feeling strong.

Mile 6: I passed two other guys and they latched onto the back of me and started sharing pacing duties. A gradual climb from about 5.5 miles to the finish.

Mile 6.2: 39.47. The two guys left me for dust in a sprint finish. I didn't have it in me to go with them. Threw up after a race for the first time after crossing the line but I had a lovely pukey smile on my face.:D

You might be wondering about the elevation so I said I would let you find out the same way which was after the race. The profile was mis-printed as 950ft was actually 95metres and so on. It was a difficult course but it was a still a huge relief considering my expectations.

This was one of those races that flew by and I was delighted with the result.

Hope everyone had a great week!! :D

Goal: Sub-18 5K by Nov. 1

M - Rest

Tu - 4.5 miles (7:47)

We - Ladder (400-800-1200-1600-1200-800-400) (1:30, 2:57, 4:22, 5:59, 4:32, 2:59, 1:29) Plus mile warmup

Th - Rest

F - 6 mile tempo (7:50, 6:37, 6:37, 7:35, 6:40, 7:44) 7:21 pace overall

Sa - 3.5 miles (8:03)

Su - 8 miles (8:01)

Total 27 miles

Very happy with this week. Most happy with how great my tempo run went on Friday. Will run mostly easy miles plus some strides this week before a 10K next Saturday. Hoping to break 40 for the 10K - hoping cooler weather sticks around for it.

Goal Race: Philly Marathon (11/23)

Goal Time: sub-3:00

Next Race: Hudepohl 14k (9/20)

M- off

Tu- 4 easy (8:30) AM / 9 Progression PM

W- 8 easy (8:05)

Th- 5 easy (8:20)

F- 8 with 8x150m on, 250m jog / Physical Therapy

Sa- 10 easy (7:53)

Su- 15 (7:27)

Total- 59

Feeling pretty good about this week. Tuesday's progression run just kind of happened. Halfway through the run I was tired of running 8min pace, so I decided to pick it up. Next 2.5 at 7min pace, last 2 at 6:30. Just let it rip.

On Friday afternoon, the physical therapist thought my lingering hamstring tendinitis could be due to overstriding/low cadence. So Saturday's run, I counted my strides, and sure enough, I was around 150 strides/min. I'm 6'2" and I'm used to taking long strides, so shortening my stride feels weird. However, I started taking shorter strides (I'm now up around 170 strides/min) and the run was faster and my legs (especially hamstring) didn't feel beat up afterward. Same with today's long run. I just need to be careful, because I'm running "from the hips" more, so I'm putting more stress on my hip flexors, groin, etc.

Stone Cutter--Good to see you on the mend! I'm looking forward to comparing notes as we both tackle the Hanson's plan in prep for Philly.

GarbageDisposal--That's an impressive 400 workout and a good week overall, despite the disappointing race. I hope dropping the mileage gets you feeling fresh.

pewow--I'm not sure I could do 30 straight pushups, and I've been lifting somewhat regularly...

Netwerk Errer--Nice race! A 95m gain in elevation is drastically different from 950ft. Good work, whoever was in charge of that. Also, you had to dodge horses?

Southporter--Good week! How much rest did you have between intervals on that ladder?

Goals:

sub 16 5k

4:35 mile

Mon- 6 at 7:04

Tue- 6 at 6:22 w/4 miles at 5:53.5 (5:55, 5:57, 5:59, 5:43) + 4x :08 hill sprints + core

Wed- 7 at 6:59

Thur- 6 at 7:05 w/4 strides

Fri- 6 at 6:30 w/8x 2min on/1min off in the middle

Sat- 5 at 7:03

Sun- 11 at 6:59 (38:50, 37:58) w/4 strides

Total: 47 miles in 7 days

This by far has been the best week of training I've had this summer (maybe ever). I continue to feel fresh and aerobically strong on all of my runs. Thankfully this summer's been fairly cool in TX, so I have not been overheating.

The 4 mile tempo went very well. I was actually surprised myself with how fit I really am. I ran pretty evenly and was able to pick it up the last mile. I felt like I was able to keep a steady pace without building up acid in my body.

The Fartlek was also really fun. I have always enjoyed time fartleks as I don't have to think about the pace as much; I just run by feel. I ran the 2 min on around 5k-10k effort and let myself push the pace on the last one.

Sunday's long run was also really good. It was nice and cool outside and it was fairly quiet in my neighborhood. I felt strong throughout the run and was able to stay relaxed/keep my form. I picked It up a little in the last quarter on the run and had a last .5 in 3:16.

Overall, this was a very solid week of training for me. I am getting the mileage in while running workouts that I feel are stimulating my body exactly how I want them to.

I hope everyone else had a good week!

zebes wrote:

Southporter--Good week! How much rest did you have between intervals on that ladder?

My rest was about 50% of the time I ran on the preceding interval.I probably should have taken less rest after the second 1200 and 800, but otherwise I felt like that wored well.

Some early comments:

TheGarbageDisposal - $#*&! Even despite your disappointing race result, your training has reached another whole level.

pewow[b/] - Way back in the day, I could bench press my body weight 15 times consecutively. Nowadays, I doubt I can do 15 pushups consecutively. :)

Netwerk Errer - I just KNEW you had sub-40:00 in you! Congrats on a great race, especially showing discipline in the early stages. I would think on a flatter course and a more aggressive approach, you could scare mid-38.

Southporter - Very impressive consistency on that ladder workout. If your recoveries were 400m jogs or less, I would think you could run ~18:30 right now. Should you continue your consistent training, I think you'll have no problem hitting sub-18 by November.

zebes - That's the kind of week I wish I ran this week. :)

Oh well, plenty of time for Philly, and it will be fun to track each other along the way. Having successfully used a Hansons' plan to run 2:55, I can vouch that if you follow the workouts and take the easy days easy, you'll be prepared to hit your goal.

KBXC - A week full of great running there, well done. I have always enjoyed fartleks as well.

Oh no, egregious bold fail! :)

Sorry for my lack of comments towards the back half of last week. I did get a chance to read the thread but didn't get a chance to post more due to work obligations. Hopefully I am better this week:)

The Stone Cutter - Great news on the motivation being back and more importantly your leg problems clearing up.

GarbageDisposal - I had my weeks mixed up and I did the twilighter this week after all. My family is coming to visit next weekend and I'm not sure if I will make it over to Crystal City but will try:(

The 400 workout is insane! Solid week overall and glad that you are recognizing a potential burnout/training issue ahead of time. I wouldnt sweat the 10k time too much, I mean look where it occurred in your training block. When are you heading east for the race?

pewow- another solid week. Do you plan to start adding more core to your routine?

Netwerk Errer-Congrats on the race and sub 40! Enjoyed reading your race report, throwing up is one of those things I have yet to experience from running.

Southporter-Great week. I'm a huge fan of the ladder intervals and like them mentally.

zebes-I found the same thing with my cadence. I'm usually in the 160s but when I focus on trying to maintain 180 with shorter strides find my time ends up being faster. Nice work on Tuesdays progression

KXBC-Quality workouts this week, especially that Tempo run Tuesday.

Goal Race: Columbus Marathon (A: 2:33, B: sub 2:35)

Weekly: 92.7

YTD: 2,696.4

Week 2/14

Mon: 10 E, 5 E PM - standard core routine 2 sets

Tues: 10 total AM 8 sets of hill intervals (2.5 wu/cd), 5 E PM + 10 minute static plank routine

Weds: 10 E AM, 5 E PM + p90x2 Ab Ripper

Thurs: 10 E AM. 4 E PM + 10 minute core at gym

Fri: 8 E AM + 10 minute static plank routine

Sat: 3 recovery AM @ 8:05, Twilight 8k - 27:33 (5:34/avg)

Sun: 13 E AM -standard core routine 2 sets + foam rolling

The 8k had an 8:45PM start and definitely not used to running this late at night. Trying to control my diet during the day was very difficult to say the least. I was hoping to go under 27:30 but unfortunately it wasn't in the cards. The course was much hillier than I anticipated (rollers). The first mile started out fast, obviously I went out a little too fast based on my splits but felt like it was an easy mile to gain time. I thought once I got through mile 2 I would be able to pull my split back down closer to 5:30 but for whatever reason 5:40 is where it stuck. Overall, it is another PR that I can take and improve on as I build my mileage from here over the coming weeks.

Splits: 5:17,5:41,5:40,5:40,5:27

@stonecutter Much better to have a couple of small issues now than in the middle of your 18 week marathon program. Also it works as a reminder to take it easy on easy runs, listen to the body and all the little things that are easily forgotten once in full training mode.

@garbagedisposal Wow, impressive 400m workout. I'm not any were in the same league as you, so it is a bit hard to judge but maybe those 400s were still in your legs on race day?

@Netwerk Errer Congrats on the 10k!

@zebes I had hamstring tightness for a long time and lightweight shoes and mid foot strike really helped. Have you ever tried to do some barefoot running on the grass/track?

@KBXC Very nice week. When is your 5k?

Hello everyone!

week 2/12, goal:+/-sub 60 10 miles

M 8 (7:42)

T 8 (7:50)

W 8 (7:27)

T 8 7 x 2 min around 5:35/5:40 pace

F 8 (8:28)

S 8 (8:02)

S 12 w/20 min Moderate (~6:50)

Tot 60

Even if the workout volume is still low I'm pretty tired, and I think I'm getting good training from the miles alone. I was planning on taking a down week with 1 day off after this one, but I don't feel completely spent after today's long run, so probably I'm starting to get accustomed to 60 mpw week after week.

That is my idea for this cycle, keeping 60 and build some good quality in it. Next week I'll do some short treshold workouts around 6 min pace and see how it feels (probably 10x800 in 3:00 w 200 jog) but If I feel I'm not recovering properly, I'll cut a bit of the mileage.

Hope everyone had a great week!

Goal: Railroad Days 10K

Goal time: A sub-39, B low 39, C PR (39:49), hopefully the weather behaves this time!

This week I was tired coming off of Club Nats, so I cut the intensity down, but surprisingly by the end of the week felt very good and ended up running more than I planned.

Monday: 8.5 miles at 8:06 pace. Tired but got a little into it. With 4 x hill sprints, maybe not smart right after racing. Strength later.

Tuesday: 6 + strides at 8:00 pace. Still recovering. Peroneals started to hurt on this run a little. Core later.

Wednesday AM: 5 at 8:05 with a Benadryl hangover.

Wednesday PM: Practice, 11.5 total. I had no idea this workout was going to be so long. With a Fartlek in Ravenna park, 7 x 3:00 fastish downhill, jog back up. I think it came out to a little under 7 miles in the park, my group was faster than they should have been, but I was back a group. Pace was supposed to be 6:25, I think I was closer to 6:10 unfortunately (I was trying to hold back but my group didn't feel like it).

Thursday: 10 very easy, negative split from like 8:20 to 7:50, starting very slow to make sure everything was OK, then building into a normal run. Still some peroneal pain, but decrescendo. Drills after. Core later in the day.

Friday: 6 + strides at 7:54. Feeling good, but still some outside ankle pain. Short strength at night.

Saturday AM: Practice, 10 total with a 20 minute tempo at about 6:40 pace, 5:00 jog into 3 x 800 with 2:30 rest. Tempo felt relaxed, 800s I kind of ran by feeling, didn't expect to feel good, but ran 2:56 / 2:54 / 2:50, which was surprising. Allergies were pretty bad but I took medicine and used my inhaler. Left peroneals still a bit sore, ice massage after.

Saturday PM: 4 very easy in the middle of nowhere after I got eliminated from an ITG tournament.

Sunday: 16 at 7:44 pace, feeling VERY good, peroneals better than yesterday but still a little nagging.

Total 78, which is actually a new weekly high. I figured I'd do 70-75, without doubling on Saturday if I was too tired, but come the weekend I was ahead because Wednesday ended up so long, and just felt good enough to roll with it and keep going. But my peroneals are still sore and I need to keep an eye on that. Ice massage is helping a LOT. It was really bad Wednesday night after running downhill fast on trails repeatedly in that Fartlek, but has gotten better since, and feels under control.

I'm not sure if I'm going to race this week or next at an all-comers. I'll do one or both. I'd really like to do the 3000 which is next week, and after the 10000 in the heat and the 5000 with the asthma I'm not really feeling the psychological difficult of a 5000 at 9:30PM possibly alone, so it really depends on if anyone else is doing it this week. Or maybe I'll run a mile and then do a tempo if my coach lets me. Hopefully I can reach him today or tomorrow and plan a little.

New poster here, this was a great week of training and the weather here felt like early fall, so it was awesome.

Goal: 1:09 half marathon

Monday: 8 Easy

Tuesday:AM 7 miles(6k tempo run @5:22 avg) PM: 5 easy

Wednesday: 10 easy

Thursday: 10(12k @ 5:27 avg, I ran the first 6k at steady state pace and then finished with tempo pace.

Friday: AM 6 easy Pm 6 easy.

Saturday: 9 miles( 5x1 mile tempo intervals with 1:20 rest, 5:22, 5:16,5:14,5:17,5:14)

Sunday: 14 @6:22 avg long run(best long run ive had in awhile)

total:75

Stone Cutter: Thanks man! Great to hear your injury has nearly cleared up. It's always good to identify issues early so you can focus on prevention and not treatment later in your cycle.

TheGarbageDisposal: Incredible week with a monstrous 400 session! Everyone has a disappointing race every so often. Head up and focus on the next one( I am sure you will do that anyway). More fire in the belly!!

pewow: solid week! Impressive on the pushups.

Southporter: strong week! Two very good quality sessions. You nailed the ladder session. Best of luck in the 10k.

zebes: Thanks man! Your base phase looks very strong. I am the same height as you and I suffered from a low cadence too last year. It does feel a little weird at first but kind of becomes natural through repitition. I still slip back into my old stride pattern every now and then but I can correct almost immediately.

I had to dodge horses and wagons. The race was ran through a famous national park where there is hundreds of horse and carraiges.

KBXC: Solid week! Week on week improvements with some very nice quality!

cmm268: Thanks man! Awesome week! Congrats on another PR! I am sure you will go lower soon considering where you are in your training. How far out are you from the marathon?

Slartzio: Thanks! Very nice week. Smart call on seeing how you feel next week. See how you feel and then make your decision.

Xenonscreams: Impressive week! Friday's session is very impressive. Best of luck in the races you choose to do!

mcbuckets: Welcome to the thread! It will be great to see how you progress.

Pfitzinger Plan Week 7/18

Goal: 2:40 at Portland Marathon, October 5

Monday: 10.2k recovery (am), 8.4k recovery (pm). Dang hot.

Tuesday: 16k LT workout (am), 8.2k recovery (pm). Pfitzinger called for the workout in the afternoon, but I knew the heat would nuke me if I did that so I opted to try it on slightly tired legs with cooler air temperatures.

Ran the 8k workout portion at 3:30/km, which I’m not thrilled about. I really blew up in the last 2k of the workout portion, going around 3:40. The overall speed was within the acceptable range for my training, so I guess I should be pleased I managed that. But this my second stinky LT workout in a row, so it’s hard not to be a bit concerned.

Wednesday: 8k recovery (am), 24k medium-long (pm). First 12k at 4:23/km, last 12 at 4:15/km.

This one was a bit of a slog. It was super hot, forest fire smoke gave the city the atmospheric qualities of Mordor, and about 5k in the enormous blister on my left heel popped. I think that altered my stride a bit, because afterward I felt soreness in bits where I don’t usually feel sore for the rest of the week. Still, got through it.

Thursday: 9k recovery (lunch), 9k recovery (pm). Lovely rain and cool air.

Friday: 22k medium-long. Much better than Wednesday: 4:15/km for first half, 3:48/km for last half. Probably pushed a bit too much at the end, but after Tuesday and Wednesday went poorly it felt fantastic to get to successfully wrestle a workout to the ground and make it submit to my will.

Saturday: 16k general aerobic + barefoot strides on grass. Wonderfully cool and rainy. 18k total.

Sunday: 32k long run (am). First 15.5 at 4:20/km, then 16k at 3:46/km, about a dozen gummy bears consumed. Small stitch with about 3k to go, but overall pretty good.

Total: 165k

First 100 mile week since last year, and I think it went pretty well overall. The weather and my own body presented a few challenges, but nothing, I think, that can’t be overcome with a little patience. Overall I feel like what Tour de France commentators call a “diesel engine.” That is, I can go at reasonably zippy speeds for a good little while, but I lack top speed.

But I guess that’s why you do LT workouts in the first place. Onward and upward!