Road Racing and Training Thread - Week Ending 10/19

The Stone cutter - that looks so freakin' damn good. You'll be ready 2 go come raceday...

My goal race has yet to be determined.

My goal is to build back up, stay healthy and have some fun out there running.

I think I had a good week, too. First week I ran every day! :-)

M – 9.5 easy (7:22), strength routine

T – 6 x 800 w/ 3' jogg (2:25.1 avg., closed in 2:21.1 slightly uphill without too much pain) (11); 4 easy (7:40)

W – 11 easy, slightly progressed down to a couple 6:20s. (7:07), strength routine

T – 5 easy (7:25) + strides

F – 10 mile progression tempo (5:40s >> low 5:20s, avg. 5:32) (16); 4 easy (7:38)

S – 9.5 easy (7:06)

S – 17 progression. Started easy (6:20s) and worked my way down to 5:30ish (5:58 avg.). Medium effort.

Tuesday felt a bit rusty and I could feel a little bit „intervall pain“ for the first time since long ago. Pleased with that one although 4:50-pace wasn't exactly a jogg.

Thursday I just took it easy. Better to progress a little bit too cautious.

Friday was surprisingly fast. While this was my longest tempo effort it was the fastest till now, too. Some rolling hills in there. Heading into the right direction.

Sunday was great. Felt better in the later miles than in the beginning. Nice run for me at this point.

What seems pretty good is that my HR drops significantly week after week on my runs. I really seem to be heading into the right direction. Had super much fun this week, too. Even on my tempo run I had to smile in the last miles as it was getting a bit rougher – I love the grind. So happy to be back out there... So that's all I can ask for right now.

Best regards

Pikachu

Hello all! Checking in post race really quick. Ended up running 69:06 for 9th place. I'll have splits updated later, but I hope everyone has a great week!

Forcerunner wrote:

Hello all! Checking in post race really quick. Ended up running 69:06 for 9th place. I'll have splits updated later, but I hope everyone has a great week!

Awesome job! Looking forward to the report. :)

One of the first to comment this week, for once (we'll see whether that holds true by the time I finish this post!).

First, I hope everyone who's racing this weekend does/has done well! Quick congrats to Forcerunner for a quick race, and I look forward to hearing the details!

This week was pretty good for me. Probably going to be my highest mileage (minuteage?) week this training cycle, as I don't think any of the other weeks going forwards really make sense for going any higher. Anyways:

M - 59 minute, kind of a progression, but progressed very fast and mostly over the last 2.5 miles or so.

T - Long steady state run. Was pretty hot. 71 min, maybe 7 or a bit more miles of faster stuff.

W - AM 38 min, hot and humid like the summer. PM - got drenched early on in the run, leading to terrible chafing. 73 min plus 6 strides.

Th- 55 min just before sunset. Not the run I wanted, but glad I got something in on a Thursday for once. Afterchafe was beyond awful.

F - AM 38:30 easy, part with one of the varsity girls. PM 71 min w/ 3x2 mile tempo on 2-3 min recovery, 11:36, 11:26, 11:24.

Sa- AM 38:30 easy. PM 53 min with 8 x 8s hill sprints

Su- I think 1:48 on this run, but tested out a GPS watch for most of the middle and didn't get the total time. Middle 13.1 or so miles at around 6:30-6:40, mostly on flats.

Total- 605 min

Tuesday workout: Was pretty hot, humid, and windy (especially on the way back), so not really ideal condiitons, but not terrible. Short warm up into (mostly half mile splits), 3:15, 3:04, 3:06, 3:09, 3:06, 3:09, then another 3:18 before jogging for about 4 minutes and getting rehydrated (turned around after 3 min, I think). Then 5:16 to first marker, 3:12, 3:15, 3:09, 3:05, 3:02, 1:21 (probably slightly less than 1/4 mile). Wasn't one of my best workouts ever, but I'm glad I was able to rally at the end. Felt like a different runner after this workout for some reason. Sort of "harder," if that makes any sense.

Friday workout: Joined up with some other guys from the club, all of whom seem to be in better shape than me, so I was mostly on my own for this one. First one the splits were roughly 5:50 then 5:46, second one was roughly 5:46 then 5:40, then the last one was 5:54 then 5:30. Got a little chatty at the beginning of the last one with someone who'd been abandoned by the faster group while pooping, so the start was unintentionally slow, then gave chase to him the second mile. Kind of stupid, but on the other hand it's probably good for me to get practice shifting out of a comfortable pace and giving chase to people who put on a move (and now I know I can be chatty at 5:54 pace!). Had to push the legs a little more like it was a race rather than a tempo during a few stretches in the 5:30, but otherwise it felt relatively sustainable.

Goal: sub 30 8k - Yes

Next Race: Road 5k in two weeks

M: 5.5 2/ 2 mile tempo of 200m up hill (avg 45), 200m down. Feeling sore from tough end of last week

T: Off

W: 5.5

Th: 6.5

F: 3 w/ strides

S: 1.5 mi warmup, 8k XC race in 29:49 358/447 (1600m splits 6:02, 6:07, 6:00, 5:53, 5:49), long cooldown very easy. Didn't time

Su: 3 very easy

Total - 33.5

Perfect weather, 45 degrees and little wind. Race was pretty typical golf course fair. The course wound around to run 3 times up the one hill that was gradual for ~200m and then kicked skywards for 30-40 meters at the very end. 1st time at 2k the hill wasn't bad. 2nd time up at 5k the hill was really tough high stepping up the steep part. 3rd time up 600m out from the finish line I was wondering how the heck I was supposed to make it to the finish line.

Very happy with the race. Going to race shorter distances for the next couple weeks. Maybe a 5k or two and then I want to end with a mile time trial before closing up my fall racing.

pewow wrote:

Goal: sub 30 8k - Yes

8k XC race in 29:49 358/447 (1600m splits 6:02, 6:07, 6:00, 5:53, 5:49)

And a negative split at that...now that's the way to do it! Great job, man. For some reason, I thought your 8K was next week, or else I would have of course included you in my well-wishes. It doesn't look like you needed them anyway, haha. Way to go!

Stone: Another great week. keep it up! I have a similar feeling going. waiting for that switch to flip myself. I think your confidence is helping on the tough weeks. dont be afraid!

pikachu: solid! you get into shape fairly quick it seems.

Force: very nice on the placing and time! looking forward to a report.

stevenJ: congrats on the mileage...minuteage? high haha. solid workouts mixed in this week.

cmm: I know you havent posted. but big congrats!

The Stone Cutter wrote:

And a negative split at that...now that's the way to do it! Great job, man. For some reason, I thought your 8K was next week, or else I would have of course included you in my well-wishes. It doesn't look like you needed them anyway, haha. Way to go!

Thank you, you are looking good for your marathon. 2 unplanned days off in over three months is really promising.

A Goal: USA 50 mile road champs 10/25

B Goal: Tunnel Hill 100 miler 11/15

Mon: 4 + 4 (8)

Tues: 6 + 4 (10)

Wed: 8(6@GP) + 4 (14)

Thurs: 5

Fri: 4 + 8 (12)

Sat: 8 + 6 (14)

Sun: 10 + 4 (14)

Total: 77

Tough taper week. Planned more around 80mpw. But Thursday my right leg got very tight. Was supposed to do 14 with 4@GP saturday but I wasnt feeling it. Hoping things come around in the next few days. I think my body is wondering what the hell is going on not running 120+ mpw.

Hey everyone!!

Forcerunner- Well done man!! Looking forward to your race report.

Pewow- Brilliant running!! Big negative split and hit your target. Looks like you don't have to remeasure that workout route!

Cmm268- Well done man! That was some serious running! Can't wait for the race report!

Goal Race: Dublin Marathon (10/27)

Goal Time: Sub 3

6'2/25/151 lbs

Not going to bother showing my week. My ankle has heeled up perfectly. It was a little stiff the first day back so I decided to run on artificial turf. I have missed two long runs now because I didn't want to take the risk this weekend because I was still overcompensating for the injury.

Hope everyone had a great week!:)

Goal Race- Houston Marathon

Mon- 10 miles at 7:03 pace. Strides.

Tue- 13 miles. 3x2miles with 3 minute active rest at marathon goal pace. 10:28 avg. (10:37, 10:28, 10:21).

Wed- 14 miles recovery. 10 miles at 7:03 pace and 4 miles at 7:07 pace. Light weights.

Thur- 8 miles easy at 7:04 pace. Strides.

Fri- 16 miles long at 6:18 pace. Progressed the last 6 miles at 5:42 avg. (5:59, 5:54, 5:48, 5:38, 5:34, 5:24)

Sat- 10 miles recovery at 7:02 pace. Light weights.

Sun- 10 miles easy at 6:47 pace. Strides.

Total- 81 miles

This week went pretty good. Tuesday workout was just something to get the legs going. Pretty easy effort overall. The long run on Friday went better than I thought it would. I'm trying to stay overall 5:30 pace at the end of the long run but I just felt good. Very smooth run. The workouts will get tougher this next week. Ill comment throughout the week.

Goal: CIM 12/7 @ sub-2:50

44 y.o, 6'0", 148 lbs

Looks like some great weeks again. I'll wait for some others to post before I add comments. But for now, here's my week...

80.5 miles. Overall decent week considering I still had a bit of last Sunday's HM tuneup in my legs.

M - 8m easy

T - 14m hilly @ 7:15, felt very relaxed

W - 8m easy

T - 12m with 6x1 @ 5:45, 6x10sec steep hill sprints

F - 8m easy

S - 20.5m hilly with 9@7:15, 8.5@6:30, 3@8:00

S - 10m easy with 10x100m strides

4 short core/strength sessions after runs on M, W, F, Sun.

Overall feeling really good. Will continue to focus on the MP and LT paces for the next 4 weeks. Last HM tuneup on 11/16. Then will sharpen and dial in nutrition and sleep the final 3 weeks leading up to 12/7.

Oct 13/Oct 20

Hello everyone!

M 5 Easy + Weights

T 5 8 x 400 (~1:20/22) 2:30 Recovery Jog

W 5 Very Easy

T 4 Very Easy + Weights

F 6 12:30min x 2 @ tempo (6:33/6:29)

S 5 Easy

S 8 w/6m moderate (6:54)

T 38

Low mileage and more intensity, I'm really enjoying this format right now. I'm a bit in a rush but wanted to post anyway, I'll be back in the evening for comments!

Hope everyone had a great week!

Goals:

Place high at XC meets

After months of awesome training and racing, this week was a rough one. It started off well, with 9 at 6:45 pace. On Tuesday I felt pretty sick so my coach let told me to skip the workout and run 20 minutes slow. I felt really drained and had no energy that run. That night I had a really intense fever and had the cold sweats throughout the night. Luckily we had the PSAT the next day, so I was able to go get 12 hours of sleep. On Wednesday I began to feel better, so I joined the team for a 6.5 mile easy run. I had more energy this run, but I felt mentally cloudy (almost a concust-like feeling) and was definitely not 100%. I again had the cold sweats that night, but felt better in the morning. That day we had an important workout (600, 1k, 1k, 1k,1k, 400) but I bagged it during the 2nd 1k. The pace/my breathing felt fine, but I felt dizzy and nauseous so I stopped. I ran 3 easy on Friday and felt ok, but I didn't know if i was going to race or not. I decided on during the next day that I needed to race, as we were still undefeated in dual meets and this race was going to be a close one. My coach and I both agreed that the race wasn't going to be spectacular; I just needed to get the points for the team.

Well, the race ended up going pretty poorly for me. The pace felt fast/hard from the start. I felt worse less than 1 mile in than I usually do over halfway through the race. I stayed with the leader until about 1.5 in, which is when things went bad. My breathing was struggling and my form broke down. I had to stop for 10-15 seconds to catch my breath before I began to jog it in. I had a large gap on third place, so I just needed to hold on for 1.5 miles. I felt ok the last mile, but that was because I was just jogging. I held on in the end, placing second overall. Our #2 runner, who was a dominate #1 runner last year with a 15:55 5k pr, won the race by a little over a minute. In the end we won 25-30, so I'm glad I toughed it out and finished the race.

This definitely a race to forget; I was not myself that day. I know that I was sick and I didn't do any workouts, but it definitely frustrated me. I didn't like not feeling like my usual self. I'll be honest, it was also a big blow to my ego. I really hate losing, and it was discouraging coming in second feeling that bad. I know the most important thing for me is to get healthy so I can get some good workouts in before the championship season. I'm feeling a lot better today, as I decided to take the day off to rest. I've been very diligent throughout the week to make sure that I eat well, rest, and keep doing some natural remedies that have been helping.

I know that this is just a bump in the road to success and in order to achieve my goals I need positive and bounce back. I hope everyone else had a great week!

Thanks everyone! Not quite the sub 2:35 I had hoped for but still cracked the top 15 and will type up a lengthy race report to bore you on my flight tomorrow and comment on everyone else's weeks. For now, it's beer and pizza time:)

cmm268 wrote:

Thanks everyone! Not quite the sub 2:35 I had hoped for but still cracked the top 15 and will type up a lengthy race report to bore you on my flight tomorrow and comment on everyone else's weeks. For now, it's beer and pizza time:)

You seriously crack me up, man. You ran 2:35:33. 33 seconds. Just over 1 extra second per mile.

You do realize you have PR'd for like 5 out of 6 marathons, or something crazy like that? Every time you PR, every time you follow it with: "It's not quite what I wanted, but I PR'd." I think we all wish we had your dilemma, haha.

For once relish your awesome accomplishment! You just ran 26.2mi faster than you ever have before, at a pace faster than most of us will ever run for a HM, at a pace faster than most of the general population will ever run for 1 mile!

Enjoy the beer and pizza. But enjoy your achievement! :)

Goals: sub 17 5k, win county (team), win section (team)

Overall an ok week, lower mileage due to a meet wednesday which sort of screws up the training schedule.

Monday: 1 w/u+6x400, with 4 minutes running between each (more than 1/2 mile) and 8 minutes between sets of 4. Averaged ~78, the grass course we do them around was laid out a bit longer than usual, probably closer to 75-76. Total workout equaled 6 miles.

Tuesday: 1 w/u+4.2 easy-moderate in 30:00.

Wednesday: 1.5 w/u+ 5k race (league meet) in 18:3x. Bad race on a slow, soft course. Had a bad race due to really bad cramps. Got beat by the 5th guy who ran 18:20, who I usually beat by ~30 seconds. I hung on and we won by a slim margin, so I was glad anyway.

Thursday: 1 w/u+ 8.2 easy

Friday: 3 miles+ yoga

Saturday: 1 w/u and same 400 workout except 8 of them. Couldn't race because I had to take the PSAT. 8 miles total

Sunday: ~11 miles of trails

Race wednesday was disappointing because I know I'm in low 17 shape on a track or grass xc course, but this course was very slow (top 3 were about 45 seconds off PR). The course is very repetitive on tight chipped trails so it is hard to really open up or move fast. The team hung on for a close win and I know if I had dropped back because of the cramps and stomach pain we would have lost. So I was happy about the win but annoyed about my stomach. We also avenged a close loss from last year, so it felt good to be on the flip side of the coin. The team now has to focus on winning the county (we came 2nd by a tiny amount last year) and hopefully qualifying for states.

Giving myself 6 more months of serious, hard, focused, training. If I don't pr, I'm done worrying about pring and accepting my ceiling.

Mon-farm work

Tues- 4 804 4 strides

W- 2 mi wu drills strides, 3mi tempo decent rolling hills 658, 2mi cd. 7@740 total

Th- 5 805

Fri- 8 mile bike Frisbee

Sat- easy 4 no watch

Sun- 12.75 7:58. Very hilly. Felt great but downhills were hurting legs and back at end. Very controlled

Goal Race: Indianapolis Monumental Marathon (11/1) – 1st One

Goals: A-Finish Healthy, B-Sub 3:30, C-Sub 3:25 (negative split)

Training Week: 16/18, Mix of Higdon Intermediate 1 & Pfitzinger 18/55

Stats: 40/M – 6’3, 160lbs

Next Race: IMM on 11/1

M: Off

T: 8.6 easy (8:16)

W: 6.3 easy (8:26)

T: 4.3 easy (8:29)

F: off

S: 10k Race @ 43:06, total 7.4

S: 14.1 @ 7:51

Total for week: ~40

This week started off pretty rough and seemed to get worse through Thursday. I was exhausted from last week’s peak mileage (55) and my 22 mile long run w/last 10 @ MP – 15 seconds followed by 5.7 Sunday right at MP. My easy paces were getting slower through Thursday, I figured I was just going to run easy all week.

Friday I started feeling a lot better and Saturday I was feeling good. I went and jumped in a low key 10k race. Mostly because it is part of our track club’s grand prix series and I thought I could shave some time off my average time, because I had a real stinker 10k back when it was terribly hot and humid. The weather was great, but the course was hard. I was hoping to run about 44:00, so I was pleased with the 43:06 (my second best 10k). The splits were 6:27, 6:31, 7:40, 6:36, 7:04, 7:31, 1:16. Downhill for 2 miles, uphill hard for 1, downhill for 1, and then back up 2+ to the finish.

Today’s long run was intended to be pretty easy. I ended up with a 14 mile MP run. It was slightly net downhill because I ran from my in-laws house to my house with some off-shoots included and it turns out they’re about 200’ higher than we are here. I’m feeling good with back to back hard-ish efforts that went pretty well going into the “real” taper. I did drop my mileage this week, but I ended up peaking a little higher than my original plan, so I didn’t drop down as low as I intended this week either.

Hope everybody had great weeks and races!