Road Racing and Training Thread - Week Ending 12/7

Congrats Hereford, Printer and cmm268 on what appear to have been excellent races.

Indoor Track (Week 3/13)

Next Race: 1 mile Jan 12

M: Off

T: 7 w/ strength

W: 7.5 with fast friends @ 6:45 pace (normally 7:30-45).

Th: 7

F: 6.5 w/ 1/2 of strength. Just exhausted so I called it a day halfway through

Sa: 6.5

Total- 34.5

Wednesday I ran with two club-mates, one of whom ran a 55 min 10 mile this fall and the other ran a 15:30 5k. Nice guys but in much better shape than I am in.

Stone Cutter: Indeed pretty funny... It might be the motivation from this thread ;P

pewow: Keep at it... The good feeling will come for sure :-)

I had a pretty solid week. Gaining my old Pikachu-like-strength back piece by piece.

M- 9.5 miles (7:12); 5 miles (6:57) + strength/mobility

T- 5 miles (7:18); 10 x 500 in 1:28 (500j) (12 miles)

W-16 miles (6:49) + strength/mobility - tired

T- 9.5 miles (7:10), still sluggish, better towards the end; 5 miles (6:58) + drills + short hill sprints (2 x 100, 3 x 50, 1 x 150) + 1k cood. + strength. ok effort (6)

F- 5 miles (7:10); 10.2 mile loop tempo run (5:18) (16 miles)

S- 10 miles (6:56); 5 miles (7:34) + strength

S- 18.6 miles incl. 16.8 miles progression (6:03 for the whole thing)

total: 117 miles

Tuesday: Cold, dark, rain, wind. Bad conditions. Glad to have finished that wo.

Wednesday: Felt great in the beginning, but after the run I was a bit tired.

Thursday: Legs are comin' back.

Friday: Easily my best tempo since a couple months. Undulating road loop, cruised 5:20ish all the time and finished well (5:03) without gritting my teeth.

Sunday: Nice LR. Made it 30k with 27k @ 6:01 pace, progressing from 6:20-isg to 5:20-ish.

I feel great but will take next week a bit easier to make sure I'm recovering from the last three weeks.

Hope you all did well, too.

Best regards

Pikachu

Thank you Stone Cutter -- looks like you are recovering well from your marathon--how are you feeling? I need to go back and read last week's thread.

Goal: TBD

Weekly: 89 or 94 depending on how much I run this afternoon

YTD: 4,678.0

I didnt get a chance to read the thread at all last week as I am getting crushed by work. Really hoping things slow down but here are my last two weeks of training. I hope everyone had nice weeks, I'll comment this evening.

To summarize, wasnt pleased with my Thanksgiving race but happy to finally break the 17 barrier today in a 5k. It was pretty windy and I went out way too fast but am pleased and know I can do better (5:11, :29, :33, 39). Although I kept GPS on, I disabled the alerts and set it into stopwatch mode. I didnt look at the watch the entire race and just tried to run.

Last Week

Mon: Interval: 1600,1200,800,400 (5:14,3:52,2:28,65). 11 total, 5 warmup, 2.5 cooldown - p90x2 Ab Ripper

Tues: 8 recovery AM, 3 E PM treadmill - 5x3 core at gym

Weds: 6 E treadmillAM -

Thurs: 2wup,2cd 9 mile Turkey Trot in 52:xx, 2 cool down

Fri: 12 E

Sat: 8.5 E on treadmill

Sun: 12 Progression last 4 around 6 min/pace, 7 @ 6:55 progression -core at gym

This Week:

Mon: 10 E AM (legs pretty sore), 5 E PM

Tues: Intervals am 10 total, 2x800,1x1600,2x800 (2:30-32 for the 800s and 5:17 mile). 3 E PM on treadmill - 10 minutes planks

Weds: 6 E AM treadmill, 8 E PM with 5 hill sprints - 10 minutes of planks

Thurs: 10 E AM, 4 E PM treadmill - 4x3 sets of core at gym

Fri: 10 E AM with 5 hill sprints, 4 E PM treadmill - standard core routine 2 sets

Sat: 10 E AM

Sun: 3 wu, 5k (16:53 5k), 3cd

Nice weeks so far guys. Looking forward to some race reports from others! Here is mine:

M - 7.7 with 4 x Hill Sprint / 6 miles.

T - AM: 2 mile shakeout. 2.5 w/u. 1600 4:45 (400m jog), 2x800 2:26, 2:24 (400m jog), 4x400 72, 73, 73, 67 (200m jog). 2.5 c/d. PM: 4 miles.

W - 8/4

R - 4/7

F - AM: 4 miles shakeout. PM: 3mi w/u, 5k Race 15:00, 3mi c/d. 3 mile shakeout.

S - AM: 12 @ 6:33 avg. PM: 4 miles.

S - 8/4

Total: 97.5

Another week in the books! Workout on Tuesday went well. Was planning on just doing an easy tuneup session of 2x(800, 600, 400) but changed halfway into the first rep when I felt decent enough so I kept going and made it a full mile. 4:45 is the fastest mile I've ever run in a workout! Felt controlled for the rest of the reps and only picked up the last 200 of the 4th rep to close in 32s. Drove two hours in the rain to run an indoor 5k on Friday. Won my first indoor race ever and first win on the track since my senior year of high school during outdoors. Stayed on the back of the lead pack until ~5 laps then just pushed a bit until I was clear of everyone with 2 laps to go. That makes this years 5k races: 14:57, 58, 58, 00, 01, 08, 12. I was particularly pleased to run within a few seconds of a PR coming off of ~390 miles in the last four weeks. Saturday AM was a MLR in 36F with 15mph wind and rain, my least favorite conditions by far. Closed with an easy day today to hit 97.5 for the week. Hope everyone has a great week!

Goal race- Houston Marathon

Mon- 12 miles at 7:01 / 6 miles at 6:55. Strides.

Tue- 16 miles. 4m, 3m, 2m with 5 min rest. 5:08 avg. (20:53: 5:14, 5:14, 5:13, 5:11), (15:28: 5:12, 5:09, 5:08), (9:56: 5:06, 4:50)

Wed- 12 miles at 7:01 / 6 miles at 7:02. Weights.

Thur- 12 miles at 7:00 / 6 miles at 6:57. Strides.

Fri- 14 miles. 6xmile with 60 sec rest. 4:57 avg. (5:00, 4:59, 4:58, 4:56, 4:57, 4:54)

Sat- 12 miles at 7:00 / 6 miles at 7:01. Weights.

Sun- 14 miles at 7:06 / 4 miles at 6:55. Strides.

Total- 120 miles

Pretty good week overall. Hit my highest weekly mileage. Didn't feel too tough either. For the long intervals on Tuesday I was just supposed to hold 5:15 unless I felt good at the end. That 4:50 felt very good. Pretty happy with it. For Fridays mile repeat session I decided to go to the track. I didn't feel good at all before, during, and after but I still got it done. I have 6 weeks until Houston and everything seems to be going the way it should be. Let's hope it stays like that. Ill comment this week.

Mixed week for me, a very good tempo run on Saturday, but slightly less mileage than ideal due to work again. Only 1 workout this week due to two tough work days in a row during prime workout time (i.e. Wednesday and Thursday)

M: 12 / 5

Tu: 12 / 5

W; Unplanned off day (work)

Th: 5 (didn't get a second run)

Fr: 12 / 5

Sa: 14 with 10 mile tempo (52:57 - ~5:18 pace), started at 5:28 worked down to 5:07 progressively (last 4 ~20:50).

Su: 20 mi

Total: 90

Saturday was great, 5:20-25 felt relaxed, 5:15 felt OK, and the last few miles were a bit difficult, but didn't really have to push too hard.

Pikachu - Looks like we had a very similar tempo run this week

Forcerunner - Another great week and another 15 flat race, impressive

cmm - congrats on breaking through 17

Hey guys - I finished in 2:56 (goal was 2:50). I ran into some pretty bad stomach issues and had to stop for a 'sit down' porta john break at mile 18. All in all, I'm fairly satisfied with the result. I struggled through a few injuries during a critical phase of my build up. So given that, and today's digestive problems, I'll take a 6 minute overage. At least it was sub-3. Not horrible for a guy who turns 45 next month.

Will reply with more details and comments on everyone's weeks when I get back home to San Diego tonight. Right now I'm enjoying a beer in the hotel bar before I head to the airport.

Thanks to all you guys for the motivation and encouragement the past several months!

And congrats, Printer!

look forward to hearing from printer and hereford on their exploits. congrats to cmm268 on finally breaking that barrier!

pewow - running with people faster than you is a big benefit :)

pikachu, forcerunner + runnersfix - i'll comment the same to all of you... cracking weeks once again!

back into it - very solid 10 mile tempo!

my week:

M - 4.5 miles recovery (7:54/mi)

T - 4 miles easy (7:22/mi)

W - 10.5 miles. 10 mile progression + .5 jog.

Th - am 4.5 miles recovery (7:43/mi) / pm 3.5 miles easy (7:22/mi). Speed Drills

F - rest day

Sa - 11 miles. 10K XC Race - 35:36

Su - 6 miles recovery (7:49/mi)

Week Total: 44 miles

First 'base' training week for winter and i am happy with how it went. Happy with the mileage, happy with the quality (although i didn't 'race' yesterday). Wednesdays progression run was good, done over a moderately hilly 10 mile loop. Managed to go 2 @ 7:02/mi, 2 @ 6:42/mi, 2 @ 6:22/mi, 2 @ 6:05/mi, 2 @ 5:42/mi, .5 @ 10:27/mi (thats right..). I've been dealing with a cold since Thursday so i decided not to put all of my efforts into it.

Happy training all!

I've been dealing with a cold since Thursday so i decided not to put all of my efforts into the race

Goal Race: Half Marathon – 2/7/15 (Hilton Head, Folly Beach or Myrtle Beach)

Next Race: Pioneer 5 Miler (12/20)

M: 6.2 easy (8:35)

T: 5.9 easy (8:18)

W: 5.4 easy (8:36)

T: 5.2 easy (8:18)

F: Off

S: 5.6 easy (7:48)

S: 14 (8:35)

Total for week: ~42.5

Nothing too interesting to report, it was a decent week. I was on the road everyday before 5 am. Saturday it rained about half of the run. Sunday reminded me of my marathon, it was 36 and the winds were howling.

I changed my half marathon target date, which has three races pretty close to each other. I will decide a little closer to race day which road trip I want to take.

Pikachu & TheGarbageDisposal: Thanks for the advice. I am going to try to talk myself into some strides or fartleks this week and at least a decent tempo effort.

Hereford: Outstanding race, even with a potty break!

Forcerunner: 15:00 min 5k indoors? That is sick!

cmm268: Nice 5k in cruddy conditions. I am hoping to get down close to 19:00 flat in spring, so sub-17 is awesome to me.

The Stone Cutter: Wow, that is moving just a couple of weeks removed from the marathon. I would need a skateboard to have gone that fast that soon.

Goal Race: Memphis Marathon 12/6/14 (yesterday)

Goals:

A) Break 2:50

B) Break my 1995 PR of 2:53:46

C) Break my return to running PR of 2:57:25 (I quit training from 1995-2010)

D) Sub 3

E) Don't collapse and die.

Thanks for the positive thoughts and comments ahead of my race yesterday. It's definitely another motivating factor on the back end of a long, lonely run.

First, I'll give you my taper week workouts and then get into the race itself.

Since my race was on a Saturday, I made an effort to move my long runs to saturday late in the training cycle.

Taper week:

M: 8.1 miles @ 7:43

T: 7.1 mile progression run 7:30 to 6:08

W: 6.2 miles @ 7:40

T: 5.2 miles @ 7:08 w/ a couple of accelerations.

F: 4 miles @ 7:13 after I landed in Memphis

S: 26.2 mile race @ 6:45. 2:56:47

S: Rest

58 miles

Race Report

I listed my tiered goals because all of them came into play this weekend. The A-D goals are obvious, but the "E" Goal stems from my bout with blood clots earlier this year. That diagnosis forced me to DNS Boston and drop most of my summer plans. While the doctor gave me the all clear this summer, It always creeps into my brain when I go long.

I actually satisfied with my race because it's exactly what the race equivalent charts said I should have done. My problem is that I go into every marathon trying to run sub 2:50, my "A" goal. And by doing that, I sacrifice my "B" goal every time. I have no business trying to run 6:30's for a whole marathon, but I'm too stupid to run the right pace.

The day was cloudy and cool with winds up to 17 MPH. I left my hotel room at 7:15 and walked to the start. This race was a combine full and half marathon with self seeding corrals. Each successive corral started 2 minutes after the previous one. As the the race was about to start, I was in the front of the 2nd corral (2:40-3:25 pacers). However, a couple of us decided to join the first (elite) corral since there were only about 20 people in that section.

I went out a 6:30 pace and knew by 5k that I wouldn't hold that pace to the finish. I settled in at 6:3x pace for the next 10 miles. I crossed the 13.1 mark at 1:25:49 (6:34/mi) and the 19.6 mark at 2:10:12 (6:38/mi). If I could have held that pace for the rest of the run I would have hit my B goal, but that wasn't going to happen.

Since I started in the first corral (2 minutes ahead of my peer group) I had a long and lonely run. I had company for the first 3 miles (he came in 9th overall, a solid effort). After that, I was on my own. A handful of guys came up and passed me, and I passed one couple of guys. But otherwise, it was a solo effort for the final 23 miles. There was also nowhere to hide when the wind picked up either.

I finished in 2:56:47. Good enough for 25th overall and third master (the true first master took 2nd overall). I was the first finisher over 50. I'll take that.

My Strava splits are below. However, I lost satellite for about 1 minute while under the convention center between miles 4 & 5, resulting in unsynced splits all the way in.

http://app.strava.com/activities/226795346

My nutrition was one Lemon Sublime GU at miles 6,12,18 & 23. Since the GU had all the sugar I wanted, I only drank water at every mile split.

I feel surprisingly good today. I always had sore lungs after a marathon, but I made a point to breathe as easy as possible throughout and it seemed to help. My legs feel ok too. I'll start up again tomorrow as I'm scheduled to run the "Goofy" at the Disney Marathon on January 10 & 11.

I'm at the airport now and will post comments tomorrow.

Hey guys,

Haven't posted here in a while, but I'd like to get back into posting. Maybe I can learn some things from you higher mileage guys, as I'm hoping to get up to 50 mpw for 2015. I know, not huge mileage, but I'm struggling with giving up some more spare time to get there. Some days it's just a struggle to justify running after a lousy day at work, when all I want to do is have a couple drinks, and/or lounge around.

I had a lower mileage week. My sleep has been brutal. I stopped drinking booze for a bit, and took off strength sessions, and as a result I've been too wired to sleep. I think the combination of weights and running for me really tires me out..

Anyways, here's my week:

Mon - Rest

Tue - 2 w-up, 4 tempo (@ 6:15 pace), 2 c-d (8 total)

Wed - Rest

Thu - 2 w-up, 6x0.5 with 0.25 rests, all at 5:42-5:30 pace, 2 c-d (8.25 total)

Fri - Weights

Sat - 8 easy (7:15 pace avg)

Sun - 13 long run progression (from 8:00 to 6:50 for last 4)

Total: 37.25

Happy with this week, except I was hoping to get more miles in. I basically took my tempo and interval run too fast and paid the price with burnout later in the week.

Last week of training before Club Nationals next weekend. Started off with a full week then started backing off yesterday.

Monday: 8.5 miles easy at 8:06 pace with hill sprints at the end, some strength

Tuesday: 6 + strides at 7:56 pace, core

Wednesday AM: 5 easy at 7:58 pace

Wednesday PM: 8.5 with 3K time trial at the Dempsey, fast but not all-out, 10:57

Thursday: 10 easy feeling good at 7:59 pace, drills

Friday: 6 + strides at 7:58 pace, sore

Saturday: 10 with a light 20:00 tempo at about 6:30 pace and some downhills

Sunday: 9 easy at 7:49 pace, 8 mile bike ride after

The time trial was weird. I felt really good. My coach said not to race it, but to run faster than 6K pace. For reference, my 3K PR is 10:50. He wanted me to run 5:45 pace, which is 10:50. But we both acknowledge that I'm in better shape than my PRs indicate. I was out in 5:47 honestly feeling really good. But the track is 308m, and he stopped giving splits around that time. So I finished feeling like I could have done a 5K, but I was a bit slow because I had no idea I was fading. I'm positive I could run a 5K on the track at 5:50 pace right now though, which would be a 31 second PR. Also good considering I ran that morning and was fatigued.

Now we're starting to bring it all in. I'm very excited.

comments later, maybe once all the marathoners post!

M 8 moderate/easy

T 8 easy

W 8 recovery

Th 9 moderate/easy

F 3/7 both recovery. first double since 10/4

Sa 10 easy, then beer mile

Su 11 attempted long run but felt really bad today

total 65, 7:06/mi

beer mile RR:

I've attempted the BM twice before, DNF and DNF. those were 2 years ago, and I've had more experience with beer in the last year, so I figured I could at least finish in ~12 minutes. didn't get any splits for beers/laps but I probably split approx 1:45-2:05-2:05-5:03 for 10:57. obviously the last beer and lap(s) took a while. the 4th beer took forever, trying not to throw up, then i threw up anyway on my 4th lap so had to do a 5th.

at least i finished, and if i could just get down the 4th beer in a minute i wouldve run ~8:00-8:15

Mon- 8 at 7:09

Tue- 6 at 7:11 + 2 strides

Wed- 8 at 7:15 + 4 strides + weights

Thur- 6 at 7:06 + 2 strides

Fri- 7 at 6:49 (did a progression last 3 miles averaging 6 min pace)

Sat- 6 at 7:10 + 2 strides

Sun- 9 at 6:55 w/last 2 miles 11:50 (6:15, 5:35) + weights

Total: 50

Solid week of aerobic running for me. I'm going to try get my mileage up consistently into the 50-55 range for the winter with some down weeks thrown in there. I'm in the early stage of winter base, so none of the running is really challenging at the moment. I only ran 9 miles for my "long run", but I am focusing more on spreading the volume out over the week instead and then I will get my long run back up to 11-12 miles.

I am still staying in touch with some higher aerobic running with the progression runs, which are a lot of fun. It's a good way to include some quality that doesn't really tax the body that much. I usually end my progression runs around a quick tempo pace, leaving me refreshed after.

My coach said It would also be a good idea to start including some weights during training, as that is the best time to work on your strength. I am lifting twice a week at the moment, but eventually I will lift three times a week. Right now all I'm doing are some basic exercises like weighted lunges, leg press, box jumps, and hang cleans (free weight). I'm staring off slow, as I haven't really lifted consistently. I'm lifting not to get big, just to get stronger and more explosive.

I hope everyone had a great week!

Goals: Herm Wilson Invitational indoor mile 2/14/15. Set down a great base for track season.

Mon- 8.5 moderate (7:01)

Tues- 3 easy, 20 min tempo (5:53) 1 easy. 7.5 total

Wed- 8 easy (7:08)

Thurs- 8.25 easy (6:49)

Fri- 13 long run (7:16)

Sat- Off

Sun- 2.75 easy, 12x200m w/200m brisk jog, avg. 35.5, 1.25 easy. 7 total

Total: 52 miles

After Monday I started running very easy for the first 2 miles of my easy runs to get warmed up well. Very easy being around 7:30 pace.

Tuesday got into a good rythm and was well within myself the whole time.

Friday I was only planning to run 8-10 miles. But I passed the former local stud runner, and family friend, and ran with him for another 7 miles. It was very cool to be able to talk to someone with so much experience, and knowledge of running.

Today I ran my 200s at approx. mile goal pace not an amazing workout just keeping the legs sharp. Effort was harder than mile pace, but it was a little chilly and about 20-25mph winds down the homestretch.

I might jump up to 60 miles next week, and I have found that is where the magic starts happening for me.

Anyways congrats Hereford, printer, and cmm on some impressive races.

Pewow- Nice week man. Sometimes running with other people makes the faster runs go by without even realizing it.

Pikachu- Another impressive week in your comeback. I am starting to notice what I think may be a pattern, do you typically like to do an interval session early in the week, a long tempo Friday, and a progression long run on the weekend?

CMM268- Two pretty solid weeks for you, and glad to see you work on your shorter distances during a sort of offseason, and major congrats on that 5K, although I agree you should be able to run much faster than that

Forcerunner- Digging the quick workout on Tuesday and the fast 5K just 3 days later, in the middle of a high mileage training block nonetheless. Congrats on the win!

Runnersfix- I like how the MP interval workouts have been building up and you're still closing in 4:50. That'll be fun if you can drop a 4:5x the last mile in Houston.

Back into it- I hate it when work gets in the way of training too. But maybe it was a good time to be forced to take an easy day or two so you can nail a solid tempo run on the weekend.

Hereford- sorry to hear about the bathroom issues but a solid race nonetheless. Congrats.

Matthias- Looks like winter training is off to a very nice start. Here's to sub-32 in the spring?

Distance fan - Nice week of base. Not much else to do at this point other than putting in the miles for the next training block.

Priinter- very nice race, especially coming back from all the side issues you were dealing with earlier in the year. I think with carrying this fitness into your next cycle, a lifetime PR may still happen in 2015.

Piano_man87- Good to see you around these parts again. Dropped the piano on anyone at your turkey trot last week?

Pikachu: "Pikachu-like-strength" definitely gave me a funny image. Fast, strong, and consistent as always.

cmm268: Congrats on the awesome 5K!

Forcerunner: Wow, great racing! Too bad you didn't run a few seconds faster :P

RunnersFix: Congrats on the mileage high! 120 is a LOT!

Matthias: Probably a good call. I really hurt myself the last time I raced sick. Good old lymphedema.

printer: Congrats on a return-to-running PR!

Piano_Man87: That's why I always run before work! Really, when I get home all I want to do is sit on my lazy butt and watch TV and eat dinner. The more running I can get done in the morning, the better. Makes my work day better too!

Xenonscreams- Looks like everything is coming together well for you. Lehigh is a fast course if the conditions are even halfway decent, looking forward to seeing you pop a big PR there.

Reed- Ah, a different kind of race report than what's usually on here, sounds like you are taking advantage and enjoying your offseason a bit.

KBXC- I think all the extra stuff you're doing (more training volume, and weights) will lay a good foundation for your next track season. Hoping it all pays off for you.

JSRun- Great base week with two solid quality sessions. Keep up the nice work.