Road Racing and Training Thread - Week Ending 12/17/2014

Hey Pewow. Thanks for kicking it off. Down week for me too (#2 of 3 following 12/7 marathon). Had a short cold too. Luckily that came during a rest week.

M - 6 easy, strength

T - 8 easy, strength

W - Off (sick)

T - Off (sick)

F - 8 easy, plyometrics

S - 5 easy sunrise @ 6k ft elevation while camping

S - 5 easy, same location as Saturday

32 total.

Will post comments after more people add.

Hey pewow/hereford - just recover well and you'll be fine :-)

My week went better than expected - although I know I still have got work to do :-)

M – AM 9.5 (7:12) / PM 5 (7:15) + little strength and mobility

T – AM 5 (7:15) / PM 9.8 (7:08) + strides + strength (10.1)

W – AM 5 (7:14) / PM 5 x 2k (6:20 >< 5:55, 6:12 avg.) (13)

T – PM 15.7 (7:02) + strength and mobility

F – AM 9.3 (7:07) / PM 5 (7:14) + drills and short hill sprints + 1k cd. (5.8)

S – AM 12.7 mile tempo (5:23) (18.5) / PM 5 (7:16)

S – AM 15.7 (6:56)

total: 117

Wednesday was cool. Was consistently cutting it down - love those workouts. Fun day even with the weather being rainy and windy (like the whole week :D). Saturday the same game. Began 5:30-ish and progressed to 5:20s, 5:15s and even a 5:03 last mile without pushing „hard“. For a second I had the thought of going on with the tempo and make it to 13.1 miles (HM) - but the loop was finished and there are no awards given for being the toughest/fastest man in practice, so I ended it like I had planned beforehand. It all was controlled – legs today were fine, too. Hope you all had a nice week, too! Merry Christmas everybody! :-)

Pikachu

Goal Race- Houston Marathon (4 weeks)

Mon- 14 at 7:00 pace / 4 at 6:54 pace. Strides.

Tue- 17 miles. 5x2miles with 3 minute rest. 10:23(5:11, 5:11), 10:23(5:12, 5:11), 10:22(5:11, 5:11), 10:22(5:11, 5:11), 9:42(5:03, 4:39).

Wed- 12 at 7:01 pace / 4 at 7:03 pace. Weights.

Thur- 14 at 7:00 pace / 4 at 6:57 pace. Strides.

Fri- 22 miles long at 5:56 pace. Last 10 miles at 5:39 pace.

Sat- 12 at 6:57 pace / 7:02 pace. Weights.

Sun- 14 at 6:54 pace / 4 at 7:00 pace. Strides.

Total- 125 miles

Good week overall. Hit my peak mileage without feeling too worn out. Tuesdays workout was a very good day. The goal was 5:15s until the last one where I could pick it up if feeling good. That 4:39 surprised me. I didn't realize I was going that fast until I stopped my watch. I'll take it though lol. For Fridays long run I had never run further than 20 miles so the 22 had me thinking but once I got going it just felt like a normal long run for me. This run is a very good indicator for me in my opinion. It's my fastest I've done up to this point, plus it's in the middle of my highest mileage week. Only time will tell how in shape I am. I'm going into this race with a 2:30 PR but that was back in college when I was a 1:10 half guy. My recent half PR is 1:05 so I feel my sub 2:18 goal is reasonable. What does everyone think? I do take much thought into what your opinions are on my training. The feed back is usually great. But I hope everyone's week went good. Ill comment throughout the week.

Goal Race: TBD Next Race: New Years’ 5k & Mile

Stats: 40/m, 6’2+, ~165 lbs post-Thanksgiving

M: Off

T: 7.2 easy, including 7 strides (8:15)

W: 4.5 easy (8:03) PM

T: 5.6 easy (8:39) AM

F: Off

S: 8.5 total including 5 mile race in 32:23

S: 10.8 (8:36)

Total for week: ~36.5

The weather was kind of cold and rainy this week, which made it easy to take Monday off which I kind of planned anyway since there was a race this week. Wednesday, I felt kind of sick in the morning, so I skipped running. Then I got an opportunity to run that night which is unusual, and I took it since I was feeling better.

I guessed I was in about 33:00 shape and that is what I targeted to run, expecting to give up a few seconds on the first mile, since I knew it had almost half of the total climb (118 feet) and hoping to make it back up over the remainder. It is a “Y” shaped out and back course, with 2 cone turnarounds, and a fair amount of hills (266 feet of climb per the Garmin; for reference the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon had a total of 242 feet of climb per the Garmin). The weather was great, about 40 degrees at the start and no wind. It sprinkled up until about 30 minutes before the start and never rained during the race. My splits per the Garmin were: 6:36, 6:31, 6:28, 6:25, 6:17, 0:15 (0.05) for a 32:32. It was a 2:53 PR over my previous best 8k time (and this was a 5 mile, not 8k). I was in about 15th place at mile 1 and by mile 2 I was in 7th. My position did not change after that point, but I was only 2 seconds behind 6th at the end, but I just could not catch him. Ended up finishing second in my age group as 4 of the first 7 were over 40! The winner ran 26:23 running solo as 2nd place was 31:06.

This morning I was having a nice slow long-ish run, and at about 9.75 miles, my hamstring got tight, cramped up, and I had to walk for a minute or so to get it under control. Then I was able to start up again and finish up. It is a bit tender even now. I hope it goes away soon. I may take tomorrow off to give it a break.

Still no definitive plans on “goal race” for the spring. I wanted to try to run a fast half marathon, but now I am kind of interested in a fast 5k or 10k, since my mile and 8k/5 mile have improved dramatically since the summer (improvement of 2:53 on 8k, 0:12 on the mile). My previous 8k time was disappointing at the time, I think the heat and humidity got me on that one, because I thought I could run about 34:00 and ended up at 35:20, and struggled to get that.

RunnersFix: That is a heck of a week. What are you shooting for in Houston, sub 2:30?

Pickachu: You have great weeks consistently. 2016 Rio??

Pewow - Exactly right! Consistency is the key. Must be good to be done with finals and on to break now though. I know I'm loving it haha.

Hereford - What sort of plyos do you do?

Pikachu - Solid mileage! Great 2k workout and very strong tempo on Saturday! Smart to run within yourself.

RunnersFix - Wow! Great close to the 5x2. Superb long run as well. I think whatever goal you go into the race with you'll end up surprising yourself. The fact you can string together a quick close to a workout like the 5x2 and then come back with your longest run closing strongly bodes very very well.

Here is my week:

M - 8/3

T - 11.5/4

W - 8/4

R - AM: 2.5 w/u, 8x.84 hill loop with the first .5 uphill @ 2:32-35 and .34 downhill recovery. Splits of 2:34/34/34/33/35/33/33/32. 3.5 c/d. PM: 6

F - 8/4

S - 8/4

S - AM: 1mi Steady, 4x200, 1k, 500, 500, 4x200, 1k, 500, 500, 4x200, 1mi Steady. Splits of 5:41, 34avg, 3:05, 94, 92, 33avg, 2:58, 94, 92, 33avg, 5:31. PM: 2-3 planned.

Total: 100

Another good week hitting what I wanted in terms of workouts. The .5 reps were on the same hill loop I've done in the past and paces uphill are about equal to 2:24-2:27 on flat terrain. Also had a bit of a quicker session this AM. Mix of paces but everything felt solid. I hope everyone has a great week!

Hello everyone!

M 60 7.10

T 60 7.00

W 20 2.83 Bonked workout, tired

T Off

F Off

S 60 7.70 w/3x1 mile (5:56, 5:55, 5:53) 3 min standing rec

S 90 10.56

T 4:50 35.19 miles

Down week for me. I started running 60 min everyday 3 weeks ago and I got a bit tired, especially in my ankles/feet. Tried to do a workout on Wednesday but couldn't hold 6 min mile pace for more than a lap, so I went home and took 2 days completely off. Did the same workout on Saturday and went pretty well, today I did a long recovery run of 90 minutes. I'm not registered for any races yet, but once I get back to 50/60 a week (I think I'll look for 8 hours/week) I'll pick something in the spring.

Hope everyone had a great week!

Reading is fundamental! The goal just wasn't up at the top where I expected it and I had focused only on your long run pace to guess your goal. With your mileage and your speed, I'd say you've at least got a shot at 2:18. I'm not qualified to give advice to you super fast guys, only encouragement. Way to go!!

Distance Fan wrote:

RunnersFix: That is a heck of a week. What are you shooting for in Houston, sub 2:30?

Goal Race: Bristol 10k

Daniels 5k-10k Plan (3rd Edition)

Week 3 of 26

Mon - 8 miles - easy + strides (8:11)

Tue - 6 miles - easy (8:10)

Wed - 6 miles - easy + strides (7:49)

Thu - 7 miles - easy (8:09)

Fri - 4 miles - easy (7:48)

Sat - 13 miles - easy (7:49)

Sun - 6 miles - easy (8:19)

Total: 50 miles

Still in phase 1 of the plan, and building mileage is the priority, so not too much to report.

Very happy with the long run though; felt stronger and stronger throughout, finishing with a 6:41 mile, which is around threshold pace. The second half of the run was comfortably faster than the first.

Felt pretty bad earlier today, so took it very easy on the Sunday run.

I feel like I've adapted pretty well to the increased mileage, and feeling confident about building up to 55 and then 60 over the next few weeks!

Hope everyone had good weeks!

Runnersfix - great week. Definitely think your 2:18 goal is within reach. The 5x2 mi workout is great and 1:05 speed is more than enough. One thing I would ask about (and can't remember what some of your previous training was like) is how have your long run and long run tempos gone? I know you said you haven't done 22 before but have you done some solid 20 milers where you hit GMP for 8-10 miles at the end? I always find that to be a good test. You clearly have the speed and have put in the mileage.

Pikachu - great 2k workout

As for me, I was planning on a down week this week (~80 miles) but got sick on Wednesday so did a very light week. But the great part is that since this was a down week anyway I don't really feel bad about it.

Monday: 12

Tu: 6 / 6

W: off, sick

Th: 5 still sick

Fr: 5 still sick

Sa: 12 feeling better

Su: 14 feel ok

Total: 60

Next week looking forward to getting back into the 105-110 with hopefull some faster miles on Wednesday and a nice hard long run on Sunday.

Goal race: WSU Shocker Pre-State. Will most likely run the 3200m (A) Make the elite cut (B) sub-10 minutes.

Mon- 8 easy (6:56) Very windy

Tues- 8.5 easy (7:05) + strides

Wed- 4 easy. 4 tempo 23:11(5:48) 1 easy + strides

Thurs- 8.5 very easy (7:16)

Fri- 12 long run (6:41)

Sat- 8.5 easy (6:55) +8x100m strides avg. 15.1

Sun- 3 easy. Drills/warm ups. 8x600m on dirt w/1:15 rest. Avg. 1:53. This is probably my best workout ever!

Total: 63 miles

Awesome week for me! About 1 mile into my tempo on Wednesday it started to sleet lightly, so my last mile was a little slippery. I think I could've run under 23 minutes if the weather was decent. Long run was pretty great! Started around 7:10 pace, dropped down to 6:30s, felt really strong. Was surprised how relaxed I could run 15 second 100s yesterday, closed in 13.7x. Wasn't really feeling like running today, I decided to just go for a couple miles and see how I felt. After 2 miles something clicked and I felt ready to roll. Felt controlled throughout the whole workout effort was 3k-5k. Splits were: 1:54, 1:54, 1:55, 1:54, 1:55, 1:53, 1:53, 1:47! Last 400 was sub-70. My mile PR is 5:02 and 2 mile is 10:54... I should be able to destroy those by a ton during track season. Anyways hope everyone had a great week, I'll do comments after more people post.

JSrun, be careful to not race that 4mi tempo run. 23min seems pretty fast for somebody who hasn't broken 5 for the mile.

runnersfix, nice workouts there, plus 125mi holy cow.

my week: (first real week back regular training)

goals: 9:50ish 3k steeple, 15:20ish 5000m

M 4.6mi backpacking, 7.7mi hilly run

T no running, 9mi hike (no backpack)

W 4.6mi backpacking, 8mi run w/fartlek later

Th 12 mile progression run

F 8 miles feeling tired, didnt eat enough lunch

Sa 14.1, pretty tired.

Su 11 easy

total 70.1 (61 real running, 9 with 50lb backpack)

i backpacked monday and wednesday, so i decided to count those as runs as it is slightly aerobic and still takes a toll on my lower body due to the extra weight. it rained this whole trip (point reyes, ca). managed a decent run the first day, but after our long dayhike tuesday it got dark and it was raining so i scrapped the run.

wednesday after i got home i did 9x(60sec on/off). meant to do 10 but math is hard

thursday i felt good after starting slow so kept picking it up. splits dropped from 7:28 down to 6:00ish for the last few miles, avg 6:44. not exactly a workout but i had fun

70 miles is the most i've ever done with a day off, so thats good. should be easy to hit 80 next week, which is my target.

M - 3wu, 5mi of 1 on/ 1 off, 3 mi cool down.

T - 4/8 with weights and circuits

W 14 long (6:43)

Th - 4/8 with circuits

F - 1 wu, 10mi tempo @ 5:36, 1.5 cd

Sa - 11 hilly, 6:35 pace

Su - off, didn't work with my schedule

Total - 73

Good week overall. Monday was a bit tough near the end but I got going on some of the splits. Friday was great through 7 miles, but then I relaxed too much and cruised it in. Cut down nicely on wednesday, but had a late night before and felt sick.

Pikachu - Nice 2ks and tempo

RunnersFix - Wow. You are definitely in shape

DistanceFan - nice negative splits during your race!

Forcerunner - very nice week. Interesting track workout.

Startzio - Too bad with that workout, but looks like you bounced back

JSrun - My best workout ever was 8X600 also; you are definitely in PR shape

Hope everyone has a good holiday season.

Week 12 of 16

Goal Race - Houston Marathon (2:22 / 2:20)

Total miles - 140

Monday - 17.5 (11 easy AM, 6.5 easy PM)

Tuesday - 15.5 (8 easy AM, 7.5 easy PM)

Wednesday - 23 (16 w/ 10 @ MP, then 7 easy PM)

Thursday - 22 (5.5 easy AM, 16.5 easy PM)

Friday - 19 (12 easy AM, 7 easy PM)

Saturday - 23 (13 easy, 8 @ MP, 2 easy)

Sunday - 20 (14 easy AM, 6 easy PM)

Solid week. Got in a few extra miles here and there and didn't back off as much as intended, but still feeling strong.

Wednesday's workout went well. Averaged 5:40s. (altitude conversion is about 5:25-5:27 at sea level).

Saturday's MP segment wasn't as long, but was even more of a confidence boost since it started 13 miles into my run and was on a slightly hilly dirt loop. (averaged 5:37s, so about mid-low 5:20s with the altitude conversion).

After those two workouts I am committing to at least shooting for sub-2:22. Maybe even faster depending on how the next 2-3 weeks of training go.

Comments,

pewow/Hereford/Back into it- At least you all were sick/sore on your down weeks.

Pikachu- Great 5x2k and long tempo.

RunnersFix- Very consistent on the 5x2 with a great finish, also nice long run. I would say you are definitely in shape to run 2:18, the way you are able to close your workouts fast indicates they are well within you.

Distance Fan- Congrats on a great PR, with a nice negative split!

Forcerunner- Consistent week as always, I like the hill workout.

Slartzio- Looks like you had a solid 3xmile yesterday, any goals or races coming up?

Kendo- Looks like a solid week for you with a quick finish to your long run.

reed- I agree that 23min would be fast for a 5min guy, but I think I'm in 4:45ish shape or better, especially after my workout today. 70 miles with a day off is great, good luck on 80 this next week.

Oedipus Rexing- Great long tempo!

TheGarbageDisposal- I'd say you have a 2:22 in you at least, those workouts were during a very high mileage week so that had to have affected you somewhat.

pewow glad the calf came right after a off day. Take care of it. You do not want to hurt your calves, they become chronic problems pretty quick. I know from experience.

JSrun If you are feeling solid and not going to the well on some of your harder stuff and long run then I would think your PR's are in for a big change.

Hereford you got it figured out. Not only a down week but getting out and enjoying other things.

Pikachu Very nice. Both workouts take me back to the 80's when "solid as a rock" was a big hit on the radio.

Runnersfix another great week. Your volume, your HM time and your workouts all point to a breakthrough race. I do not recall if I have seen (I am also lazy so have not gone back to look) many long tempo/mp efforts. Lots of workouts like your one this week. Do you do any sorta 12mi tempo in the middle of long runs (like Back into it alluded to)? I think you are headed in the right direction for 2:18 and something like a longer MP workout will just solidify your belief in the number and nail down any questions of can I do this and have I done enough etc etc.

Back into it I know it is relative but I wish I can just get back to your very easy/down week minus the sick part. Feel better.

Distance Fan Nice 5mi PR. Congrats. No reason not to shoot for a HM even if you want a fast 5k. HM training will set you up really well to go fast over 5/10k.

Kendo Very solid start to your build.

Force Triple digits again. Streak about to start.

Reed no doubt baetiful out there in Point Reyes? If you are still in the area there is a great creamery that makes a wonderful blue cheese in Point Reyes. The Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Company.

Oedipus Yep that is a solid looking tempo on Friday.

Garbage Man I am disappointed. No triples this week? 2 nice looking MP runs.

Goal: Tobacco Road HM Mid March

Time: TBD

Mon - 5 (7:31)

Tue - 6 (7:22)

Wed - 6.4 inclu 6 x short hill sprints

Thu - 6 (7:23)

Fri - 5 (7:09) inclu 12 x 20sec @800-1mi pace with 40 sec easy

Sat - 10.25 (7:11)

Sun - 4 (7:46)

Weekly Total - 42.65

Days run - 65

Nothing much going on. Just still trying to get out and slowly get miles up towards 50.

Pikachu- Killer week. The 2k workout looks solid. Negative splitting is always the best. Also, great tempo. You really cut the pace a lot. Looking good. Long tempos like this is the only thing I haven't really done much of. I really should take advantage. But great week. Solid workouts with high mileage!

Back into it- At least you got sick on a down week. You're thinking positive lol. But you still got in some mileage. Just get back at it next week and I'm sure you'll be feeling great. As for those long tempos you mentioned, I haven't done much of them at all like I was telling Pikachu above. Are these types of runs necessary in your opinion? Just wondering. I feel great overall though.

Garbage- You crushed it again this week with the mileage. I don't know how you're doing it. You got two great long tempos in on top of it. I like how your goals are now 2:20-22. It shows your confidence. I feel like you're definitely going to be ready come race day.

Forcerunner- Great week. Your mileage is getting up there as well. I think you're going to surprise yourself and breakthrough your ~15:00 5k performances. Keep it consistent and everything will fall in place.

Distance Fan- Nice 5 miler! Huge PR even though you knew you were around 33 minute shape. Still beat that though by a good chunk. The time off during the week probably helped you out for the race. Extra recovery. And yeah my goal for Houston is sub 2:18. Thanks for the encouragement!

Oedipus rexing- Great week. You seem to be in good shape by what I've seen in your training so far. I especially liked your 10 mile tempo. If you were finishing relaxed then it shows you're very strong overall. Keep it up.

Qrkid- Thanks for your encouragement as well. I haven't done much of the long tempos this cycle. That's probably the only thing I'm missing. Hope I'm ok without it. My long runs have been a decent pace so we'll see. Nice week for you though. Keep building and staying consistent with your mileage and workouts. Good things will come.

Goal: Y10 (10 mile) 65 or better

Goal: Get healthy

M: 6 easy 7:42/mi aHR 134

T: 2x15min @ 150-155 HR (6:26/mi, 6:42/mi) + wu/cd. 8 miles total

W: 6 easy 7:46/mi aHR 133

T: 6 easy 8:15/mi aHR 136

F: 25min @ 150-155 HR (6:27/mi) + wu/cd. 7 miles total

S: 6 easy 9:37/mi

S: 13 easy 7:42/mi

Weekly Total: 52 miles

YTD: 1939 miles

This is the first week I've ran every day since mid November.

Tuesday was a little bit disappointed that my pace dropped so much the second rep. I think I started off too fast the first rep (6:05/mi) and consequently the run suffered. Need to ease into it more. Friday's run was much more consistent.

Saturday was a group run/beer exchange so we were just all having a good time. We were running on unplowed roads and the footing was pretty terrible. I was more concerned with not hurting myself than running.

Sunday my watch died so the pace is a rough estimate. I've been having some trouble after about 10 miles where I just feel drained. I finally listened to my wife and brought a gu with me, took it about 6 miles in. Could be placebo, but i felt good throughout the whole run.

Week started out great, ended not so great.

M- 5 AM ez, 5 PM ez w/ strides

T - 10 AM track 7x400 (5k), 4x200 (3k), 5 PM ez

W - 8 AM aerobic, 5 PM ez

T - 5 AM, 10 PM aerobic

F - 10 AM aerobic w/ 20 min tempo, 4 PM ez

S - 6 AM ez, 4 PM ez - 2 miles in I was stung with a pain in the low outside of my right knee and hobbled the two miles back. First time ever experiencing this, what I can only assume is an IT issue. Got home, downed some Ibuproferen and hit the foam roller hard. DNS my Sunday 5k and bagged the Sunday long run. Really hoping this doesn't hang around. As of this morning it's feeling good but I have not gone and tested it out yet.

So my planned 95 mile week was cut short to 75 miles. I introduced some lower body work in the gym this week (deads, split squats, lunges, single leg squats) and think that's probably the source of aggravation as I've never had this happen before with similar volume.