Road Racing and Training Thread - Week Ending 7/5

StoneCutter - Thanks for posting this early!

Here is my week:

M - AM: 3k wu, 6k @ 3:39/k(5:52/mi), 60s jog, 6k @ 3:19/k(5:20/mile), 3k cd. PM: 3k wu, 6k @ 3:39/k(5:52/mi), 90s jog rest, 6 x 1k with 90s jog in 3:15 avg, 3k cd.

T - 8.5 / 5

W - 7.65 / 4.5

R - 10.15 / 4.5

F - 8.2 + Hill Sprints / 5.15

S - AM: 4 mile race in 19:37 (5:02, 5:00, 5:00, 4:35) + 8 x 60s/60s. PM: 4 miles.

S - 8 / 4

Total: 109

I tried a Canova Special Block Session on Monday with the goal of 6k@90%MP + 6k@100-2%MP in the morning, then 6k@90%MP + 6 x 1k@102-5%MP. The original session is 10k+10k, 10k+10x1k but I am nowhere near ready for that volume so I thought 60% of the workload would be a good place to start. My goal MP is 2:22, or 3:25/k(5:25/mi). Both sessions went absolutely perfect and I felt confident running the paces I had planned. Later in the training cycle I plan on repeating the session with 7k segments, and later 8k segments. I could definitely see why this Special Block is useful in terms of getting the pace ingrained and from a fueling perspective. By the end of the cool down for the PM session I was pretty fatigued and feeling pretty depleted, which I guess is the whole point! I used kilometers instead of miles for the workout so I could get splits more often to make sure I was staying on pace.

Came back Saturday after four days recovery to race a 4 miler in my hometown. I wanted to run three miles comfortably hard and run the last mile near 100%. Ended up coming through three in 15:02 with pretty even splits . As soon as I hit three miles I tried to consciously change gears and pick it up. Luckily, I had a lead bike to chase the entire way so I tried to gain on them the entire time. I closed in 4:35 which was surprising to say the least, I guess that's what a few days recovery gives you. Post race I did 8 x 60s hard, 60s easy to get a bit more work in then cooled down a bit more. I hope everyone had a great holiday (well those here in the USA) and I hope everyone has a great week!

Forcerunner - That was some "special" stuff this week alright. Great pace session, really nice close to the 4 miler. It's surprising but welcome to always find that "extra" gear when you call on it. Good stuff.

Goal: Stay healthy

Stats: 37, male, 5ft 11in, 168 lbs.

PRs: 4:54, 16:53, 35:57, 1:19:57, 2:55:57

Goal Race: Philly Marathon (11/22)

Next Race: Might jump in local race this Tuesday night (~3.65 miles)

M - 12.2 mi (7:51) with slight progression*

T - 6 mi (8:12) // 4.1 mi (7:50)

W - 11.8 mi (7:30) including fartlek**

Th - 6 mi (8:21)

F - 12 mi (7:42). Strides. // 4.1 mi (7:54)

Sa - 9.7 mi (8:01)

Su - 18 mi (7:51) with slight progression***

Weekly Total: 83.9 miles

YTD Total: 1,554.5 miles

*Last 4 miles: 7:48 31 24 20

**12x (:30 fast/2:00 easy) near the end of the run. Didn’t measure the on/off splits, but mile splits for the last 4 full miles were: 7:01 03 6:56 50.

***Last 5 miles: 7:35 35 22 15 08

So far I seem to be absorbing the extra mileage pretty well. Some days I start off feeling a little tired but then I find a really nice rhythm after about 10-15 minutes. I am off work this coming week, so I will be targeting my highest weekly mileage ever (~90mi +/-) before taking a down week.

Hope everyone else had a great week.

Mon- 10 miles at 7:16. Strides.

Tue- 9 miles. 6 x 400m with equal rest. 70 avg.

Wed- 8 miles at 7:31.

Thur- 5 miles at 7:28. Strides.

Fri- 10 miles. 10k in 31:17. (4:50, 4:51, 4:52, 4:59, 5:18, 5:10). Ran sick as could be.

Sat- off

Sun- off

Not the week I was looking for because I started to get sick Thursday and it pretty much ruined my chance of running fast for my race on Friday. I was going to just skip the race but figured I'd be ok to at least run it since this next week is going to be all recovery before my San Jose half build up. But anyways the race started and the pace actually felt super comfortable and was a bit surprised so I just went with it and maintained. Hit 5k in 15:04 according to my watch. Once I passed 4 miles my sickness just took over. It was a weird feeling, like my immune system was just shutting down. My head wanted to explode. The last 2 miles were under race effort pace even though they felt awful. It's ok though...believe it or not this is still technically a PR. Yeah, I split faster in my half marathon but I haven't attempted a PR since for the 10k. I honestly think if I wasn't sick I could've ran anywhere between 30:20-30:40 but that's all talk lol. Somehow it was still 80 degrees with 80 percent humidity and this was a midnight race. This weather sucks lol. But this next week will be all about recovery. I'm looking forward to this next cycle. Finally another attempt at the otq. Hope everyone's week went well and had a good 4th of July.

Took a very light week with a couple days off and feel already recharged quite a bit. Will do a bit more running and XT next week and then begin to slowly ramp up again. Right now I'm entartaining the thought to incorporate some heavy squats in my routine... Tried it today and I really believe I'm lacking strenght and it could help me as my glutes felt very weak afterwards.

Stone Cutter - Great week, really coming around.

Forcerunner - I like how you ease into those Canova workouts. You can run a great marathon if you stay calm and healthy.

RunnersFix - that sickness sucks. Great race despite that. Feeling for you with the heat as over here in Europe it's miserable, too. Today we had 97 degrees plus a high DP, so now I know how it must feel in Florida the whole summer :D Hope it calms down a bit next week...

Pikachu

1/2 Marathon in late August????

M: 6

T: 6 w/ 6 x 10 sec hill sprints

W: 6

Th: 6

F: 10 w/ last 2.25 mile pick up 6:36 pace

S: 6

Su: 47 min bike ride

Total - 40 miles

Felt better as the week went on, next week I will try an actual workotus

Forcerunner - great week and race. Closing in 4:35 is no joke.

Runnersfix - sorry to hear about your week. Not much you can do when you get sick. Hopefully it is over quick.

My first week of my marathon block went well.

M: 12 / 5

Tu: 12 / 5

W: 5 / 13 with a 7 mi hill workout (more of a tempo with sprinting up the hills)

Th: 3. Easy day. Legs were sore from all of the running and the half on Sunday.

F: 12

Sa: 15 including a long workout: 2x1.5mi, 2x1mi, 3x0.5mi. Was run like a fartlek with rest of 1200m, 1000m, 800m between. Splits below (a little long...probably could have formatted this better):

1.5: 7:36

1200: 4:30

1.5: 7:31

1200: 4:28

1mi: 4:58

1K: 3:47

1mi: 4:57

1K: 3:45

800s: 2:29, 3:00, 2:28, 3:05, 2:26, 3:05

So almost 11 mi at ~5:25 pace

Su: 20

Total: 102

Next race: Dances with Dirt Devil's Lake Trail Half Marathon 7/11

Goal: Have fun. I'm not expecting to do well since I have very little experience at running on technical trails and climbing 600'+ at once, so I'm just doing it for fun.

M: 12.3 long run with 10.2 on XC trail (7:26). Normally wouldn't go this far but wanted to get a longer run in so I wouldn't die in the half marathon.

T: 5 mile tempo on crushed limestone bike path in 30:46 (6:09). 9 total

W: 7

Th: 0

F: 6

Sat: 8k road race in 29:14 with approximate splits of 5:39, 5:56, 5:55, 5:52, 5:50. Watch was slightly off and said 4.99 instead of 4.97, so my splits were off by a few seconds. Overall, I'm very pleased with how this race went. Ran with a pack for the first 3/4 mile, then let them go because I felt that the pace was too fast. After the two mile mark, people were dropping off the pack and I had guys to chase. Managed to catch four people and outkick the first overall female in the last half mile. Missed the 13-14 age group record by 14 seconds, but still ran a huge PR. 9 total

Sun: 4

Not a bad week volume is going up would like to get to 16 mile long runs by the end of the month

Monday: 9 miles

Tuesday:10 miles

Wednesday:9 miles 5 mile tempo @5;41 avg

Thursday:9 miles

Friday:9 miles

Saturday:9 miles 5 mile tempo 5:35 average

Sunday: 13 mile long run 6:35 avg

Total:68

Goal Race - September marathon in 3:10

Current shape - 3:20

S-rest

M-8 easy (8:25)

T-13 (7 at 8:30, 6 at 7:15)

W-8 easy (8:30)

Th-10 easy (8:20)

F-6 easy (8:30)

Sat-20 (10 at 8:45, 10 at 8:10)

Total- 65

MP-6

Some great weeks out there!

Forcerunner- What a week! You ran a solid workout then came back and ran a good race. Very nice close on that last mile. I'm very interested to see how this marathon cycle turns out for you.

Stone- Looks like a good week. I think your body is just needing to absorb the mileage that could be why you're on not recovered. It'll take me a few miles just to start feeling good sometimes. Hopefully if you jump in that Tuesday race that you'll be feeling good from having the week off. Good luck.

Pikachu- I was wanting to ask...is it normal for a lot of half marathon / marathon runners to not have speed at all for shorter distances? I understand the whole speed/strength thing but I just feel like I'm really slacking on the shorter events. Even though they're not the important type of races for me I still wanted to get some PR's. I just couldn't get it done. Just wondering.

Pewow- Looks like a great week to build on for once you start workouts next week. Looking forward to how you progress for your half marathon on August.

Back into it- Solid first week back! That's a great long run workout. You crushed those paces. I'm really hoping things work out this time around. You've put in all this work. It's time for it to all show.

Monday- 5 recovery at 8:31/Weights

T- 7 easy (7:50-ish) +4x100 strides

W- 3 mile tempo at 6:45+2x200+1x400 all at mile pace (38-high, 38-high, 80). Took a full recovery between 200s but didn't recover quite enough before the 400. I wanted the tempo to be 4 miles at closer to 6:35, but I just wasn't feelin it. It happens. 7.15 miles total.

Th- 7 easy (7:40)+5x80m strides

F- Solo 2 mile time trial on the roads in 11:44. For reference PR in track for 3200 was 10:59. I'm honestly really pleased with this. This has been the highest mileage week of my life and I didn't taper. Splits from my Garmin went 84.9-92.5-88.9-87.7-87.7-89.4-85.5-85.5. After that I did 1 all out 200 in 34 seconds. yikes. 7.4 miles total.

Sa-5.1 recovery (8:20-ish)

Su-11.25 mile long run at a steady 8:00 minutes per mile. Pretty easy, nothing crazy. ran for 90 minutes and the last 1 minute went all out sprinting.

50.39 total. Finally cracked 50, what I've been going for all summer. Hopefully I can keep the ball rolling. I start practice tomorrow with my low-mileage oriented team (like 15 for this next week is what they will do) but I've talked to my coach about keeping my mileage where it is and he is all for it. Just hope the almost complete opposite schedules don't conflict at all.

RunnersFix - I think you gotta make a difference: There are marathoners with "no speed" in an absolute way (e.g.: You run 2:18 and have problems with a 200 in 30''). And in a relative way (e.g.: you run 2:18 and have problems to run 4:20 for a mile or 14:30 for a 5k.).

idk how fast you can go for 100 or 200. iirc you said you had 53/54 quarter speed so that's plenty.

But it would be interesting to have you run a TT type race in good conditions for a 3k - 5k. I really believe you'd run at least 14:35ish for 5k. And while for a 65'/2:18 runner that's not blazing fast - but in the right ball park as you seem to be more of a mileage/strength runner. It's similar with my times: When I ran my marathon PR (and that's just a couple seconds faster than yours, so equal ballpark) I had a heck of a race two weeks out and still didn't crack 30 in that race. So I believe you're ok as I believe you could do that, too. With higher fitness those shorter PRs will drop (IF you get into fast races - and those last couple races were held in awful conditions it seems).

Those hard 5ks will help your upcoming HM for sure - regardless of outcome. No one runs a real PRs in hot & humid conditions!

Spent this week down in the south of England on holiday. Most of my runs were done on trails with some amazing views. Upon returning back home, I found out via Facebook that the 5K i was going to race on Saturday was cancelled due to an important event taking place at the park it was scheduled to be on. A bit disappointed but s**t happens I guess so what was originally a planned down week ended up being a lot easier. This coming Friday I'll be heading down to the local track to run a hard solo 5K to make up for the race absence

Mon: 4 miles (7:08)

Tue: 6.67 miles with 8 x 300m (1min jog) along the seafront. Just a small session in prep for Saturdays race. Did each one in around 56 seconds.

Wed: rest day (planned). Out of the campsite for 15 hours on a day trip so no time for a run

Thu: 4.14 miles (7:24). out and back run through the local villages. Mostly downhill for the first 2 and back uphill for the last 2. One hill had a 20% gradient that lasted about 600m.

Fri: 2.58 miles (7:46)

Sat: 8.18 miles (no watch)

Sun: 11.9 miles (no watch)

Week Total: 37.47 miles

Will comment on others weeks later on :)

Can't talk much, moved over the weekend and don't have internet at the house yet, so typing from work. (before my shift)

Next Race: MIle on the track later today.

Goal: sub 5:30

Monday: 4 miles easy

Tuesday: 4 miles moderate

Wednesday 4 miles easy

Thursday 2.87 miles super easy

Friday 20 min WU 2x800m with 5 min rest (2;45 and 2:35 both PBs) 15 min CD

Saturday off

Sunday 25 min easy with strides

Will let you know my race time tomorrow.

Goal: Stay healthy

Next Race: 7/11 10k

Week 1 of 14 Marathon Training (Wineglass 10/4):

M: 8 mi Easy (7:48 pace)

T: 12x400m 400 jog recovery + wu/cd 8mi total. splits: 80,83,80,83,80,85,82,82,81,84,75,83

W: Off

T: 8.3 mi Easy (7:56 pace)

F: 6 mi MP (6:23 pace)+ wu/cd 8.3 mi total

S: 8 mi Easy (8:08 pace)

S: 14.2 mi Moderate. Started around 8:15 pace and gradually brought it down to 7:10. 7:35 avg for the run.

Total: about 55 miles

Tuesday's intervals I was very inconsistent, but since it is my first speed workout in 3 weeks I'll take it.

Friday's MP run was around 6:27-8 for the first 5 and the last one i picked it up for a 6:20.

Sunday's long run was the best I've felt in a while. I felt like I could go a couple more miles but decided to play it safe.

My soleus injury is doing much better, no pain while running just very tight in the mornings. Pretty much the norm when I'm training. Overall, I just felt sluggish all week.

Goals: sub 27 Fall 8k

sub 4:24 indoor mile

Week ending in 7/4:

Sunday: 11.2 miles easy (7:14)

Monday: AM 9.7 miles easy (7:20)

PM 3.5 mile tempo on treadmill (5:50) + Lifting

Tuesday: 4.1 mile recovery (7:42)

6.3 mile recovery (7:39)

Wednesday: 8.7 miles easy (7:15)

Thursday: AM 3.9 miles easy (7:47)

PM 10 mile fartlek 5X(3min on, 3 min off)

Friday: 10 miles easy (7:30)

Saturday: 8 mile progression run, Last 3 miles @ 6:09, 5:45, 5:18

Week total: 75 miles

Pretty happy with this week. Was very tired during the middle of the week but I feel better now. This is my highest week ever by about 5 miles. The workouts went pretty well also. The fartlek paces were around 5:20 mile pace with one at 5:09 pace. They were hard, but very good for it being a continuous run. Progression run felt good. Last two miles were strong.

Running another race this Wednesday evening.

Forcerunner wrote:

I closed in 4:35 which was surprising to say the least

Wow. What a great indicator of fitness! Are you still trying to run a OT mare qualifier?

Goal - 50 mile trail race July 12 - Sub 2:40 Chicago

Don't have my logs within reach but nothing really worth noting considering it's taper week. Total mileage around 50, "raced" a mile on the 4th (old age and ultra training does nothing for that!) and had a solid cruise on Sunday. More worried about being fully rested rather than sharp come the 12th so this week will be way scaled back and easy. Possibility of storms for the weekend which would make everything interesting.

Forcerunner-Digging the special block! Impressed with how you put up a solid race anywhere near doing a workout of that volume.

The Stone Cutter-Very solid week. Long run looks great.

RunnersFix-Sorry to hear about you getting sick. Also, just noticed this, but for someone as fast as you are, you hit your easy days super easy. Something I need to work on. I just get bored going along at a hobbling pace.

Back into it- Got-dang, son. The workout on Saturday looks stellar. What's your goal for your marathon?

incoming freshman- Good luck on the HM. I think this week on my long run I'm going to go to 13.1 miles just to say I've run the distance. Nice race.

Matthias-Hope you had a good down week. Those are always enjoyable. Good luck on the 5k. Solo+on the track sounds brutal.