Getting this on the board, as I didn't see one already. Not sure if anyone in the thread ran London today. If so, hope you nailed it! Comments forthcoming.
Getting this on the board, as I didn't see one already. Not sure if anyone in the thread ran London today. If so, hope you nailed it! Comments forthcoming.
I hope everyone had a good week. A few of us are licking our wounds from Boston and figuring out what's next. I've done zero running (or any exercise) since the race on Monday. I feel pretty good overall, with a few niggles on my left side in the Achilles and knee.
This year's Boston race was pretty bad for me. I never race well in sun/warm temps. By many accounts, the heat was at or above 70 degrees through the first 16-20 miles. It was enough to affect me. But more significantly I aggravated my left Achilles about halfway through. I think it made me change my stride and by around mile 22 I was having knee pain too and couldn't get any push off the left side. I limped to the finish. I know that a lot of people crashed and burned this year. It was deceptively tough. The weather didn't look horrible on paper but it seemed tougher in actuality.
Going into the race, I felt like I was in 2:53 shape (based off my key workouts). With the heat, I adjusted the goal up to 2:56-58 and went through 13.1 in 1:28:xx, right on pace. Just couldn't keep the turnover and ended up @ 3:16 after a big fade.
Anyway, I plan to return next year but mainly just for fun. Most likely I'll run CIM again in December to try and set a good time. I'd like to get very focused with the training and see how low I can go. The journey starts tomorrow...
Hereford - good effort on Monday man, you looked well set looking back at your training. Next time my friend, next time...
My week:
Age: 22
Residence: UK
PRs: 5K - 15:49, 10K - 31:53
Goal Race: 10 Mile Debut (6/17)
Mon: 4 miles (29:19, 7:19/m)
Tue: 6 miles (43:25, 7:14/m)
Wed AM: 9.05 miles. 1 mile Tempo (5:27), 16 x 200m (200 jog) @33-34, 1 mile Tempo (5:25) (2:00 between sets); PM: 3.1 miles (24:25, 7:52/m)
Thu AM: 4 miles (26:57, 6:44/m); PM: 4 miles (26:29, 6:37/m)
Fri: 5.6 miles (36:51, 6:34/m) + 4 strides
Sat AM: 10.3 miles. 30:00 Tempo (5:21/m) 4:00 jog + 4 x :40 (:40 jog) @ 4:29/m; PM: 3.1 miles (25:19, 8:10/m)
Sun: 4 miles (26:17, 6:34/m)
Week Total: 53.76 miles
Straight back on it after last weeks 10K (just a reminder to you all I ran 31:53, a 23 second PR). I'm going to be moving up to the 10 mile distance in June so training over the next few weeks will consist of lots of strength sessions. I'd like to run around high 52-low 53 minutes
Hope you enjoyed your recovery Boston guys and hope the rest of you had a good week :)
yup, still trying to recover from Boston + the training block as well. Running has been a real struggle for the past 3 weeks, struggling to even run run 8 minute pace for 20 minutes some days. I just felt shot. There was a week about a month ago where I was pretty critical of myself when reviewing a training week, but I pretty much knew then I shot myself in the foot and overtrained, and I haven't been able to recover from that.
didn't get any sleep on the redeye on Friday and didn't fall asleep at all the night before the race. I ended up going into the starting line without much of a plan or expectation. I just wanted to enjoy it as much as I could, and let my body dictate what I could or could not do. I was pretty much checking my heart rate the entire way, more concerned with that than pace. It kept spiking to half marathon effort heart rate and I had to really be cognizant of backing it off. I could never get it steady, and was mentally prepared to drop and be okay with it. somewhere in there I thought, just get to half way at least, and when I got there I wasn't any worse off. I quickly adjusted the effort even more and , throttling it back to give myself a real chance to get to the finish. The 2nd half ended up being both tough and fun and what I was proud about, I was hurting and hamstrings started to spasm somewhere after 16, but the crowds were amazing, and I was just thinking about friends and family most of the time to get me through and that really lifted my spirits. Splits were pretty even the 2nd half after factoring the hills. In terms of effort and what I was capable of on the day, it was by far the best I've closed out a marathon.
I hope this doesn't come off as a sob story or one seeking pity or anything like that. I'm proud of the effort and took away more positives than negatives. Big learning experience for me. One of the things I really wanted to work on, no matter what the temps were, was to be better at taking in fluids at the aid stations. I even wrote in sharpee on my arm to take my time at the water stops. I ended up taking both water and Gatorade at every stop after mile 2 and was able to drink them much better. i don't think getting to the finish line really crossed my mind or thought it was doable during the first 13 miles, and that was my only regret.
Hereford, I think I might do CIM this winter as well! I haven't run since Monday, and had some free time to start penciling some stuff for the rest of the year. I thought about starting to jog around tomorrow, but I have a trip to Japan for a week at the end of the week and now might think about using that as a good excuse to take 3 weeks completely off. Going to be moving to Minneapolis/St. Paul in June so there's going to be some adjusting going on there as well which makes the rest of the year a little more fluid for me.
Somehow missed this and started my own thread! Whoops. I'm going to post what I put there and come back for comments later.
Monday: 21.6k recovery (pm). Bit sore from Sunday. Great weather, ran on a nice trail.
Tuesday: 17.4k easy + strides. Meant to run in the morning but it turns out sleep feels amazing.
Wednesday: 10.5k recovery (am), 21.3k workout (pm). Workout was pretty light: 8x2min @ 8k pace with 2 min rest. I've never raced an 8k before so I tried to aim between 5k and 10k on pace. It was quite windy, as it's been lately. Went 3:15/km, 3:13, 3:13, 3:13, 3:12, 3:12, 3:09, 3:12 and felt pretty good.
Also ran into a runner I know slightly on the morning run. We were going about the same pace in about the same direction, so we hung out for a bit. It was great to have some company on a morning run, which is solo the vast majority of the time for me.
Thursday: 10.5k recovery (am), 12.6k recovery + strides (pm). Did not feel too sore from Wednesday, which I took as a great sign.
Friday: 12.2k easy + strides (am), 10.7k easy (pm). After I went to a buffet dinner at a swanky hotel for an even connected with my girlfriend's job. I acquitted myself very well. The fire, it is burning hot!
Saturday: 17.9k workout (am), 9k recovery (pm). I was very pleased with the workout. Did it with my club and it was great to see some of the usual suspects again. We ran a 10 min tempo as part of warmup, then strides, then got down to business: 3x2k@10k pace. The reps were long, but we had 3-4 mins to recover. Went 6:32, 6:35, 6:30. First two were very controlled, then on the last one I really nailed the pacing and had fun. First k in 3:18, then closed with 3:12 uphill and into the wind. I was working too hard for 10k on that last k, but what the hell.
Afternoon run was also great. Wore my New Balance minimus shoes, which I love and are sadly approaching the end of their lives.
Sunday: 36.2k easy. Met up with a friend (Bernard Lagat from last week's race report if anyone cares) and his great dog Rider and we talked a lot about the London marathon. One mutual friend ran 2:26 for a two minute PB and another returned from injury to clock 2:34, despite stepping in a storm drain. And that Kipchoge! All in all, a good day to be a runner. Plus I'm making pizza tonight!
180.1k total on the week. Felt very good. It was mostly easy running, but it seems like I'm adapting to this mileage increase pretty nicely. The workout on Saturday was good–hard but smooth, and not all out. I feel like I'm well into base and starting to develop my fitness.
Nice week Matthias. I'm excited for that 10 miler. My guess is that 30min tempo this week maybe close to your half marathon pace? So 52 seems very doable.
Hereford- good race sir. I don't feel so bad about getting destroyed by the heat knowing that it also affected Southern Californians
Learning Curve- sounds like you ran a smart race. we probably finished around the same time, i was limping it in in 3:01. i know Twin Cities Marathon isn't as fast as CIM, but it is a great race and a good course in your new turf
working harder- hope that your Boston race turned out better than ours!
Pikachu- i hope that marathon this weekend went well
a recap:
i knew i wasn't prepared for heat (all of my workouts have been in like 40-45degreesF, 4-7C). but they had been forecasting around 60F/15C at the start which seemed not that terrible. i knew when i got out there that it felt very warm and sunny, but didn't bring my phone or anything so i didn't actually know until after the race that it had been 70 degrees for the first 20 miles. whatever i figured 2:40 should be doable even if a little warm and some headwind. my legs didn't feel great and hamstrings had been tight, but sometimes that happens and then things still come together well. i probably should have done some kind of warmup, but it felt too hot.
i was in the first corral but decided to start near the back of my corral so as not to go out too fast. 1st mile- 6:15, very conservative especially given the downhill start. then i was just averaging around 6:03-6:05. didn't feel hard but i knew i was really getting blasted by the sun and i should have been drinking more. i was hitting the aid stations but it was annoying and crowded. other than the very supportive crowds and the girls at wellesley i really wasn't enjoying being out there. i started to feel a bit strange around mile 9 like i was working harder than i should have to maintain the same pace. 8&10 were both 6:10s which was a little weird. i didn't feel that i should be pushing it any harder. then 13&14 both 6:10's also. (i came through the half in 1:19-high) i can tell at that point that stuff is getting weird and slipping, legs already beat up. there was some headwind but not crazy... i'm working too hard to be running 6:10 pace for those 2 miles. 15 & 16 it was clear that something was wrong- a 6:21 and then a 6:09 in a very downhill mile. even though i'm still overall "on pace", feeling light headed and just not strong. i had been taking my gels and getting fluids, but not enough and here come the hills.
i started feeling some spasms before 16 in right hamstring so i took a salt tablet. it held off for a mile, but at 17 it totally locked and i had to stop for over 2 minutes to stretch it out because i couldn't even walk on it. then i was able to run again but only pretty easy like 7:00/7:15 pace (any other race i probably would have bailed, but the crowd is totally encouraging/peer pressuring you here). my legs are also way too trashed at this point relative to all the hill preparation that i've done.
i'm able to "run" up until maybe mile 23 with only light cramping, but then hamstring goes again only i can keep walking this time. after a minute or so i start easy jogging again. then with 2k to go the left hamstring locks really bad, can't walk... have to stop for a couple minutes and try to stretch it out. people are giving me gatorade bottles and stuff and super encouraging. i start jogging really slow and am feeling like i'm going to be able to it in...all i had to do was run a 10:00 mile to break 3! 600m to go at the turn on boylston the right hamstring locks again worse than i thought possible. it takes me 4 minutes stopped there to work it out. some police officers came out. finally i could walk and they told me to just walk it in, maybe 50m later i went back to shuffle jog and cruised it in.
very rough. i know that some (or possibly all) of it was heat related, and i did not adequately prepare or acclimate for that. but since i also had a hamstring cramp in chicago, so this is something i need to address. it was also a bit warm in chicago, but not like this. i had no issues in Philadelphia in november. that was easier travel though, something like a 75minute train ride and minimal time walking at expo around town etc.. plus it was cooler there.
having dealt with this race, i have made a decision never to run another marathon in warm temps. i already have a back-up race a week after chicago. if it's warm, i'll hold out til the next weekend. this really beat up my legs too, i'm still in rough shape. i don't regret not running conservatively, but it was not a good day for me.
Male, sophomore, 16
Goals: Medal at state in the 2 mile
PRs: 10:22, 4:56, 2:16
M: 4 easy + 4x100 strides in new spikes (OG Vics!)
T: 2 mile race in 10:37, second place at conference. Was gonna run the mile as well but the meet was cut short due to storms.
W: 4 easy + 6x100 strides. Really wish I would've run 4.20 miles today...
T: 2.85 easy. Didn't have time for anything else, as I had to work at the middle school track meet in town. I was really tired anyway though, so it's good.
F: 2 mile in 10:22 (!) for 9th place at the John Jacobs Invitational at the University of Oklahoma. Then later came back and ran a 5:05 mile for 30th. Don't really care about the mile as I was absolutely exhausted after the 2 mile. That time now ranks me 5th in my class, so I have a shot at a state medal (OK medals to 6)!
S: 3.5 easy
S: 4.5 easy
Total: 30.25
I am so happy about the OU meet. It was a great experience both because of how well the meet was run and the fact that I was able to get into a race where I never had to run alone. This next week is the big week. I have my home meet on Tuesday and then Saturday is Reigonals, where I try to qualify for state. I have to get top 3 in the race or be one of the next 4 fastest out of any reigon to qualify. There is one guy in my region running 10 flat, and another guy running 10:30, so that's my competition I suppose.
Male, 15, Freshman
PRs: 2:14, 4:50, 10:12, 16:38 XC 3 mile, 1:21:34
Goals: 2:12, 4:45, 10:10
M: 2 w/u, 6 x 150m in around 22 seconds with 4:00 rest, 1 c/d
T: 6 + strides
W: 2 w/u, 10 x 30m sprints with 370m jog recovery, 3 c/d
Th: 4 + strides
F: Red Grange Invitational 3200m- 7th in "B" race in 10:12.9. Very happy with how this race played out. Stayed with the lead pack of 6 other guys for the first 1600 before they sped up the 5th lap and I dropped off a bit. Went back and forth with another freshman for a while before he dropped me with 800 to go and I started slowing down. Splits according to my coach were 71, 2:28 (77), 3:45 (77), 5:01 (76), 6:17 (76), 7:35 (78), 8:55 (80), 77. Probably started out too fast, but I was just focused on staying with the pack and going out any slower would have but me in no man's land the entire race.
Sat: 2 w/u, 2 x (4 x 200m) in 31-32 seconds with :45 rest after each interval and 6:00 in between sets, 1 c/d.
Sun: 7
Total: 40
Hope everybody has a great week.
Slo-twitch - really hope you're able to sort out the cramping issues or that they don't surface during your cooler races. I was pretty acclimated to the heat. There were probably a half dozen or more long runs in my cycle at or above the temps in Boston. But I think it was the unbroken sunshine and zero shade over the entire course that impacted me.
Learningcurve - dude, keep me posted on whether or not your plans will include CIM. It's a good place to go low. I could probably get in your pace neighborhood with enough focused prep. I'm not getting any younger and I think I have maybe 2-3 fast (by my standards) marathons in me before I need to slow down. I've never really dedicated myself over a long buildup or properly capitalized on successive build ups. Consequently I know that my more recent PR (mid-2:50s) is far from my current potential. Normally, I focus on training for only 8-10 weeks leading up to a race.
Oklahoma & Illinois - great job on both of your meets! Especially that 10:22 PR. Nicely done!
Hi all,
here's my last week:
M - off (planned)
T - 6k
W - 15k*
Th - 14k
F - 12k
S - 14k
S - 23k
All running except the workout on Wednesday were done with my 7 weeks old daughter in a stroller.
* Nice little workout with 1x20min and 2x10min tempo (4:00/k descending to 3:45/km)
This coming week I have my first 5k race of the year. Looking forward to it. Hope to go sub17.
Hereford - Hope the achilles comes around.
Matthias - nice tempo on Saturday. Why the move to the 10miles?
learningcurve - I like your attitude. Congrats on finishing on a tough day
Bonham - Amazing week with nice workouts. And a 22k recovery run, haha
slo-twitch - sorry to hear. Take the fitness and go for the 5k PB!!!
Philip