Road Racing and Training Thread Week Ending 25 Sept 2016

Goal - marathon in 9 weeks, 3:20

S-0

M-3.5

T-6 with 6x600 at 6:45 pace

W-11

Th-0

F-15 with 8 at 8:30, 7 at 7:50

Sat-0

Total-35.5

Battling sore legs from the downhills but was encouraged by being able to recover from last week's 13 miles at 7:25 to run a pseudo speed workout on Tuesday, maybe closer to 10k pace than 5k but I'll take it.

Pewow nice tempo and great variation this week, hopefully a new pair of shoes will get those feet feeling frisky!

pewow- nice tempo. when is the race, next weekend?

Training-

Goal Chicago Marathon, 2 weeks from today

M-7.5 easy

T- 9/5

W-10

*Th- AM- (10.5) 3x3miles, 90" recovery- (5:47,5:44,5:43), (5:46,5:40,5:40), (5:45,5:43,5:33). PM- 4.5

F-8.5

S- 9/5

*Su- 17 medium with last 3 in 5:57,5:50,5:56. Overall pace 6:56, hilly

86 miles for the week

more comments later

S - 10.5 progression, 7:04 first mile, 6:22 last mile. 6:47 average. Exact same route as last week and was 3 seconds slower, pretty consistent.

M - 3

T - 7, 4 x 1600 with 3 min rest in 5:53, 5:47, 5:49, 5:48

W - 4

Th - 3

F - 5.5 hill workout. I run a loop between 2 hills that's about 3/4th of a mile long. 4 loops in 4:59, 4:58, 4:58, 4:46

S - off

Total - 33 miles

Nearly the exact same long run as last week, this splits were slightly more even and I was a bit less relaxed but didn't really feel like I was pushing that hard

Finally added another 1600 on Tuesday, once I feel good enough to consistently do 5 reps I'll be pretty happy, will have to bump up the mileage to make that happen I think. Dipping below 5:50 for most of them felt pretty good especially considering I had 1 day of rest after running a race and hard long run back to back. Still takes a lot of focus to relax at that pace, think I just need to get my speed back.

First hill workout since 2013. Need to relearn how to run hills again, splits weren't terrible for my first one but I would have liked them to be low 4:50s but I think it's just a mental thing. When I was in decent shape I would do 5-6 loops averaging low 4:40s so still a little ways to go.

Bump

Male, 15, Sophomore

M: 4 x 200m hard, 6 x 1000m (3:35, 3:37, 3:36, 3:32, 3:34, 3:34), 4 x 200m all in long grass with jog back recovery after the 200s and around 1:30 rest after the 1000s. The 1000s felt relatively easy; my coach wanted us to stay controlled for those and run in a pack.

T: 6

W: 1 (minute), 1, 2, 2, 3, 2, 2, 1, 1 hard on grass with equal time jogging in between.

Th: 5.5

F: 4

Sat: 2.9X mile XC race in 15:52. Splits: 5:12, 10:42. My entire team got buried at the start, which was made worse by the fact that there was a sharp turn in the first 100 meters and the course went onto a narrow trail after 300 meters. Because of this, I had to waste a ton of energy trying to get past people the first mile. My teammate passed me at around 1.25 miles and that allowed me to push myself to stay close to him and not fade completely. Not too happy with this race since I finished well behind people whom I should be beating, but I would still consider this to be better than my race from last week. We don't have another meet for 2 weeks, so I'm hoping I'll be less tired then and be able to perform better.

Sun: 5 (felt exhausted from yesterday and I want to be somewhat recovered for whatever workout we have tomorrow)

Total: 45

Good stuff everyone.

Just easing back into things.

12 miles on the week on three short runs. Taking one more low key week before picking training back up for some fall racing.

@slo-twitch, how are you feeling two weeks out? Pretty solid mileage on the week. What's the taper look like?

@pewow good luck in your race next weekend.

This was not my best feeling week. It was a planned down week, but my legs felt pretty dead until Sunday's easy run (thankfully the temps cooled off then, too). I also had some little discomforts popping up, a twinge on the same spot of my right knee that sidelined me for quite a few weeks in April and then some arch pain that might be some PF.

Perhaps the added miles and intensity is catching up with me, so I might try to dial things back just a little bit and make sure I can stay on top of it all. In my last two weeks of mileage build up I was neglecting the weights and flexibility, so thankfully I brought that back this week.

M, off, weights in pm

T, 4.4 with a few strides

W, 7.9 with 2+ miles hard effort on a hilly dirt road

Th, 4.2, weights in pm

F, off

S, 10

Su, 5.4

I thought I'd do some fartlek in the middle miles of Saturday's run, but I had to let that go. Then I hoped I'd warm up as the miles went and could do some quicker miles in the end, but no. I suppose it was for the best.

32 miles total.

pewow (or others with experience), any advice for dealing with the PF stuff? I've been focusing on rolling my foot out with a lacrosse ball and really stretching the calves.

Goal: Chicago marathon, 2:42-43

Hi everyone. Haven't posted here in a few years at least, but have been reading this thread the last few weeks. Thought I'd post even though I'm only 2 weeks out from Chicago.

M: off

Tu: 6/11 (w/ 6x1mile at 5:55ish, 60" recovery)

W: 8/6

Th: 8/3

Fr: 8

Sa: 5K in 16:52, 9 total

Su: 18 easy on trails (7:00)

Total: 77

Down from 90 miles last week, so starting to taper a bit. Had a 5K on the schedule, even though I'm not really in 5K mode right now. Happy to break 17 for the first time in a very long time. Legs feeling pretty good with two weeks to go. Just trying to stay healthy and not stuff my face too much.

Missed posting last week I think; but there wasn't anything special in their anyway. Here's my week:

Mon: 30mins easy

Tue: 20mins easy AM + 30mins easy PM

Wed: 20mins easy AM + 30mins easy PM

Thu: 45min easy

Fri: 30min easy

Sat: off

Sun: Half Marathon - 1:22:29, new PB

Really good race at my city's half marathon. Got a top 100 placing from around 8000 runners. Not bad from my first attempt three years ago where i finished around 5000th in 2:03:XX. New PB by around 3:30 mins (first half since last March).

My main aim recently was my 10k PB (36:46) from two weeks ago, so the half had really 'taken a back seat'. I'd generally been focusing on shorter/faster work and hills, which has come at the expense of extended long runs and virtually all tempo work (I'd only run one tempo all summer, a split 2x 10min effort). Long runs had topped out at 14 miles once, generally being between 11-12 (circa 90mins). Mileage has been around 50mpw. Coupled with the lack of endurance/stamina training, I felt pretty crap the morning of the race, and was worried by stomach was going to give me trouble; so I decided to start conservatively, aiming for around 6:15 pace.

I lost a few seconds in the first few miles, but wasn't overly bothered, as the aim was really to take it reasonably steady, and see how the race developed. Had a few stomach cramps in the early part of the race, but thankfully nothing major, and got round mile 8 feeling absolutely fine. Then started to try and push it a little more for what was a slightly more challenging second half (the course is pretty flat, but there are a few short hills in the 2nd half of the race, which catch some people out), lost a little bit of time in miles 11 and 12, due to hills, cobbles, and the increasing fatigue, but I was able to gather everything together and finish well with the 13th mile being my fastest of the race (6:09).

Really pleased with the big PB overall, and even more so to place in the top 100 of a pretty big race (it just looks so much better in the results!). I'm encouraged as I feel like there is easily another minute to come off that time on a better day without my worries before the start; also sub-80 now feels within touching distance - aiming for next spring.

Good week on the whole!

Goal: sub 2.40 marathon (10/30)

Mon AM 6 easy (7.58 min/m) PM 9 easy(7.20 min/m)

Tues AM 5 easy (8.01 min/m) PM 7 easy (7.32 min/m)

Wed AM 6.4 easy (8.11 min/m) PM 6.3 easy (7.56 min/m)

Thursday 6 x (3k @MP/ 1k steady)

(Splits-paces):

(11.20/4.13) - (6.05/6.47)

(11.22/4.15) - (6.06/6.50)

(11.18/4.11) - (6.04/6.44)

(11.22/4.15) - (6.06/6.50)

(11.24/4.15) - (6.07/6.50)

(11.26/4.20) - (6.08/6.58)

Total: 19 miles @ 6.44 min/m pace

Fri AM 8 easy (7.37 min/m) PM 3.4 rec (8.24 min/m)

Sat AM 4.1 easy (8.24 min/m) PM 8.18 min/m)

Sunday 16 progression (6.53 min/m average)

(7.33, 7.26, 7.27, 7.14, 7.19, 7.08, 6.58, 6.46, 6.46, 6.46, 6.39, 6.40 ,6.31, 6.32, 6.07,6.08)

Total Weekly Mileage: 97.4 miles

Happy with the week overall and a few more big weeks now till the taper.

@pewow - Good to be able to reel in the pace in session takes fair bit of self control hope the PF clears up soon.

@Niceguy - Solid week and glad to hear the body held up well its a fine balance between running on fatigued legs and over training just make sure you listen to the body closely.

@slotwitch - Very solid week looks like you are well on course with taper. The hardest part is over now time to make sure the legs are in as good a nick as possible for race day.

@Logan Decker - Looks like a very solid week and glad to see training is progressing nicely.

@IllinoisRunner - Glad to see you making progress in your races (despite the chaotic start. Hopefully the break next week will allow the body to absorb gains you have gotten from your recent racing.

Unfortunately this week was a total wash for me. At the end of last weekend I tweaked a muscle in my hip/glute and it's kept me from running the whole week. As of Saturday I've built back up to jogging a bit and this morning I did 5 miles easy. I've been trying to fit some elliptical so I don't totally lose my mind. At this point just hoping to get healthy enough to enjoy race day.

This has been a tough build up. I started my training about 3 weeks later than I wanted to due to a calf injury. I managed 6 good weeks of training, but now I have this hip flare up. I think running sub 245 is still possible, but at this point I'm just worried about making it to the start line in one piece. Either way, I've learned a lot about my body and I'm excited to get this marathon over with :)

A lot of good training weeks all around. Solid workouts and some nice races! As of this morning it feels like summer is officially over in the Midwest. Enjoy the running!

@IllinoisRunner - You've put in some good miles over the summer and need to trust your training. The fast times will come, especially now with the better weather. I hope you have a good race in a couple weeks. Maybe try to go out a few seconds slower and focus on a strong 2nd mile. Trust your strength and the miles you've put in. I think a few longer runs (10-12 miles) at a steady pace could help as well. It looks like the speed is already there based on your mile repeat workouts.

@Myles - That's a big week! Looks like things are coming together nicely.

@pewow - Good tempo. Be careful with that PF. Focus on stretching out my calves usually does the trick for me (and softball rolling when it's really bad).

@slowtwitch - That's some serious mileage with two weeks to go. I'm very impressed with your durability. No days off and consistent mileage + workouts. How does this buildup compare mileage wise to previous ones?

@napper - Did you race at Park Ridge? I was really looking forward to racing there as well but my hip kept me out unfortunately. Looks like we're shooting for a similar time. Good luck!

Niceguy542007 - Nice job not pushing it in the speed workout if it wasn't there that day.

slo-twitch - Good memory, I'm racing my first 5k of the fall this weekend. Last week of mileage in the bank. Excited to see what you do in Chicago.

Logan Decker - Awesome 4x1600 workout

IllinoisRunner - I feel like on of the biggest things someone can do during the first mile of an XC race is to not waste energy when passing people, certainly something I haven't mastered.

Thinkaboutit - Any goals for the fall?

consistency - I'm not the person to ask about injury issues but most people recommend rolling the foot, stretching calves and the sleeping with a splint.

napper - I'm hoping to break 17 this fall as well. Enjoy your taper.

Kendo - congrats on the half marathon PB.

Myles Splitz - Brutal long run workout. That should get you into shape in no time as long as your recover

paleale - seems like you are focused on the right things and just trying to get healthy vs forcing through this injury.

IllinoisRunner - Don't be hard on yourself -- racing is as much about the course, and it sounds like a great tactical lesson. I'm not a coach, but I believe there are workouts (or training strategy) that will help you get out faster than your comfort zone and still recover to race your race. That way you can get ahead of the "plug" that happens at constriction points early in a big invitational and still recover and run your normal race pace. More tactically, you can get your whole team out there next year in the top 10 in 300m and let your slowest member clog the single track while you all run away out front :-)

pewow - thanks for starting the thread. Nice week and good luck with the PF!

Niceguy542007 - Nice long runs. I like the Wednesday/Friday work. What plan are you following?

slo-twitch - excited for you. You're quick! What's your pace goal? I like that 3x3 mile workout and would like to adapt it to my pace.

Logan Decker - funny how hills take such different muscles. I've been on a similar training wish-track, if that makes sense -- getting stronger on hills. I've been trying to incorporate more hills (generally), some hill sprints (10x60secs on steep hill), and I aspire to incorporate a lunge matrix and squats into a cross-training regiment but I've been lazy about the latter. Do you have a goal race?

Thinkaboutit - what kinds of races are you doing in the fall?

consistency - Sounds like the down week was perfectly planned. Still looks like a pretty good week, though, especially getting in the strength and flexibility work. Hopefully your twinges are short-lived.

napper - Really stoked you broke 17 on accident. I would like to have that feeling! Good luck in Chicago--keep that train rolling :-)

Kendo - Huge kudos for your new PB! It sounds like you ran a well-planned race, too, on a day when maybe you weren't feeling the best. Now that you're in the best shape of your life, what's next?

Myles Splitz - That progression was pretty slick. Nice way to end the week. Your workouts look like clockwork. I'm assuming your pretty dialed into your plan. Great week.

Goal Race: 30K Trail Run 10/26

M - 6.1 Easy (7:32)

T - 11.6 - 6x1mile trail (6:35, 6:32, 11:08, 6:41, 7:07, 6:30) w/ 0.5 mile jog between

I wanted to run 6:45 equivalents, but on a trail. 3rd mile was a b*tch, 500' technical climb in upper 90s, full sun, I ended up power hiking the steeps. First and last were primarily on the road, but middle 4 were on variety of single track. I mis-remembered the plan so instead of 0.25 mile jog between them I doubled my recovery.

W - 4 Easy (9:02, hilly)

Th - 10.1 first 5 easy, second half MP (target 6:45). Actual: 8:14/7:14/6:59/7:26/6:59, 6:57/6:44/6:40/6:33/8:09).

This was supposed to be an easy first 5 + MP last 5 but the first 5 got a little fast and I bailed on the last mile. I felt too good the first half but was benefitting from the downhill (net drop 200 feet) but the second half was tough (the sun felt hot, and the hills felt long). I had a hard time getting the right pace with all the hills. Strava calculates Grade Adjusted Pace, which looks more like: (8:11/7:30/7:21/7:32/6:58, 6:50/6:36/6:29/6:24/7:46). The weather broke this week so when I do another one I think I'll be able to hold on better.

F - 7.4 Easy (8:05 with 800 feet climbing)

S - 17.2 Trail with 3300' climbing - 2:44 (9:33) - Took this one easy, and surprised myself by bettering my time from January, when I both 1) thought I was in better shape and 2) pushed the hills pretty hard. The loop is the same distance and amount of climbing as my goal race in 4 weeks but the trail is more technical, so it should give an upper bound on the time I'll run at the race.

S - Easy 4 (8:27)

Total: 61 miles

Overall a great week. I was disappointed in not executing the workouts according to plan but I'm content that trails, hills, and heat have conspired against me and that I'll get the intended benefits out of them anyway. 61 miles is basically a mileage high for me and my legs are feeling fatigued but good overall. Still nursing a sore Achilles. There are 13 public registrations for this upcoming 30k so I'm feeling pretty optimistic for a 1st Overall and a new course record (ha! it's the inaugural run :-)

Lighter week ahead since I ramped up mileage big time over the past few weeks.

Logan- looks like you are getting into shape

Thinkaboutit- smart to come back easy from the marathon. I feel ok right now- not great yet, but I think that I may respond better to a shorter, less dramatic taper, mostly cutting back the last 10 days. This week will probably be around 60 or 65 miles.

Consistency- go easy man. Hope that you are feeling better soon

Napper- good luck in Chicago and congrats on the 5k

Kendo- good race. 2.5 years ago i ran virtually identical times as PRs in the half and 10k (within 10 seconds in the half and 1 second in the 10k!) good things ahead for you

Myles- great week. strong mileage and workouts- keep it up

paleale- just rest up and go easy. you are in shape. this build has averaged ~84 miles per week, so just slightly more (about 5mpw more) than two previous builds. the workouts have been stronger than before, especially the tempos the past few weeks and the 30k mp

team1- looks like a good week. my goal is sub-2:40- on a good day maybe will be able to run a bit faster

Pale ale- one thing that i forgot to include is that my easy days are maybe bordering on too easy. probably 8:00 pace or slower, especially doubles are real slow. i don't know why- it's much slower than other folks run their easy days.

I think you will surprise yourself in a good way at the marathon

Looks like some really good weeks. Can't wait to hear about some huge marathons in the next few weeks.

Monday: 2 w/u, 0.5 c/d

Workout: 4x1k, 500 w/3:30/4:00 rest (3:32,3:32,3:27,3:20,1:26)

Run on mulch/wood chip trails, so definitely a fair bit slower than a track/road

Felt good, cut down while feeling controlled throughout

Tuesday: 0.75 w/u, 3.1 (5k) tempo (5:37), 1.25

Good tempo-felt pretty strong, got a bad cramp all across right side on the last mile but pace didn't feel more difficult than a usual tempo otherwise-on roads

Splits:5:32,5:40,5:38+whatever for 0.1

Wednesday: 3 easy, strides in spikes

Thursday:1.5 w/u,1.5 c/d, XC Race

About 6K, probably slightly short

20:19-very happy with this race especially since it was a season opener and I hadn't raced at all since July (road race with time as the only goal) and not in a high school race since may. Started out controlled/farther back, but found room to work up to about 4th w/2k or so to go. Stayed there until the end, 7 seconds behind third after gaining a bit in the final 800 or so and 20 seconds ahead of 5th. Variety or surfaces, one short steep hill run twice and a few longer inclines that were fairly gradual (as were the declines). Not a difficult course overall

Friday:11 long easy (7:55)

Saturday: off (planned)

Sunday: off (unplanned)

Pretty good week-very happy with the workouts/race and happy to get the long run in. Wish I could've gotten in a weekend run but was visiting family and at least had fun/walked a lot

slo-twitch wrote:

Kendo- good race. 2.5 years ago i ran virtually identical times as PRs in the half and 10k (within 10 seconds in the half and 1 second in the 10k!) good things ahead for you

Thanks for the comments. Next up for me is a 5k at the end of October, then a 10k mid November. I'm due a big PB at 5k. Going to have an easy-ish week this week though, then off for a nice weekend away, so the real work starts next week. I'm only 3 sessions in with my new club so far too, so my main aim is to knuckle down and start hitting some good times in those sessions over the next month or so. Also I think I have a bit of weight to lose (currently 13-14% body fat, which seems high), so thats a sort of side goal, but obviously comes second to training and racing well.

@slo-twitch - Interesting to hear that you were similar to me in the past; if it's not too much trouble, can I ask how your PB's have progressed in the last few years??? And how your volume of training may have changed over that period?

I'm full of motivation at the moment; really want to move training up a notch and see how quick I can get. I've been running 3 years, but i feel as though I'm still playing catch up from 11 years of no exercise prior - so I think there is a lot more to come. It's SPEED I need to address first though, so thats the target over the coming months. I've come accross a couple of people recently who have progressed from circa 1:45 half marathons, to sub 2:30 full marathons (and mid-32's 10k) in the space of 6 years or so - I'd love to achieve something similar one day: going to put the work in and see if its possible!

Kendo, I agree. There is lots to come from regular training and staying injury-free. It's also nice to pick up PRs at all the distances while you are in prime shape. My PRs are all over the place because I ran shorter races in HS when I was fast and longer races in my 20s when I was not as fast, and never had a good marathon relative to other PRs.

What is your 5K PR? McMillan calculator suggests a 17:42 equivalent for your 10K.