Road Racing and Training Thread-Week Ending October 16 2016

Hoping all weeks were great.

Monday: 6 easy with some hills

Tuesday: 1 w/u, 0.5 c/d

7x475 (1:28,1:25,1:25,1:24,1:25,1:28,1:21) 3/4 min rest except for only 1:30 before the last one, with the purpose being running faster despite less rest to simulate the end of a race-very uneven ground made it tough on the legs, but a good workout

Wednesday:5.5 easy

Thursday:2 w/u, 1c/d

3x1140, 2x750 w/3/4 min rest (3:44,3:42,3:39,2:12,2:07)

Run on gravel roads with some grass. Pretty long slight incline then a decline on the 1140, while the 750 has less but still some elevation change. Felt really good and really got after this workout, as there was no race and the important meets are coming up.

Friday-4.5 easy w/a break in the middle

Saturday-9 MLR

Sunday-1 w/u, 1 c/d

4x800 w/1:30 rest, 4x400 w/400 jog (2:44,2:38,2:40,2:39, 1:15,1:17,1:16,1:18)

Decent workout. Had LR and a lot of tennis the day before so my legs were a bit heavy, which made it hard to go any faster, although I felt alright once going this pace. Done on a grass, slightly uneven loop so not as fast as a track. Last workout before my first postseason meet in a few days.

Total:41

Looking forward to the conference meet this week.

Male 40 yo

Goal - 3:15 marathon in 5 weeks

S-9 w6x1000 at 6:05 pace, 3 min jog

M-13

T-6

W-9

Th-3

Fri-17 w/15 at goal MP 7:20

Sat-rest

Total-57

Doing 15 at MP was not hard aerobically but my legs have been shot lately and that made the run tougher. Hopefully the 3 week taper next month will help that.

Good luck to everyone this week! Looks like the Mount Rushmore of the thread has shown up lately- Picachu, Hereford, etc., and in addition to Slo-twitch , pewow, and working harder we are now one Stone Cutter away from a Fall 2015 reunion!

Strong workout on Thursday. I remember being young and able to get in 3 workouts per week!

Solid week along the road to recovery for me.

M: 6 easy (7:25)

Tu: 45 min elliptical

W: 6 easy (8:00)

Th: 5 easy (7:25)

F: 6 easy (7:30)

Sa: 45 minutes stationary bike

Su: 1.5 mile warm-up;

5 miles at 6:00 pace in race setting wearing trainers and t-shirt trying to find tempo pace;

1.5 mile cool-down.

Tried to estimate where my tempo pace was today. 6:00 pace felt really easy until 3-3.5 miles, then it got taxing. By the last mile, it felt close to race effort. Still, my goal was to run 6:00 pace for as long as I get capable, and I was pleased with making it the entire 5 miles.

15 at MP is impressive - string work.

M: 3 w/u, 4 x 200m hard "practice starts" on first 200m of Conference Meet course, 1 mile at race effort on the first mile of the course, 2 c/d

T: 7.3 + strides

W: 2 x 200m in :34 (around 1:15-1:30 rest), 4 x 800m in 2:30 (5 minute rest), 2 x 200m in :34

Th: 4

F: 4

Sat: Conference Meet (3 miles)- 12th place in 16:40. Hilly course made the times slightly slower than usual. Got out hard to get into a good position, but struggled on the hills in the second half. Ended up taking 12th, which is disappointing since at the beginning of the season I thought I could at least get top 5. Missed All-Conference (top 11) by 2 seconds and my team lost by 1 point after being favored to win. I just want to move on from this race and run well at Regionals and Sectionals.

Sun: 5

Total: 39.5

J. Daniel’s Running Formula 3rd Ed.

5-10k plan Phase II Wk5

Goal Race: New Years Hometown 8k

Sunday: L (13.1) Longest run to date; 1h 46 min

Monday: off

Tuesday: Q1 (8.7) First snowfall!!!

Wednesday: E (6.5)

Thursday: E (6.5)

Friday: Q2 (8.5)

Saturday: E (5.4)

Total: 48.7 miles

Q1: On @ 5:20

16 minutes w/u 16minutes c/d

5 x (40s on 70s off 40s on 140s off 80s on 70s off)

Q2: T @ 6:10-6:40 varying on tail & head wind. On @ 5:20

16minutes w/u 16minutes c/d

4 x (6:20s @T 60s off) 4:00 jog + 4 x 40s on 70s off

Almost through phase two and I'm feeling solid. I'm tempted to test my fitness, but it seems best to wait until a late November turkey trot for that.

CanadianRunnin, that's a lot of solid work. Good luck going into conference.

Niceguy, great miles and MP workout. Things are looking good with 5 weeks to go.

Smoove, neat to see more miles piling on, and some faster stuff, too. Hopefully the foot is feeling good.

IllinoisRunner, it's tough when you don't quite hit the goals you've set out for yourself. But watching your season as a whole, you've been rockin it. I know in high school people can often make big leaps in fitness, but those don't always come when you expect them to. Keep doing what you're doing, and when you don't really expect it, you'll find yourself at another level.

cogs, 5:20 miles in some snow! That is awesome.

My week getting ready for my 10k.

M, 2.8 super easy

T, 7.5 easy on hilly trails

W, 6 w/ 2.5 miles at hard effort, last two were 6:08 and 6:01

TH, off

F, 6 easy, legs felt awesome today

S, 3.1 w/ some strides

Su, 8.8 w/ 10k race, 38:47 for a PR and surprise win.

34.4 miles

And if you're into full race reports, here you go.

The 5k, 10k, and HM all started together, so I knew I'd have some people to run with early on, but I also didn't want to get sucked into anything. The plan was to go out around 6:10-20. Of course I was way under that and hit 5:51 for the mile. I felt awesome at that point and was rather surprised to be in 10th position, but I was worried for the future.

I settled in and just tried to cruise after that. I let a few people go by me and passed another one or two. Miles 2 and 3 were 6:19 and 6:23. Just before the 3 mile the 10k/HM runners split off. I could only see one guy about 25 seconds up on me, and he was steadily pulling away. And this is where I started suffering. I was completely alone for mile 4, and at one point someone in a nearby house was cooking a ton of bacon and I came close to getting sick, but I kept it together for a 6:26 fourth mile.

Just after that was the 10k turn around. I went around the sign and a four wheeler jumped out in front to lead me back. Turns out I was in the lead. I have never been in this place before, and initially I felt really bad. But then I started cruising a little more. The second place guy was about 15 seconds back, and I just concentrated on rolling and smooth as I could. I was also really lifted up by all the other runners. Everyone in the race was cheering for me. It was super cool, and I just kept pushing and giving lots of small waves back as I couldn't really say 'good job' to everyone. The 5th mile was 6:21, and then I started grinding a little harder. I thought I had more in me, but the 6th mile was only a 6:12. Near the end of mile 6 was a three block long steady climb that really hurt. I run a lot of hills, and I thought I would be good here, but not at the end of a race. I was slumped and crawling up over the top. I was also paranoid about the guy in second passing me. He was still 15 or 20 seconds back, but with how bad I felt, and no confidence in a kick, I knew that could be erased easily. Later my wife would tell me 2nd place looked far worse than I did, so I didn't have to worry.

The last 5 blocks of the race are a long, steady downhill. I wasn't sure I could get my turnover going after the hill, but I started to loosen up and just kept tried to keep the cadence as high as I could and work with gravity.

Breaking the tape was pretty darn cool. I had never done that before, and I feel pretty lucky. In the last 6 years (all the years that have records) my time has been the slowest by at least 2 minutes. So I guess all the fast guys were in the 5K, HM, or sitting at home.

Sub 40 and a smart race was my main goal, but I also thought sub 39 was doable, and sub 38 was a super long shot. So I feel really happy falling into the middle. For whatever reason my legs did not feel as good as they did in a lot of my recent workouts. If I can start smarter in the future and find those good feels, maybe I can start knocking on the door of 38. For now my achilles and plantar fascitis are super unhappy with me, so I think some days off and some really easy weeks might be in order before getting back to some winter build up. We'll just have to see, though.

Canadian - good luck at the conference meet!

Niceguy - great week. I, too, really like that 15 at MP. Really speaks to your fitness.

Smoove - I was young once, too, but I don't think I was smarter... just faster.

IllinoisRunner - Heartbreaking post, man, but you have everything to be proud of. 16:40 is a respectable race on a hilly course and, well, there's always tomorrow. You have a lot of fast running in your future.

cogs - Congrats on the longest run. I'll bet that feels awesome! I'm interested to hear about your thoughts going into and coming out of a turkey trot. How long have you been running?

consistency - cool! How awesome you got the win. Thanks for the write-up. I can really picture you coming back on the "back" portion with all those cheers and waves. Must be really nice. I don't doubt you'll be looking at the bottom of 38 in the near future.

My weeks go Monday to Sunday and I'm a little late so... :-)

Goal race this Saturday: Trail 30K, the BoulderDash at Chiricahua National Monument... first race in 3 years, longest race in about 12 years. Temps are forecast to be between 60 and 80 during the race under a blue sky. I'll run with a hydration pack.

M - off (first rest day in 32 days)

T - 9.5 with 4@MP, 3 faster (7:00/6:51/6:53/6:51 + 5:59/6:02/5:48)

W - 6 Easy (7:44)

T - 7.5 Trail with 2.5 mile Tempo, 1600' climb (13:08/mi, PR on the climb)

F - 6.6 Easy (7:49)

S - 4 Easy (8:06)

S - 10 Easy Trail (10:16), 2500' climb up and back down, 6:17/5:51 finish

Total: 44.2, 5800' climbing

With the day off and drop in distances I'm doing a quick 2-week taper (off 4 weeks at 60) for the Saturday race. The race is an 18-mile lollipop which is uphill then downhill and has about 2500' climbing (I think)... very similar to many of the long runs I've been doing. I am excited to race again but both nervous that there won't be any competition for me to race and also nervous someone much faster than me will be in the race and they'll smoke me. I am less worried about my specific race plan because no matter what happens my plan is to run it like a marathon, at least effort-wise, although it's quite a bit shorter... Aerobic steady-state effort, staying smooth and relaxed with 3+3 breathing, let gravity do work on the downhills, and bomb down the last 5-8 miles of single track and road to the finish, depending how I feel. I'm the fastest downhill runner I know so I believe if anybody is within a half mile with 7 to go I can catch them. I should caveat that by saying the closest downhill runners to me that I know of are also much better runners uphill so I won't be within half a mile 11 miles in :-) Anyway, we'll see in a couple days!