2017 25 Minute 8k XC thread

RunninReed wrote:

Update:

Week 4 - 78

Week 5 - less than 50

Week 6 - 51

Week 7 - Should be back to in the mid-70s.

Tempos have gone better. Did 5.5 in 5:22s as part of a relay, so that was encouraging.

Ran a road 8k last weekend. Trained through and ran 25:34. I think course was about 20 seconds short. Still, I feel good about my chances to break 25 if health abides.

Solid mileage and tempo and race! You're definitely looking like you'll break 25. What's your previous PR? What school do you run at and what year?

I'm in Portland right now but just found out I'm moving back to the central coast of California next month, so no red lizard xc races for me this year.

xperirunner, are you north bay/east bay/west/south? I'll probably be doing lots of racing in the bay area next year starting this fall.

can't recall when I last posted my week but I'll give a general sense of my training (which is for 50k to 80k, not 5k to 8k)

I did three weeks in a row of 69 to 72 miles with 8000 to 10000 feet of elevation gain each week, usually with one ~3hr hilly long run.

Last week I did my first "adventure run" by doing the Timberline Trail around Mt Hood. I ran with a group and we went quite slow, basically hiking all the hills and jogging the rest. it was 9:40 of running and over 12 hours total (42 miles with 10,500 feet of elevation gain).

I honestly wasn't even tired afterwards, just hungry. Amazing how your body can hold up off of just 3hr long runs. I'd never run over 4 hours before ever.

I have a coach now who is an ultrarunner so I'm back into doing fartkeks after a long break from regular workouts. Hopefully it gives me the fitness bump I need to become a competitive ultramarathoner beyond the local scene.

My move to California should be good for my running as I'll have access to a lot more variety of trails and running surfaces. And for a while I'll definitely run a lot due to the excitement of new trails.

last week was 87 miles but obviously the 42 miles on Saturday skewed the total. Probably back to 70 miles this week as I recover fully from the long day before my next race, a ~31k trail race on August 12.

Last 2 weeks:

7/17-7/23

3.5, 5

6

9

8.5

9 (10x1on/1off, @5:51 avg for 20min)

13

7

total = 61

7/24-7/30

5.5, 3.5

9 (2.25 @5:34 pace, 5min rest, .75 in 4:11, 2:30rest, .75 in 4:06 - this was supposed to be a 4 mile tempo but I had to stop to go to the bathroom)

9.5

6, 3.5

9 (4mi tempo, 21:58)

8

13.5

total = 67.5 @6:48 avg

7/31 6, 3.5

8/1 11 (8x3on,1off - ons were 5:05-5:20ish, 5.5 miles @ 5:41 pace)

Reed-South Bay.

loveroflloyd wrote:

RunninReed wrote:

Update:

Week 4 - 78

Week 5 - less than 50

Week 6 - 51

Week 7 - Should be back to in the mid-70s.

Tempos have gone better. Did 5.5 in 5:22s as part of a relay, so that was encouraging.

Ran a road 8k last weekend. Trained through and ran 25:34. I think course was about 20 seconds short. Still, I feel good about my chances to break 25 if health abides.

Solid mileage and tempo and race! You're definitely looking like you'll break 25. What's your previous PR? What school do you run at and what year?

Thanks! Hoping I can stay healthy and consistent.

Lifetime PB is 24:04 for 8k. Did that in 2010 while running at Western Oregon (NCAA DII).

Hey everyone! I haven't checked in in a few weeks. I hope everyone's training is going really well! I always love the summer months of just training at a sustainable level and having a good time with friends and family. I hope everyone is enjoying their summer and doing things other than training and perusing letsrun! Haha

For those interested I am an incoming college freshman. I ran 1:55, 4:21 (mile), 15:50 XC 5k in high school and this XC season I'm hoping to squeak under 26:00 for 8k, but more importantly be a factor on my team (DII school).

I've had one day per week off and will continue to have this day off all season and all the way through college. It's just how my coach operates and I'm liking it.

Heres a rundown of my training so far this summer. I do strides nearly every day. I have been alternating doing upper body work one day and core the next and so on (core involves some lower body strength work). I'm trying to do barefoot strides more. Long run is about 22-23% of weekly mileage.

Here is each weeks mileage and the harder runs/workouts of the week. All other runs are either easy (6:45-7:30 pace) or slightly progressive (maybe like 7:00 pace down to about 6:15).

Week 1: 30 miles with a couple progressive 4-5 milers

Week 2: 30 miles, one day did 1.5, short rest .5 tempo just to move a little, did a 7 miler going 2 quicker, 2 slower, 2 quicker, 1 slower averaging 6:14 for the whole thing

Week 3: 35 miles, super hilly trail run, tried to do a progression run but only got down to 6:00 And it was so humid I just bailed lol I couldn't breathe but my legs felt fine

Week 4: 40 miles, progression run, did 3 up then 3 in 5:51, 5:40, 5:20, 1 down, hill repeats, did 10x30s at about mile effort on a pretty decent slope with a jog back (continuous), probably 4:30 pace on the ups, 7:30 on the downs, on my 9 mile long run I did the first 6 @ 6:08 pace feeling very smooth and then slowed down to about 6:30 for the last 3 as to not overdo it.

Week 5: 45 miles, it was super hot and humid for my progression run so it was kinda slow, ran 4 at about 6:50 pace then 3 in 6:15, 6:01, 5:48. Did hill repeats again, steeper hill this time. Went 15x30s with a jog back (again, continuous). Probably 4:40-5:00 pace on the ups.

Week 6: 50 miles, tempo intervalish workout, it was really hot and humid and I didn't feel like running slow so I threw in a 3:00 break after 2 miles then a 1:30 break after 3. Yes that was kind of stupid but I did it on the fly after already setting a pace that was too fast for the weather lol. Went 5:53, 5:46, 5:36, 5:17. Long run was 11 in over 95° real feel (104° when I finished), so it was kind of a workout haha. On the weekend ran a local 5k (yes 3.1 miles). Just tempoed it in 17:40 (very hilly course) for a nice workout. Later that day ran a progressive 4 miles (first and maybe only double of the summer).

I'm currently in Week 7: It's my first down week and I will be hitting 40 miles. I've already done two workouts. First was a 6 mile progression going 6:51, 6:37, 6:12, 5:46, 5:42, 5:29. Second was a 4 mile tempo and probably my best workout so far. I didn't take any breaks this time and went 5:43, 5:40, 5:36, 5:12.

Thanks for reading!

Good stuff splits guy.

So my week was a horrible week. Last week, I had a foot injury. I thought it would heal on its own, but it didn't. So I took 4 days off with some cross training. Today I ran 5 miles and it was fine for the most part. I felt small pain in my foot at the very end.

-Monday: 4.07 am; 7.04 pm; 11.11 total.

-Tuesday: 4 mile tempo in 23:32.. 5:53 pace (6:15, 6:07, 5:37, 5:33) The first 2 miles were very windy. I need to find a way to avoid wind.

-Wednesday: 5.26 miles

-Thursday: Cross train

-Friday: Cross train

-Saturday: off

-Sunday: 5.02 miles

Total 30.06 miles

I'm planning to run 65 miles this coming week. I will also get one more chiropractic treatment tomorrow.

About time for me to join this.

Never given XC a shot this will be my first real season. More of a mid distance runner. My 5k PR is 15:58 but probably could go a bit faster as my 1500 PR is 3:59. But, never been great with the longer stuff.

Last two weeks: 55mi, 60mi

This week: ~40mi (low week)

Next two weeks plan: 65mi, 70mi

Workouts so far in order:

2X1mi 3min rest 5:06, 5:12 to see what shape I was still comfortable with.

4mi tempo @5:40

5K in 16:19 not too hard closed with a good amount of energy, still felt uncomfortable pushing too early.

14X300m 100 walk rest (sets of 5,5,4) 1st set 55->53, 2nd set 53->51, 3rd set 49->46, this felt very comfortable.

Hoping to go sub 26 in XC I'll do my best to keep this updated! Good luck everybody!

Rickomortis, nice stuff there! It looks like we are in similar shape, have similar PRs and I as well am hoping to break 26:00 this season. My 5K OR is 15:50 but I also feel like it should be faster as my mile PR is 4:21.

What is your 800 PR? Just wondering because everything else seems very similar. Cool to see a guy in about the same spot as me!

Hope everything goes well for you!

Howdy Fellas,

I haven't posted in a while and had a 2 rough weeks, but am back at it

7/17-7/23: 37.5 with a 5 mile tempo. Hurt my hip mid-week and had to take a few days of very low mileage

7/24-7/30: 51 - Was still recovering from the hurt hip and a pretty bad flu-ish thing. Ran a terrible 5k race as well

7/31-8/6: 73. 8 mile progression run, 2 days of strides, and 2 fast 200s today

Feeling better again after that interruption. I'm pretty confident that the 5k I ran was not at all indicative of the shape that I am in, as I had hoped to be ~40s faster

Good job to all others out there!!

Splits Guy wrote:

Rickomortis, nice stuff there! It looks like we are in similar shape, have similar PRs and I as well am hoping to break 26:00 this season. My 5K OR is 15:50 but I also feel like it should be faster as my mile PR is 4:21.

What is your 800 PR? Just wondering because everything else seems very similar. Cool to see a guy in about the same spot as me!

Hope everything goes well for you!

Yeah we are pretty similar! I have a horrible time with the 8. I never really give it enough of a serious go. I've run like 2 flat but I should also be a lot faster. I can run 200 in 24s and 400 in around 52. I've closed a work out in 54 when I was in peak shape but I think I should give an early season 8 a real try.

Had a decent workout on Friday. Moderate 4.2 mile tempo. Settled into 5:40s real easy and picked it up slightly as the workout went on. Still feel a bit rusty but it's a start. A ton of wind out here.

5:47, 5:45, 5:42, 5:31.

Had to finishing moving my stuff into my new place so I didn't get any free time to run at all.

35 miles for this week.

These weekend miles are the hardest for me to get in.

hit 72 miles the past two weeks....mileage was weirdly spread out since there was a day each week that i either had to take off or couldnt log more than 6 miles, but was still able to get the job done.

i did my first 18 mile long run and it felt great. first few miles were slow, hovered a little above 7:00 for the rest and cut down to the low 6s for the end of the run.....cruised in at about a 5:52, which was a nice surprise since i try to avoid looking at my watch on easy runs. was also encouraged by the fact that i put off my r session until the day after and was on pace for most of the workout.

was pretty encouraged with this week too - had my best and most relaxed tempo efforts at this point of a cycle, maybe ever. 6x1 cruise intervals 60s rest (on the daniels plan)

5:35

5:33

5:34

5:31

5:29

5:26

felt effortless so the hype for racing this fall is real. looks like everyone else on the thread is killing it too!!

So I signed up for a race yesterday. Looks like I’ll be heading back to Southern California to race against my alma mater. I had a lot of free time yesterday so I switched my workout over to Tuesday for the week. Ran an old workout from my undergrad called 90-60-30-15. 90 seconds on 90 seconds off at 8k pace x4, 60 seconds on 60 seconds off at 5k pace x4, 30 seconds on 30 seconds off at 1500 pace, 15 seconds on 15 seconds off at 800 pace. Cruised at 5:05 to 5:10 pace for the 90s. Brought it down to 4:50 pace for the 60s. Legs were zapped for the 30s and 15s as most of them were on some inclines. That came out to about 7 miles, tacked on our run club right after (4 miles). 11ish miles for the day.

2 mile warmup (6:39, 6:32)

90-60-30-15 (5:41, 5:45, 5:47, 6:15)

Longer cooldown (6:21, 7:09, 6:50, 6:40, 6:34)

I think I’ll be running 3 XC races this year. One out in California and two in Ohio. Get to race against both my alma maters too.

Trying to find local running clubs (that are not beer related) to run with in this area so I can find new routes or tracks to workout at. I’m sure I can beat my PR and maybe get in one final track season. I really want to throw down a steeple close to 9:00 before I transition to the roads.

Injured... spending this week recovering from metatarsalgia.

If I were to give a grade on my summer training, it's a A-. Only because of the foot injury. However, I shouldn't give up. Three years ago, I strained my calf around this time and had to miss 2 weeks of training. I was able to get back in shape within a short notice and was able to PR in the 8k.

I've had a pretty good few weeks, 55 last week with one workout. No one has bumped this yet so I guess I will.

M - 9.5 AM, 3.5 PM

T - 5.5

W - 9 including 5Xmile with 2 minutes rest @ 5:51 (oops, we were talking too much), 5:20, 5:25, 5:16, 5:14

T - 7.5

F - 8.5

S - 7.5 - 15X200 with ~60 sec rest at 33-36, last few in 32 --> 27

S - 7.6

58 miles for the week, so far the high of the summer.

Both workouts went very well, mile reps were very relaxed and 200s felt smooth. This week I plan on doing a 5 mile tempo and something else a little faster.

The last couple weeks have been well. A lot of runs ending quick but nothing too crazy. Only significant workout I've had this summer was a 4/2 mile tempo at 5:41/5:38 pace and I took about 2 minute recovery in between. My long runs have been a staple to my summer training including a 15.5 miler at 6:25 pace and the last 5k around 18:00 and most of it was barefoot.

Only bad part going into this last week is a knee pain that I'm going to talk to my trainers and hopefully figure out what it is. I think it's patellar tendonitis because it stings when I palpate and push my fingers into but doesn't hurt when I run or do any exercise so I don't think it's too serious. I do think 25 minutes is definitely possible with the summer I've had.

Mileage the last 5 weeks:

49.40 (Down week)

70.24

80.59

70.65 (Only ran 7 miles total the last 2 days of the week)

48.6 (Took first and last days of the week off because of the knee.)

Update...

7/24-7/30: 35 miles

-3 mile tempo in 17:16 (5:45 pace), feeling good, though I ran it a little harder than true tempo effort

7/31-8/6: 34 miles

-no workouts, just an 11 mile long run

8/7-8/13: 41 miles

-4 mile tempo in 23:48 (5:57 pace), felt good, but I had to work hard after 2 miles

-Hill Training, 10x300m uphill, about a +20m elevation gain, ran it a bit faster than 1500m effort

8/14-8/20: 45 miles

-12 mile long run

-8x1K with 45-60 seconds rest, averaged 3:37, felt surprisingly easy

For the next few weeks I want to get in the 50's for weekly mileage, and get the long run to 14 miles, and do more long rep work.

Monday (Regular Run)

8.76 miles: 57:04, 6:31 pace

Tuesday (15% LR)

10.08 miles: 1:04:14, 6:22 pace

Wednesday (Regular Run)

8.58 miles: 56:43, 6:36 pace

Thursday (Workout)

3 mile easy tempo, 8x200 with 200 jog recovery

Tempo: 16:50 200’s all between 32-34

10.11 miles

Friday (Easy Day)

7.26 miles: 51:22, 7:05 pace

Saturday (Long Run/Workout)

Odds and evens. 2 mile warmup, 7:00 for odds, 6:00 for evens

7:31, 7:26, 6:59, 5:57, 6:59, 6:02, 6:56, 5:59, 7:05, 5:45, 7:13, 5:58, 6:59, 5:53, 7:03, 5:46

16.10 miles, 1:46:20, 6:36 pace

Sunday: Off

Just about 61 miles for the week. Long run felt good and the workout felt smooth. I felt like crap on Friday though. My shins were killing me.