Road Racing and Training Thread - Week Ending 1/30/22

male, 32, 6'1", 165

big development for me was that i started working with a private coach this week. his "day job" is as a running-focused PT and he's helped me rehab from a couple of hamstring injuries over the past year. i solicited his services with the hopes of breaking 16 for the 5K this spring. my wife and i are expecting our first this summer (official due date 7/1), so i have about 5 months to pull it off before my life changes a lot :) . lifetime PR is 16:13 from my junior year of college. first race of the season will be the shamrock shuffle in chicago on 3/20.

mon - 7 easy

tues - 5 easy

weds - "fartlek" workout. 4 hard, 2 recover, 2 harder, 1 recover. did 3 cycles for a total of about 4 miles. got my legs moving faster than they have since a 5K a ran in october. felt pretty good despite miserable cold/wind. 8.3 miles total

thurs - first day off in about 3 weeks.

fri - 6.5 easy

sat - 14 with the last 4 miles at a "sub-T" type of effort. felt tired but got it done.

sun - 4.5 easy

total - 45. pretty big cutback after 55 the last two weeks. coach wants me to stay healthy above all else, so going forward i won't be doing as many miles as perhaps i would like. that said, i can see where he's coming from as i haven't been able to put together more than 4 months of injury free training in over 2 years.

YTD - 218

36/M

PRs: 2:56:22 (full), 1:25:54 (half), 39:54 (10k)

Upcoming: open, live the hobby jogger dream

After some thought, I'm basically hitting the reset button & clearing the race calendar. Haven't been adapting well to increased elevation + trail terrain & climbing. Just going to do easy miles and sprinkle in harder efforts when my body says GO. This is how I see running for the next few decades anyway. Sprinkle in the occasional half that over time will get slower and slower.

M 4 @ easy (no time)

T - 5.3 @ 8:58 - 450ft gain

W - 8.6 @ 7:49 - 450ft gain

T - 6.2 @ 8:10 - 340ft gain

F - 3.6 @ 8:42 - 340ft gain

S - 14.5 @ 8:30 - 900ft gain

S - 6.5mi hike, 2:40, 1000ft gain

42.2 miles in 5:54 with 2500ft of gain.

240 miles YTD

M33, 5'10", 160

Really frustrating week that started off promising. Silver lining is that I think I'll be good to go soon and it coincided with the Nor'Easter so don't think Saturday/Sunday were gonna be great anyhow.

M: 6 @ 8:28R in Central Park

TU: 7 ft. 7x 800 with 1' rest (2:59, 3:01, 3:00, 2:54 -oops, 3:00, 3:01, 2:56). Excellent workout and most consistent I'd done on long intervals.

WED: Planned Day Off

THU: 6.1 @ 7:40 in the Park.

Thursday I stepped on a curb awkwardly mid-run and that's where the trouble started. I finished the run fine noticing my knee the tiniest of bits. Unfortunately a couple hours later it became clear I'd tweaked/twisted my knee and it was swelling and causing discomfort especially on stairs. I've taken the past 3 days off, though I got on the exercise bike yesterday with mild discomfort. Not sure that was the greatest move because there is some strain on the knee in that motion, but I needed to do something aerobic. Today it's pretty mild, so I'm considering an easy run. It's gotten milder every day, but I want it to be all the way away before really pushing it again. A freak thing, but it happens I guess.

THICC - that is my future. Do really good mileage most of the year (summer I have always done less) and just race whatever I feel like on good mileage and the off workout. And not worry about it that much

highhoppingworm wrote:

Sub 6:00 wrote:

M37, 5’10”, low 160s

Upcoming plans

GW Bday Marathon (2/20)

RNR DC Half (3/26)

Cherry Blossom (4/3)

Mo: 8 @ 7:41 (41, overcast)

Tu: 8 @ 7:26 (38, overcast)

We: 8 @ 5:51 (25, sunny) 3-2-1*

Th: 8 @ 7:26 (33, sunny)

Fr: 8 @ 7:14 (35, snow)

Sa: 6 @ 7:22 (26, overcast)

Su: 14 @ 6:44 (29, overcast)

Total: 60 miles

*1 warmup, 3T (5:30, 5:31, 5:24), 3’ easy, 2T (5:23, 5:24), 2’ easy, 1T (5:21), .25 cooldown. Usually prefer to do this type of workout on the track, but did it on bike trails/road due to frozen puddles on the track.

Saturday’s planned 20 miler just wasn’t happening. Legs felt like crap, weather was crummy, sleep-deprived, etc. Hope to get one more 20 in before I half-ass this marathon.

You have inspired me to give the 3/2/1 a try this week,

It’s a good workout! I like that once you finish the first hard segment you’re already halfway done.

THOUGHTSLEADER wrote:

Thursday I stepped on a curb awkwardly mid-run and that's where the trouble started. I finished the run fine noticing my knee the tiniest of bits. Unfortunately a couple hours later it became clear I'd tweaked/twisted my knee and it was swelling and causing discomfort especially on stairs. I've taken the past 3 days off, though I got on the exercise bike yesterday with mild discomfort. Not sure that was the greatest move because there is some strain on the knee in that motion, but I needed to do something aerobic. Today it's pretty mild, so I'm considering an easy run. It's gotten milder every day, but I want it to be all the way away before really pushing it again. A freak thing, but it happens I guess.

That sounds familiar! I did that last year and also did the exercise bike with mild discomfort that eventually went away after 4-5 days. Then I would jog barefoot inside just to test it. After about a week, that was no longer uncomfortable. I was good to go after that. Hope that's all it is for you too.

Late post but no race this week so content for this, solid week. My miles are down so much the last few weeks definitely going to try and fix that this week and going forward. Most likely going to race a fresh 800 this weekend and pace 3k of a 5k for a little training.

Mon - 2.5 WU/CD, 2k-400-1200-1600-3x300-2x200 (roughly 2:30-3:00 min rec) (5:58-70-3:26-4:41-47-45-43-28-27). Great workout with our longer distance crew, felt comfy until the mile but very smooth on the speed stuff.

Tues - 2.5 WU/CD, 6 x 200 avg 27.6, legs definitely felt the workout monday.

Wed - 7 Miles @ 7:36

Thurs - 8 Miles @ 7:04

Fri - 2.5 WU/CD, 2 x 400/300/200 (3 min rec reps, 10 min in between sets) (53.7-40.5-26.2-54.9-42.3-26.7)

Sat - 10 Miles @ 7:20

Sun - off

Miles - 36

Definitely think of myself as a strength guy doing these speed workouts, and it shows on the 200 days when our 800 guys really have me struggling. Looking more like I will be racing the 800/mile combo at conference so hopefully I can bust out some solid times in the next two meets before we get to conference. Very excited for my first conference meet though and so far the year has gone very well! so far have a new PR in every single distance.

8k: 27:15->25:38

800: 2:00 -> 1:57 (so far)

Mile: 4:24 -> 4:22 (so far)

400: 54.7 -> 51.2

BHViking wrote:

That sounds familiar! I did that last year and also did the exercise bike with mild discomfort that eventually went away after 4-5 days. Then I would jog barefoot inside just to test it. After about a week, that was no longer uncomfortable. I was good to go after that. Hope that's all it is for you too.

Thanks! I ran about 5 easy today with the fiancée. I noticed it but it wasn’t painful or affecting my stride as far as I could tell. More encouragingly it hasn’t gotten worse in the aftermath. I iced it a bit and elevated it and am going to start doing that while working when I can. I also do the jog barefoot inside thing. Going downstairs is feeling better. Hoping I have the same experience as you - I’m optimistic.

Male, 29, 6', 130 lbs.

PRs: 5K: 15:18 (indoors) (2021), 8K: 25:16 (2021), Half Marathon: 69:38 (2021), Marathon: 2:30:25 (2019)

Goal races: NYC Half, Boston Marathon,

Goal: NYC Half: PR, Boston Marathon: 2:20 mid/finally break 2:30

M: Off

T: 8 miles @ 7:47 pace, PM strength training

W: 3 mile warmup, 4-3-2-1 w/1 minute jog recovery, 3 mile cooldown, 3.1 mile easy double @ 7:32 avg

TH: 8 miles @ 6:55 on the treadmill

F: 6 miles @ 8:03 average

S: 15.22 miles @ 6:51 avg

Sun: 10 miles @ 7:58

Notes:

Wednesday: Day was cold as heck and the roads were still icy so I was going to knock out the workout during lunch on the work treadmill. After struggling to run 7:30 pace on the treadmill for 2.5 miles I said to hell with it put some layers on and went outside. Jogged half a mile and then did my workout on about a mile long stretch of road, just back and forth. I had one too many layers and struggled through the first 4-3 but once I tossed that off we were rolling. It was cold and I definitely didn't feel great but it went better than I expected. I have to remember that it takes me a bit to warm up into these.

4 (5:19), 3 (5:19), (2) 5:10, (1) 4:53

4 (5:09), 3 (5:04), (2) 4:54, (1) 4:42

Saturday:

Was definitely worried about this one. Roads were still a mess and I stayed up later than I should've the night before. Hit the bikepath that had some icy stretches so we had to watch our steps. I figured I was running 5:50 pace and had told my buddy that most likely we're easy into it. Turns out I was feeling good and averaged 5:30 pace there. Took an easy 4 mile jog in between and got set for 2 miles @ hmp. We started on snow and I just tried to ignore it. Figured I'd go by effort here regardless of the pace. After about half a mile or so I checked my watch and it said 5:13 pace. I felt great on solid ground and the pace picked up. Knocked out those two in 5:06 average. Couldn't believe it.

Set 1: 5:32, 5:28 Set 2: 5:06, 5:05

Running an indoor mile in a couple weeks then off to California to visit family and also run an outdoor 3K while I'm out there. Hopefully two more PRs to come.

Sub 6:00 wrote:

highhoppingworm wrote:

You have inspired me to give the 3/2/1 a try this week,

It’s a good workout! I like that once you finish the first hard segment you’re already halfway done.

I've done a version of the step down workout before. I did it at the end of my marathon training block in 2020. That was 5-4-3-2-1 with 5-4-3 at MP, 2 @ HMP, and 1 @ whatever I had left with mile floats in between. I typically give the 4-3-2-1 as 5 can be a little much.

beersandmiles wrote:

Sub 6:00 wrote:

It’s a good workout! I like that once you finish the first hard segment you’re already halfway done.

I've done a version of the step down workout before. I did it at the end of my marathon training block in 2020. That was 5-4-3-2-1 with 5-4-3 at MP, 2 @ HMP, and 1 @ whatever I had left with mile floats in between. I typically give the 4-3-2-1 as 5 can be a little much.

I ended up wussing out and opting for just the classic 4 mile LT run. I completely wiped out on the ice about .25 from the end. I don't think I have hit the ground that hard in years. It gave me a stinger and my arms and hands were tingling for like 30 minutes afterwards.

Maybe will give it a try this weekend! I forgot how much I missed doing straight up LT work. I have gotten too used to fancy fartleks with fast recoveries and sub threshold work.

Male, 26, 5’9", 135lbs

PRs: Half Marathon: 1:17:53 (2021), Marathon: 2:47:57 (2021)

Next Races: NYRR Half Marathon, Boston Marathon 2022

Future Goals: Sub 1:16 HM, Sub 2:40 Marathon, Sub 17:30 5k

Reflection

Rough week of weather for us down south and some mental health struggles got me doing a double of Tuesday. Shouldn’t have done that. OTherwise, easy week of training with no workouts. I don’t feel incredibly fit; felt better though on Saturday.

87.2 Miles

Monday

Rest

Tuesday

AM Run: 7 Miles - 7:42

PM Run: 12 Miles - 7:14

Wednesday

AM Run: 12 Miles - 7:10 = Progressing .1mph every 10 minutes from 8.0.

PM Run: 6 Miles - 7:53

Thursday

PM Run: 12.1 Miles - 7:21 = 4 x 30 Second Strides in 5:30-5:10

Friday

PM Run: 6 Miles - ?

Saturday

AM Long Run: 18 Miles - 6:43 = 1 Gel and Gatorade Zero w/Nuun, Medium effort

Sunday

AM Run: 14.1 miles - 7:13

I am amazed you are saying you are not fit and then run a 90 mile week and put in 18 miles at 90% marathon pace. That is a big workout.

I think it's more of how I felt. I just felt pretty crummy all week but that could be a million different things.

You're looking great with your mileage and I'm really impressed with your weight loss goals and consistency!!!

AFF - I have not had much opprotunity to do so, but I just wanted to pass along some congratulations on your progress. Keep it up and listen to your body.