Road Racing and Training Thread - Week Ending 3/6/22

OR: Monster effort in the rain and cold. Sub-3 sure looks like a doable goal! I just mapped out an 18-mile loop for tomorrow. Country roads, a couple miles in the village, a flat 10km on the canal towpath, a few mild rollers otherwise. Forecast is 30°, 8% chance of precipitation, winds less than 6mph (unusual!). Going by my traditional definition of "long run" (18+ miles), it will the first in three years.

Allen - Thanks very much. Best of success to you in your LR. Good weather for you. This monster effort, as you say, has given me a huge boost of confidence. I had doubts along the way today, with the weather weighing on my mind…wondering when my energy would run out. It never did.

No more doubts. I am actually looking forward to this marathon now…

Thanks, for the kind words hhw. I don't feel like I am very far along in the training cycle as I am just transitioning from base building but I was burning pretty hot there for awhile. Either way the overtraining (reduction in quality) started about a week or two prior to my planned reduction in mileage. I am sticking to lower ~70-80 mpw for the rest of the cycle anyway, dipping down if needed as I did last week. The interesting thing is that I don't feel run down at all its just that all my hard efforts are slower than ~1 month ago. I feel fine running. I've been doing quality but have reduced either the paces (as compared to before) or total volume/length. This is my first time working with a coach so I'm hesitant to totally stop the prescribed quality work. My next week and a half isn't scheduled to be particularly difficult so hopefully it is enough to bounce back.

It could be some deficiency rather than overtraining (iron, B12, hormones out of whack ect.) I'm trying to sleep more, eat more and have been taking vitamins more consistently along with a low dose of iron. I am tempted to get blood work done (ferritin). Main symptoms are depressive moods, increased irritability and moodiness, and performance plateau or decline. No problems sleeping, I am hardly tired as compared to some past training cycles. No elevated heart rate that I notice or persistent fatigue, no heavy legs or extended muscle soreness. Hard to tell but I figured I would share my thought process.

Nice run OR. Impressive stuff given all the roadblocks in your way. Agree with Allen that something under 3 hours seems very doable. Maybe faster.

Nice run OR. I completely fall apart in cold rain. Looks like you're in for a good year.

hhw - Great to hear from you and to have your input on fitness/race performance. I am thinking along the lines of sub-3, too. Great to hear it from both Allen and you. Will see what I can do in those last 6-8 miles. Will take it out comfortably and then see how I feel…looking for a nice bibbed flyer…

beers - I appreciate your input, too—thank you. Even in the less than perfect weather today, I felt good from the get-go…literally in the first tenth of a mile. My main focus ended up becoming fighting off the “naysayers” in my head, mostly stemming from the weather. Let me take a moment to say that I think you are a heck of a runner and that I see good things in the future for you.

OR: Your enthusiasm is always uplifting. Not sure how I come across online, but in real life I'm a dour, depressed, beaten-down old man, so that helps. OK, just kidding! I get a kick out of every moment -- beautiful home, wife, kids, grandkids. Still, your expressions of excitement and love of running, at 51, brightens my day.

Hey, you know race-day magic is HUGE for me, so no surprise that if I could average 6:55/mi for 20 cold, rainy, hilly miles, I'd be looking to run 2:38! My best-ever 20-miler was 7-flat pace on the rolling hills around Bixby, Oklahoma. Back when 6:05 was marathon pace.

I mean 52, right? Almost 53?

Allen - I always enjoy reading your posts. Glad you enjoy my enthusiasm. Running has become “my thing” and when I do it well there is pretty much nothing better for me. Regarding my age, I am now 53–turned 53 in January of this year.

It is funny that you mention enthusiasm and excitement…I am already trying to envision my mental state during the race. Hoping to cue up the harmonica solo in “What I Like About You” (The Romantics) at the 20 mark, and then Eddie’s guitar solo in “Jump” at 23, and then the final energetic rush of “Walking on Sunshine” by Katrina and the Waves as I pass 25. Perhaps some Duran Duran “Hungry Like the Wolf” at the 13.1 mark to get me into a second half groove. As you may know, Duran Duran visited my junior high school in NYC back in 1984. What a day that was. Anyway, when it is a good day, I can cue up the tunes in my head.

Before I forget…got a fortune cookie the other day that reads, “Your difficult path will be rewarding.” I kept it…

Much appreciated OR, hoping to have major breakthroughs at the distances I care about.

Those days, fighting the awful weather and coming out the other side seem to be workouts I always pull from when things get tough later in the race. When it all gets miserable and you're still a couple miles out you pull these and say, well I got through worse.

Man, that is what I was thinking too when I saw that outcome in those conditions...

Man, you guys make a great point here, but I have never been one to max out like crazy the way Allen does in a race. I get "race day magic," but chopping off about a whole minute per mile the way Allen has done seems to me to be more like a race day miracle than magic. But I have thought about this subject often and for a long time, and perhaps a fresher OR on race day will get me some more race day magic? Aside from my number one goal of avoiding injury, that was my other goal or "experiment" this time around...to go to the line a little fresher...

Thanks very much for the input, guys...

Re: Race Day Magic. For me, maybe it's more a limited ability to push as hard as you on solo training runs. Not so much crushing it on race day.

Plus, of course, the usual factors: Taper, rested legs, competition, adrenaline, etc on race day.

Cannot believe what I just did after the hilly 20.25 on Wednesday. This is incredible. I am about ready to jump through the roof…

OR on fire! Pretty amazing turnaround.

I am similarly getting optimistic about my own running. The knee and swollen heel have faded to the background, and I feel good out there. Next week going to do my first ever long run in the supershoes and see what happens.

TL - You said it, my friend. I am as high as a kite right now. Best of success to you!

Cued up some Def Leppard in the last two miles...

DW - So sorry for the late reply, work and a few things have been crazy but thank you for the wishes. Cold turns out to be pollen which is something I forgot existed down in the south for a few weeks (it eventually just disappears completely).

You may just have to take a little bit more time to get used to things with you coming back from your injections. But you're healthier and more stable, which is a blessed thing to have.