Road Racing and Training Thread - Week Ending 10/13/19 (Chicago Edition)

Killer racing coming out of this thread. Congrats to RGM, Napper, and Sub-6:00 on some awesome racing!!

M, 22, 5'8/168# - Goals are starting to generally take shape. I think for now I'm going to keep looking towards getting under 1:20 for the HM reasonably soon, and hopefully get into a 10k in the 35:30 range (sub-36 would be great, sub 35 would be awesome). Farther out, I want to sneak under 17min for 5km (a long standing goal - I wouldn't put it past myself to struggle to only run 16:55 for 5km in the future but be able to run 34:00 for 10k at the same time - absolutely ZERO speed over here). Just going to train hard for now and see what happens, then re-evaluate. Right now it looks like my first race, if it works out schedule wise, will be an extremely hilly (3000ft of climbing) trail HM on 10/26. Going to use it as a brutal training day if I'm able to make it out. Guys who run 1:15-1:17 run 1:40-1:45 on this course, so it will probably be a humbling time!!

M - 10.2 easy/85min - Felt kinda crappy here, stiff/painful right ankle, feeling the effects of the mileage bump

T - 1.5h easy on the bike + 30min straight of pushups/pullups/flutter kicks/squats/lunges etc

W - 10.2mi/74min - Included 4x3min fast cruise on 2min easy. Cross training day on Tuesday paid off and I felt great at 5:30-5:40 pace on rolling hills on the faster bits. Everything else just cruised at an easy effort.

TH - 10.2/79min easy - Great weather, wanted to go longer but worked late and didn't have the time

F - 10.2/90min recovery effort - Got in the time on my feet, definitely felt the prior two good days of training and forced myself to keep this glacial to make it easier on the joints

S - 10.5/90min on the hilliest trails I could find - Didn't push this, but some of the hills didn't make easy an option at times. PM more pushups/pullups etc for 30min again.

S - 12.3/90min - Included a 25min/4.06 mile tempo effort (6:10/mi) on rolling hills/dirt farm roads. Probably ran a little harder than tempo on some of the uphills but nowhere near all out at any point, this felt very controlled.

Total - 63.6mi in 8h28min

Sub 6 - killer race. BUT I have it under good authority that you were NOT wearing an authorized headband.....

"Feelin' stronger every day" - Chicago

Great job to all those who raced...really impressive performances!

M36, 6'1" 160

Semi-Applicable PRs: 1:38 HM (November 2018), 19:45 5K (July 2019 time trial)

Short-Term Goals: 1:35 HM (11/23), 19:30 5K (11/28)

M: 3.25 miles easy

Tu: 2 mile w/u, 4 miles @ 7:15, 2 mile c/d

W: 3.25 miles easy

Th: 1.5 mile w/u, 12 x 400 @ :90 avg w/ :90 walking rest, 1.5 mile c/d

F: 3.25 miles easy

Sa: 13.1 miles @ 8:55 avg (planned for 10 miles but Kipchoge motivated me to do a few more)

Su: 3.25 miles easy + 8 x :20 strides - 4.5 total

Total: 41.4 miles

Felt like a pretty good week of training with two solid workouts and a decent long run. Also pleased with the 40+ total miles as I didn't hit that once in a week leading up to my last marathon (on 3-4 days of running per week with 0 speed work). Plan to keep slowly bumping up the miles and the quality of the workouts leading up to my HM in November.

M42, 5'10 145ish

Goal Race: CIM 12/8 - Expectation is for it to be a building block race. Just run a smart race, hopefully finish strong, learn from it and hopefully run a fast time in a few years with lots of easy base building.

This week we had a pretty big snow storm. There were a lot of road closures and the sidewalks, trails and bike path still have snow and ice on them so I've been doing a lot of treadmill this week.

* - Indicates treadmill (HR is lower on the treadmill)

MaxHR is probably around 196 bpm - Based on measured steady 194-196 bpm for last 4 minutes of a 7 x (5 min on / 3 min off) workout.

Mon #1 - 60 min / big uphill finish @ 7:28 (154 bpm)

*Mon #2 - 30 min @ 5% incline / 10:32 (130 bpm)

Tue - 80 min @ 7:48 (143 bpm)

Wed #1 - 65 min with friend / extremely cold and windy @ 7:08 (153 bpm)

*Wed #2 - 30 min @ 5% incline / 10:05 (129 bpm)

*Thu #1 - 60 min @ 9:11 (122 bpm)

*Thu #2 - 35 min @ 5% - 7% incline / 10:21 (133 bpm)

*Fri #1 - 60 min with early strides @ 7:24 (149 bpm)

*Fri #2 - 30 min @ 6% - 7% incline @ 10:27 (130 bpm)

*Sat - 1:59:40 progression from 7:31 down to 6:20 / 17.37 miles - Avg 6:53 (155 bpm)

*Sun #1 - 60 min @ 7:11 (147 bpm)

Sun #2 - 30 min Very Hilly @ 8:43 (135 bpm)

Weekly Totals

Miles: 83 Miles

Duration: 10:58

Elevation Gain: 4590 ft

jot quill wrote:

GNR1: Great week, what are you thinking of shooting for at the half? (apologies if already mentioned in earlier threads)

jot quill, weather permitting I’d like to run somewhere around 1:08:30 but you never know in Houston, worst case ~1:10 in typical sub par October conditions.

GT - Really solid week. Those are a couple of great workouts and a very nice long run to cap the week off.

Stone - Solid week of continuing to build fitness.

GNR1 - Good looking week coming off a tough race. That Thursday workout is a beast!

OR - still running hard I see...good to see the hamstring is improving though.

JQ - Great race! Definitely a good sign for the marathon with how high you kept the volume going into it.

RRR - Solid week, that's a good 1ks workout.

AJ - That's a darn good 'recovery week' long run.

Napper - Great race, congrats on the sub 2:40!

Sub 6:00 - That's an incredible marathon. Well done!

BHV- Nice job getting good volume in on a rough weather week

runrincerepeat wrote:

Sub 6 - killer race. BUT I have it under good authority that you were NOT wearing an authorized headband.....

Oh man, I knew this would come back to haunt me, between my color blindness and outside opinions on what “matches.” The eagle will be rocking at Vets Day 10k.

Taking a peek while at work and... wow... what a week for the thread. Sub 6:00 so stoked for you! Napper putting the hammer down! RunGuy flying! jot quill: What I wouldn't give to feel some of that smoothness at the end of a race...I'm envious!

I really need to get serious. thanks guys!

Comments. Thoughts. Etc

GT - another week filled w killer workouts. R3 be sweatin

Stone - those miles gonna kick in and you gonna go pop! Glad Ms Stones Hammie is getting better

GNR killing it per usual

OR - you have a huge base built. Get to the line healthy. Cut back was smart

JQ - fantastic race. I also got a little stitch at mile 3 of my aborted race/workout. I find if picker lips and blow out air very hard It will make it go away. Mine was from talking to much to the other guy. A bad habit of mine.

Coach - nothing like a moran to ruin a good run. I sometimes enjoy a car cutting me off in a cross walk so Can unload with my rage.

Coyote - soon as ever

Congrats to Ms RunnerSam for the awesome debut

Pap - another solid week. Brick by brick. Don’t forget the 10 pcs of fruit a day diet.

AJ is already back at it baby!

Great racing from the Chicago guys and great report Napper.

Sub 6 - hit me up and I will match the sweet singlet w the appropriate headwear...can’t be looking like an extra on an 80s music video w a bandanna rolled up...

More to come. Need to get the sticks moving

Thanks for all support!

"I am from Kenya, where you are taught not to chase two rabbits or one of them will escape.” - Eluid

HUGE shout out Sub-6, couldn't believe my eyes when I saw 2:25 on tracker. Napper, way to crush your goal! JQ, all you do is set PR's! That's blazing fast! Congrats to Mrs. Sam on the runner-up and sub-3 finish, as well!

M - Sa - 27 with 3 at MP (6:43) on Wednesday

Su - 26.2 in 2:56:22 (Lanc - 33 on age day. Happy to take the caboose on the leaderboard)

Accidentally well-executed race. Beautiful conditions. The crowd support was unlike anything I've ever experienced. Almost no gaps in cheering sections. It was so cool to see the different communities coming together - from neighborhood schools, to different sponsors and businesses, to Chinatown, to Pilsen (Hispanic). Apparently Lululemon moved their cheering section closer to the United Center to close one of the gaps. One of the turns about one-third of the way in keeps you within 400-500 meters of my house for close to a mile. Such an experience to see the neighborhood lined with people.

Pre-race was easy. Then it was standing in the corral just waiting. Feeling like a caged animal with everyone trying to move toward the start with their pink shoes, short shorts, and icey hot smells. Finally, elite and ADP goes off and they wait for the longest minute before releasing the corrals.

I did a very short warm-up 25 minutes beforehand, so I know the first mile should feel a little uncomfortable before easing in. 6:33. Ok, easy does it fellow. Next few miles are a blur - crowd support is insane. I'm just regular guy with a day job, but feeling like an elite athlete with all the cheering, cowbells, music, etc. We're heading north now, toward the zoo and towards home. I've eased in. Just win every mile. 6:40 - 6:50. One at a time. It works. As we go over the 5k timing mats, my thoughts are with those tracking me.

After 8 miles, we're coming back South. I walk these streets all the time. They've gone from regular urban to parade style - with the crowd acting as the parade. Past a couple stages with singing drag queens. We're back downtown approaching the halfway point. My watch said 1:27:57 when I looked at the half. Don't get emotional, buddy. Just win mile 14.

Then mile 15. Heading west and south. Legs are feeling a bit heavy, but it's freaking marathon. Pass mile 16. One at a time, and I'm trying to really keep my focus. A group of three passes me talking about the race beginning at mile 20. No, you jamokes - it started like 2 hours ago. I'm on my 17th race of the day. Saying it starts at mile 20 is inviting a breakdown, in my humble opinion.

Run through Pilsen and they're five deep cheering with music blaring - everything short of a mariachi band. This is freaking cool. Running and weaving into 20+ miles. Are the mile markers getting further apart? Doesn't matter, I think about AJ wrote last week - I can do anything for 6 measly miles, and I steal that thought. Mile 23 - the legs are feeling it, BUT just getting through this mile will be easier than a morning traffic jam. Mile 24 was a 6:56. It's okay. I start to crank it to the best of my ability. WHY IN THE HELL ARE WE STILL MAKING TURNS - JUST GET US TO THE FINISH. Ok, ok. Calm down. We're finally heading straight south. It's been a gorgeous day to run, I'm glad they wanted until now to turn on this vicious headwind. Past the 1 mile to go sign. Past the 800m to go sign. Make the turn on Roosevelt. I'm emptying the tank. Pumping my arms like a madman past Mt. Roosevelt, and the turn toward the finish.

Crossing the finish line is a sweet moment. 2:56:22. Unofficially 1:27:57 - 1:28:25 for the halves. Slowly make my way to gear check then to the post race party for my beer. Chat with some guy who informs me the woman's world record was just set. Not just set, shattered. That's pretty cool.

What an unbelievable event. I've only done smaller scale marathons, so this was a new experience. Really enjoyed it. Thanked as many of the 12,000 volunteers as I could. Gave high fives around mile 22. Additionally, this should squarely get me into the 125th running of the Hobbyjogger Olympics, Boston 2021. I'll have moved up an age group by then, so as of now, 3:05 is the QT.

Thanks for reading and the support. This is a really great community - it's great for a guy like me on the much slower side of the group to see what you all are doing. Keeps my little mileage and performance in perspective. It also proves out that performance improves when it's regularly tracked, but more importantly reported on. Everything about my training indicated I had a shot at the exact time I ran today, which is 8 seconds per mile quicker than last year's 2:59:15. Fortunate to have received consecutive beautiful October days.

Hello All,

Long time lurker here, reading the thread on and off since 2017. Have been mostly off the thread during 2019, but decided to join it as the group of people here is really awesome and it's great to feel part of something way bigger than yourself.

M27 6'3 185

PRs: 3K - 9:30ish 5K - 17:20-ish

Goals: 5K sub 16 before 2021.

Started running few years ago by taking part in big city fun runs. Got more into it during last two years, however, ran low mileage (around 25 miles/week) with two tempo/threshold type efforts. Decided to up my game this autumn, joined training group to have someone to chase and upped mileage as well. Last two weeks were all time high at 55 and 56 miles respectively.

Last week:

M - 6.6 miles @ 8:50 (4 x short sprints uphill)

T - 14.1 miles @ 8:18 (6 x 800 @ 2:36.5 avg with 2:50 rest)

W - 4.2 miles @ 8:24

T - 13 miles @ 7:10 (8 x 5min @ 6:07 avg with 1min rest)

F - 5.2 miles @ 8:37

S - 13 miles @ 7:55

S - Off

Tot - 56 miles.

Congrats to all Chicago marathon runners, great results!

Great report RGM. Agree the big city marathons are a lot of fun. Not sure I can ever go back to doing the small local ones.

Legendary day folks..

sub6- wow.. I was thinking 535s for you on a solid day, but you went even bigger. Congrats man!

Napper- glad to see you crush it! We knew the fitness was there, but great to see it manifested in such a well executed race.

RunGuyMidwest- beastly, super happy for you. Great run.

J Quill- strong. That’s not an easy course either. I would love to see what you can run fully tapered on a course like Houston half.

I was happy to PR in the half too yesterday with a 1:10:4x. Running around all day today but may post a little play by play tomorrow.

m38, less than 4 weeks to 2:29 @indy monumental

m-11.5

*t- 22 with first 12@6:55, last 10@5:41, Good conditions and fast flat course

w- 10.5/5

th- 10/5

f- 8/4.5

s- 8

*su- half marathon 1:10-high

100 miles for the week

Male, 26, 6’4”, 142lbs

PRs: 4:54 (mile), 16:56, 1:18:00, 28:01 (8k 2015), 2:47:14 (all 2018 but 8k)

Goal: Fix Stomach, get in shape

Mn - AM: 5 @ 8:45s, PM: 8.25 @ 8:15s

Tu - OFF - Stomach Woes

Wd - 10 @ 7:30s

Th - 20min @ 8:20s

Fr - OFF

Sa - 4 @ 9:00s

Su - AM: 0.5 for WU, PM: 2.5 @ 6:45s

Total - 32 (YTD 1800, dont think im hitting my 3200 from 2018)

-Steamtown Marathon - Wife went through 20 miles at 6:41 pace and the last 10k at 7:27 pace. Leading until right around 20-21 when the first place girl passed her (she is faster than me, but just ran a 2:47 marathon the week before). 2:59:53 was the official time, she is pleased with it. There was a big pack of guys(10-15) she ran with for about 18miles all going for between 2:55 and 3:00 which fit her goal, this made the miles go by easy (although arguably too fast, but the only uphills on the course are in that last 10k). Got to see her 4 times along the course (and start/finish). Course is about 1200' down hill and 300' uphill, apart from some steep downhills in the beginning, and tougher uphills and the end its pretty gradual.

-Stomach got inflamed tuesday and didn't feel normal until Sunday, not sure what's wrong but planning to take the H plyori blood test this week(when it arrives)

-Have not yet officially deferred but planning to defer philly marathon, I don't really want to go run a 2:55 if I can build a decent base for the spring (track season into broadstreet)

-Going to make a point to add in hill sprints and strides, plus auxiliary upper body/ab work

M - 10 easy, 6:30 avg.

T - wu/cd + 12x400 off 200 jog. Averaged 70.8 for the 400s and 51.0 for the 200s so while the reps themselves weren't super quick, the overall average was a fairly decent 5:22 or so.

W - Off

T - 8 miles easy, 6:25 avg.

F - 8 miles easy with some 30 second pickups at the end, 6:25 avg.

S - wu/cd + 6 mile tempo averaging 5:23. Kept all the splits within an 8 second range so this was pretty even for me.

S - 18 miles, 6:19 avg. Took a more even approach to the long run this week with no miles slower than 6:30 after mile 3 but nothing faster than 6:10 until mile 17.

Total was another 65 mile week in 6 days, so not quite where I'd like to be but also not terrible. Just need to stop missing a day and it would look a lot better.

GT - another killer week

Stone - 80 miles, nice to see it back up high. both the workouts were pretty good as well

Coach Jeff - Glad you didn't swing

darkwave - solid 8k tempo while cutting down. best of luck in the HM

rucker - that hilly HM will be good strength training, your week looks pretty good, tempo was solid. the 4x3min doesnt add up to a ton of volume but was quick

hobby jobber - sounds like a good plan, gj getting out every day running even if it was some shorter ones, will make it easier to increase mileage in the future

BHViking - tough luck with the snow, but if your getting snow in mid October you are probably used to it, 83 mostly treadmill miles, ouch

pappy & Smoove - gj with the grind back to fitness

Sub 6, RGMW, Napper, Slo, JQ - I enjoyed the race reports,

slo - weekday longrun workout, ouch. 1:10 sets you up fairly well for a 2:29 if you go with the (HMx2) +10min estimate, that plus 10 is really more like 6-8 for guys your speed too

RGMW - great half splits, glad you kept it together, congrats on the PR. yesterday was certainly great weather for a marathon

Napper - glad you went for sub 2:40, RRTT knew you were capable and you proved it! perfect splits

Sub 6 - crazy to get a PR after 12 years, certainly a good example to the youngsters on the thread to keep plugging away.

Inspired by the unbelievable racing on this thread (slo, jq, sub-6, napper, RGW) and the great race reports. RGW, definitely going to take heed in your approach from mile 16 on there. I suspect I will be in the exact same boat.

Nothing much interesting to report training wise last week. Got a moderate run in (7.8@7:20), and actively was holding back to not run 6:40s again. Did a super-light workout to keep the motor going (3x1000 w/ MP, 15K, 5K for paces). Otherwise, easy running. Trying to get more sleep as we're into the final week. My body's adjusting to NYC's stop-and-start transition into Fall Weather. Definitely going to bring tissues in my pocket for the marathon for early-race sniffles. Body is feeling good for this upcoming week and I'm definitely lighter (more like 155). Going to eat and sleep well and hope for the best.

Race plan is to go with sub-3 pacer at least 9-10 miles. I'd love to hit a half of 1:28:30-1:29:30 running even. For reference, I went through in 1:27:04 in my debut with erratic pacing AND a lot of weaving/extra distance (I think it was more like a 1:26:15 or 1:26:30 tbh). So, I think I'll feel good if I execute this as I'm in better shape, too. From there, I'm just gonna try not to be scared of impending doom in mile 21. Much more drinking and more gummies than last time!

Lowell forecast for Bay State is a high of 67 and sunny. Honestly I'm used to those exact conditions. If I finish by 10:58 :) it would probably be around 60 degrees. Perfect.

Sometimes when I wake up in the middle of the night it takes a while to remember some recent development. Sometimes it’s good, and sometimes it’s bad. When I woke up this morning, it made me happy to recall that I ran 2:27 the day before. My brain is struggling with the fact that it was actually a 2:25.

Slo - Look at you, me, Eliud, and Kenny all setting PRs well into our 30s.

RGMW and Napper - Hope you’re enjoying this wonderful post-marathon day.

RRR - I thought I had your email, but don’t think I do. If you post it I’ll shoot you a note. (Otherwise, I’ll link mine once I’m back in DC and not using the mobile site.) That singlet should get a lot of racing next year, and could use a proper headband.

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GT - That’s some solid, consistent, smart training you’ve been putting together. Where did you hit that 17 miler? Bostons are great.

Stone - Like last week, another good one. Looks like Mrs Stone is back on track.

GNR1 - Beastly long run there.

OR - Thanks again for the nice message before the race. What was the general idea for the 2 x 10 compared with a straight 20? Wouldn’t worry that MP didn’t feel natural.

JQ - Congrats on another good race this cycle! Looking forward to seeing what you can do in the full.

Jeff - I’m not sure how we should note argument workouts, that’s new! I’m wary about trying to do Daniels I-pace by effort, although he seems to be a pretty big proponent of it, at least in the 3rd edition (H-pace).

CM - 40 minutes worth of tempo work is a great session, as is the ladder, and as is the 15 steady. You generally seem to have a good, well-rounded structure. Have to imagine that’s not bad for your longevity. And I like “too dumb to quit.”

Great marathoning Runguy Midwest, RGM, Napper, and Sub 6!!

Race reports were detailed and riveting. Sub 6 that 2:25 sounds unbelievable. Way to grit out the late discomfort.

RunGuy Midwest - To your comment about the guys talking about how the marathon starts at Mile 20, I've heard this a million times and I've never quite understood it. Has anyone here ever ran a strong race where they suddenly dropped the hammer starting at Mile 20?