My goal is to make it to the 2020 Olympic Trials in the Steeple and I will do everything I can to achieve this goal

Coebra

Just through I should let you know that hurdling takes a lot of flexibility. Especially in your hip flexors. So even if you aren't hurdling yet, it will be much easier to learn if you constantly stretch your hip flexors. Any time that you stretch, make sure to include you hip flexors. It makes a huge difference. I'm a high school athlete and my coach has been teaching me how to hurdle for the steeplechase and I've just noticed how much easier it is when you have some flexibility.

Update #43

replies:

@ Igy- I have done it before during my injury-prone college days and frankly, I'd rather run. It may just be stubborness but after all the cross training i had to do then, I don't really want to get back on a bike for a few years unless its for fun--swimming might be good to add, especially on sunday evenings, but eh. Besides, this week turned out really well and I think you'll be pleased with how the training is moving forwards. I'm way more confident about being able to handle the mileage now, too.

@Jayordan--I actually just started stretching my hip flexors more because they've been bothering me on runs. I do have good flexibility but I will remember what you said when I get back into hurdling practice

Week:

S: 100min, 13.52mi, 7:24 avg. Long

M: [AM-20min, 2.14mi, 9:21avg.] [PM-40min, 5.29mi, 7:34 avg.] Easy

T: [AM-20min, 2.18mi, 9:10avg.] [PM-45.36min, 5.88mi, 7:43 avg.] Hills

W: [AM-20min, 2.15mi, 9:18avg.] [PM-60min, 7.65mi, 7:51 avg.] 2ndary LR

R: [AM-20min, 2.18mi, 9:10avg.] [PM-40min, 5.06mi, 7:54 avg.] Easy

F: [AM-20min, 2.26mi, 8:51avg.] [PM-60min, 7.96mi, 7:32 avg.] Tempo Run

S: [AM-20min, 2.29mi, 8:44avg.] [PM-40min, 5.1mi, 7:51 avg.] Easy

Total (week): 505.36min, 63.7mi

Comments:

First week of doubles in the bag!

MORNING SHAKEOUTS: tried to take it easy in the mornings and save the good stuff for the afternoon. No real problems with these except having to stop and drop a deuce in the woods on Monday, halfway into the run. These runs actually make me feel better during the day and I've been able to reduce my caffeine intake because of being more energized and alert from running.

LONG RUN- felt strong the entire way; weather was also very favorable. 2nd longest run ever, feeling good, and at the moment, healthy.

HILLS- 14 x 100m hill. Rest was walk back down. Around 2:30 per interval + rest. Tanked afterwards, but good workout. I have two ways I can take this workout; adding reps (which I have been) or increasing intensity. Probably going to increase reps to keep adaptation rolling—its easier.

TEMPO RUN—officially a Lactate Threshold 1 workout; goal was to keep HR around 158-163bpm. Run went well and went further than any other run of this kind that I’ve done so far. 3.07mi for the up tempo portion. Keeping in mind that this run is really just for mixing it up during the week… I’d say things went swell.

…

Feeling pretty good going into next week; the true test of how I feel is how I feel after Wednesday. First 10 days of the training cycle are usually pretty tough but the next 7, for me, is where the fatigue starts to set in. just gotta keep doing what I’m doing—this may be one of my highest mileage weeks of all time (but definitely in the last 5 years)

I don't know many people who double the day of their MLR/2ndary long run. If you're going longer than every other day (barring Sunday) you should, IMO, just run once to allow for more recovery! You're doing great tho, loving the progress this week.

Good job Coebra. Don't do like me, take a deuce in the woods and wipe with poison ivy. Serious, needed to get a cortisone shot for relief. Keep it up.

Igy

Update #44

Replies-

@UATC : It's not that bad; I understand where you're coming from but the secondary long run will eventually become a tempo workout. If it was more substantial (say 75-90min) I would agree with you.

@Igloi : Unfortunately, I've had the same experience as you. It seems all sanity goes out the window when nature calls.

Week:

S: 100min, 13.37mi, 7:29 avg. Long

M: [AM-20min, 2.21mi, 9:03avg.] [PM-40min, 5.81mi, 6:53 avg.] Easy

T: [AM-20min, 2.32mi, 8:37avg.] [PM-50min, 5.14mi, 9:44 avg.] Flying 40s

W: [AM-20min, 2.22mi, 9:01avg.] [PM-60min, 7.86mi, 7:38 avg.] 2ndary LR

R: [AM-20min, 2.22mi, 9:01avg.] [PM-40min, 4.94mi, 8:06 avg.] Easy

F: [AM-20min, 2.22mi, 9:01avg.] [PM-60min, 8.07mi, 7:26 avg.] Tempo Run

S: [AM-20min, 2.28mi, 8:46avg.] [PM-40min, 4.92mi, 8:08 avg.] Easy

Total (week): 510min, 63.6mi

Comments:

LONG RUN: Went well; hotter out this week than previously. Just went with the flow, chased some people on bikes (not really, but tried to catch up to them on the hills) and tried to have a good run. Had one. Mission success

FLYING 40’s: Somewhere between the long run and Monday’s recovery run, my calves tightened up really bad. This led to pain in my ankle, which I believe to be a sore flexor digitorum longus. Anyways, it was so bad, I was very conflicted on doing this workout. I decided that I could stop if it ever hurt too much and surprisingly, the workout went really well. In fact, I felt great. Ice bathed afterwards.

TEMPO RUN: Offically a Lactate Threshold – 2 Run. Goal was to keep Heart Rate between 164 and 168, which I did. Resulted in 20 minutes @ 6:04 pace, a new fastest LT-2 tempo. This may be an indication that my true Lactate threshold (which I call LT-3 and has a range of 168-175bpm) has risen. Time will tell.

INJURY WATCH 2017: So, the ankle. As mentioned above, the ‘injury’ precipitated around Monday. I did some self massage and cupping therapy in an attempt to relieve the tension on my ankle tendons, which served to create a knot further up in the muscle. Surprisingly, I survived until Wednesday, when I had a 90 minute massage.

I approached each run as a test; if the ankle hurt too much, I would stop. Tempo went surprisingly well and I didn’t feel a thing during. The situation is not getting worse (but also not improving much). I have been able to run, but have had to back off the pace a bit to make sure I don’t make matters worse by pushing the envelope. I have massage Monday and Wednesday – I am hoping that this will help turn the tide against any tendinopathy. If I have learned one thing this whole journey so far… it’s that pro athletes who have access to regular massage have a large advantage over ones who don’t. Just the ability to ensure a consistency of training is huge for development.

Well, enough of that. Next three days are key; if the “click” is real (and takes 2.5 weeks to occur), I should start feeling a lot better this Thursday. Otherwise, not much else to look forwards to. It’s all routine—in fact, this quote from OAR sums it up quite nicely:

“He was merely trying to slip into a lifestyle that he could live with, strenuous but not unendurable by any means, out of which if the corpuscles and the capillaries and the electrolytes were properly aligned in their own mysterious configurations, he might do even better what he had already done quite well.”

Coebra:

I think that your goal and determination are admirable. And I understand that at the present time there is a problem with your ankle.

However, once you are 100% I think that there needs to be some work that is more specifically related to the goal pace of your event. Both "flying 40's" and LT work are far way, from say running a 5 minute mile, which could be a goal for this year, at least a goal of 9:30 2mile in 2018, at least a goal of a sub 9:00 2mile in 2019 in order to progressively to be able to meet your ultimate 2020 Steeple goals.

As I see it, although I know that others will disagree, I believe that you should be able, as a form of general endurance [yet more specific to your event and goal pace] to build up, run regularly and master, as a minimum, 15-20 X 400 @ 80 sec with 2 minutes rest this year, 15-20 X 400 @ 75 sec with 2 minutes rest next year, 15-20 X 400 @ 68 with 2 minutes rest the following year.

I hope that this is helpful and all the best as you work toward your goal.

Any update this week?

Replies,

@ Red Panda:

Thank you! I agree, that type of quality is necessary. However, my focus right now is getting to a volume of mileage that can sustain regular workouts like the one you suggested. After I reach the ~70mi/10-11hrs of running, I want to add those types of workouts in.

Update #45

Week:

S: 100min, 12.85mi, 7:47 avg. Long

M: [AM-20min, 2.22mi, 9:01avg.] [PM-24min, 2.89mi, 8:18 avg.] Easy

T: Off, No Running

W: Off, No Running

R: Off, No Running

F: [AM-20min, 2.06mi, 9:43avg.] [PM-40min, 2.3mi, 17:23 avg.] Easy

S: [AM-20min, 4.77mi, 4:12avg.] [PM-40min, 4.78mi, 8:22 avg.] Easy

Total (week): 264min, 31.9mi

Comments:

INJURY WATCH 2017: yeah, so, about 12 minutes into Monday’s second run I cut the workout and headed home. My ankle had hurt continuously (in a dull-ache soreness kind of way, no sharp pain) and I decided that to continue running would be going too far.

My decision rule the past week had been, “If it doesn’t get worse after running, keep running.” So, when it didn’t get worse after the Tempo last week, I ran again on Saturday. When that went fine, I ran again Sunday. Then, for some reason, running nearly 13 miles on it made it sore the next day. Who would have thought? Lol. I knew it was a gamble going in.

In hindsight, it makes total sense why; my PT and I figured out that because the arch of my orthotics was so high, it was pushing me to run on the outside of my foot, causing stress to the ankle, tibialis anterior, and the IT band. So, doing nearly 13 miles on an ankle already on the fritz, running in a way that specifically added more stress to the ankle... yeah, it's understandable as to why it happened.

I went through something similar to all this with my quad last summer and it was fine after two days off. This time around I ended up needing to take three days off and tried running on Friday morning-it went well so I did 40 that night and so on. Currently… I am holding my own. I am still able to run, but it’s all easy pace and on the slow side. For example, my easy run this morning (of 7-19-17) was over 10 min pace. Slow as fμck? Yes. Ankle hurt? No.

When I started this, I made the decision to do whatever I could, legally, to run 8:25 for the steeple by May of 2020. That’s what it’s always been about. If I can run on this ankle, by slowing down the pace of my runs, then I will. The focus right now is getting to ten hours of running a week (600min), not running 5:30 pace on average for the week. Fμck all the rest of it – the goal is 600min. If I must slow down to 9min pace, in the short term, to get there, so be it, because in the end I know I will get faster. The easy run pace will slowly drop (as it has). I will add in workouts and my fitness will improve. But I can’t do any of that being fμcking injured because my ego demanded that I go 7:00 pace on easy runs (or 7:30 for that matter).

Update #46Replies:@Jayordan – Sorry I missed your post. Things get hectic for me sometimes between work, running, and coaching at my old high school.Week: Main WKTS: 70min, 8.72mi, 8:02 avg. LongM: [AM-0min, 0mi, 0:00avg.] [PM-50min, 6.26mi, 7:59 avg.] EasyT: [AM-20min, 2.15mi, 9:18avg.] [PM-40min, 4.8mi, 8:20 avg.] EasyW: [AM-20min, 1.93mi, 10:22avg.] [PM-30min, 3.55mi, 8:27 avg.] EasyR: [AM-20min, 2.09mi, 9:34avg.] [PM-40min, 4.79mi, 8:21 avg.] EasyF: [AM-20min, 2.07mi, 9:40avg.] [PM-40min, 4.69mi, 8:32 avg.] EasyS: [AM-20min, 2.24mi, 8:56avg.] [PM-40min, 4.83mi, 8:17 avg.] EasyTotal (week): 410min, 48.1mi Comments:Ankle Update: Running has gone well enough this week, as good as it could go running on an injury while trying to make it better. I have noticed three stages of ankle-related issues1. Normal ankle function2. The tendon that runs behind the inside of the ankle starts to tighten up and “pull” but no pain3. The muscles around the inside of the ankle lock up and it is uncomfortable to run on. Generally speaking, I have only felt #3 towards the ends of my runs, for the last 5 min or so. Most of my runs have gone well this week, but I have had to slow my pace down to about 8:30s to run without any pain. I don’t mind this so much as long as it lets me keep running while I heal.Had massage therapy Tuesday and Thursday with a strength session on Wednesday. I think this three day block really helped things turn around; especially with the massage therapy on Thursday. She really dug into the crap around my ankle and into my arch—so much so that for the first time in years, I almost told her that she was using too much pressure. It has paid dividends, though, and I have run without my ankle locking up since. Another really good strength session on Saturday. My plan right now is to keep on doing the easy running and let the massage therapy and strength sessions fix my ankle.Mid-Week Crisis: On Wednesday morning I realized something while realizing that I was sub-consciously waiting for the pain to start. Even I didn’t think I could do it. What I mean, is that in my heart of hearts, I still had that tiny bit of doubt about making the cut for the Trials. When I realized this, I got mad. I got real f u c k i n g mad. The only way I’m going to do this is by executing a sensible training plan AND by believing, truly believing, without a shadow of a doubt, that I am capable of doing this. I mean, religious nutjobs can believe that the second coming of whoever is right around the corner, but I couldn’t even believe that I could run two minutes faster in the steeplechase? Over three years? F u c k! The only logical thing to do is to beat my sub-conscious into submission. To remind it, every day, every run, twice a run, or however many times I must, that I WILL do this. There will be no negotiations, no deals will be made, and there will be no alternatives. It will simply have to be done. And honestly? This is probably the piece I’ve been missing my entire career. I had a lot of motivation – motivation to do all the little things, motivation to ice up to my balls 2x a day, to cross train my a s s off, do core every day, learn yoga and do it every day. Those things are great, but basically, I had plenty of motivation to do everything but really commit to the run. To really commit in a race, when things began to hurt. To commit to never saying no. Colby Mehmen, in his blog post (linked on letsrun’s front page), said it best:

Eventually one has to quit saying “one day it will happen” and start saying “today it will happen.”

Plan moving forwards:

I will keep going with the easy running. I want to keep the doubles, because I want to keep building that into my lifestyle and I think taking those out will cause more harm than good.

I feel like I’m so close to 600min per week that I can just keep increasing my volume (doing only easy runs) and finally achieve that milestone. I think I can still achieve that goal within the next 4-6 weeks, even with the ankle thing (which is hopefully over the hump now – time will tell).

So, if everything feels good tomorrow, I will up my morning run by +5min and I will try to do the same with the afternoon run as well. We’ll try to hold that for the rest of the week. I worked out how many minutes I need for every workout and I will be working towards that target of 600min. We are still moving forwards!

Freud would say that you can't wish or will your doubts away: rather, out grow them.

Update #47

Replies:

@ Red Panda

I agree with that sentiment. If we want to use the metaphor of a tree, an oak grows from an acorn into a mighty tree over the steady application of rain and sunshine. Therefore, I too must water my fledgling self-confidence with the steady application of positive affirmation.

Week: Main WKT

S: 70min, 8.27mi, 8:28 avg. Long

M: [AM-25min, 2.56mi, 9:46avg.] [PM-45min, 5.44mi, 8:16 avg.] Easy

T: [AM-25min, 2.56mi, 9:46avg.] [PM-40min, 4.84mi, 8:16 avg.] Easy

W: [AM-25min, 2.69mi, 9:18avg.] [PM-45min, 5.21mi, 8:38 avg.] Easy

R: [AM-25min, 2.59mi, 9:39avg.] [PM-40min, 4.99mi, 8:01 avg.] Easy

F: [AM-25min, 2.65mi, 9:26avg.] [PM-45min, 5.38mi, 8:22 avg.] Easy

S: [AM-25min, 2.82mi, 8:52avg.] [PM-40min, 4.96mi, 8:04 avg.] Easy

Total (week): 475min, 55.0mi

Comments

I have officially run though the injury up until this point. Minus the three days I took off, lol.

Anyways, ankle has been feeling better and I have been able to run faster on it without feeling like I was pushing it too hard. Strength sessions have been going well and I think total recovery is right around the corner. Massage work continues to help, as always.

Tested it out on some hills the other day; seems to be a little sore the next day but otherwise okay. I’ve basically been doing all of my mileage on the roads outside my house and a flat out and back trail 20min away; I’m not bored by it but the commute is killing me lol. It will be good to shift my easy runs back to a closer forest preserve (which I avoided because of several steep hills).

Keeping things flat definitely helped me run through this, but I feel like adding hills back into my runs will help the ankle get stronger.

Next Three Weeks

If everything goes well, I will reach 10 hours in three weeks. Current plan is 515min this week, 560 next week, and finally 605min two weeks from now; coincidentally 1 week after the 1 year anniversary of this thread. It would’ve been nice to hit my mileage goal by the one year mark, but +/- 1 week is okay, lol.

Went and looked back at the first post again… some of the things I said… wow. It’s really weird to see how I’ve changed.

Not much else to say; the good weeks are like this. Funny how that gets glossed over in all of the biographies & movies... you could say "he/she averaged x miles a week for the summer" and be done with it, but completely miss entire months of dragging yourself out of bed at 4:30, slogging through a workout after a day of dealing with corporate a$$holes, and the exhaustion of getting home an hour before you have to go to sleep because you ran, coached, worked, ran, lifted, and got massage.

Anyways, things are going well and we've got another week in the books.

Wow, this is one of the best threads I've seen on here about training! Keep up the good work man!

Update #48

Replies:

@Precalc_Runner

Glad to hear you’re enjoying it

Week--------------------------------------------------------------------Main WKT

S: 80min, 10.13mi, 7:54 avg. ---------------------------------------------- Long

M: [AM-25min, 2.59mi, 9:39avg.] [PM-50min, 6.11mi, 8:11 avg.]--Easy

T: [AM-25min, 2.72mi, 9:11avg.] [PM-40min, 5.0mi, 8:00 avg.]---- Easy

W: [AM-25min, 2.76mi, 9:03avg.] [PM-55min, 6.99mi, 7:52 avg.]--Easy

R: [AM-25min, 2.82mi, 8:52avg.] [PM-40min, 4.96mi, 8:04 avg.]---Easy

F: [AM-25min, 2.9mi, 8:37avg.] [PM-60min, 7.48mi, 8:01 avg.]-----Easy

S: [AM-25min, 2.93mi, 8:32avg.] [PM-40min, 5.03mi, 7:57 avg.] Easy

Total (week): 515min, 62.4mi

Comments:

Ankle has been fine; still nagging and pulling but usually feels fine once I get rolling.

Two things stand out this week; Tuesday’s morning run and Thursday’s morning run.

These moments are what I call the “click” and basically its when you’re doing your easy pace, which feels especially easy all of a sudden, and you finish the run with your average pace 10-15 seconds per mile faster. I don’t know what was going on those mornings; I was up at the same time but I felt incredible right from the get go. No caffeine, no nothing. Just… feeling good.

Just running to get in the time this week, not much to report.

Woke up from a shitty nap to go lift on Saturday afternoon and was super groggy. Spent most of the lifting in a funk and couldn’t really figure out why. I just remember feeling… not exhausted, but definitely worn out. So worn out, that at one point, I thought to myself, “Fvck, I’m going to have to eat again.” Like, the thought of eating was so exhausting to me, that I didn’t look forward to it.

Gonna chalk this one up to breaking down. I’ve felt this shadow of fatigue following me during for the past few weeks; I think this is the result of constantly increasing the volume. Faster workouts yield some soreness and heavy legs; constantly increasing volume just makes you feel like you’re wearing a weight vest and someone’s adding weights.

Went to an apartment warming party Saturday night and I’ve noticed that I’ve started to get “the question” a lot now.

“What are you training for?”

I don’t have a good answer for that yet. I've basically been mumbling responses about doing track races. Told one person that I was doing a couch-to-5k program; he was too drunk to understand that I was joking. Not that it mattered, really. I guess I don’t know what to say.

It occurred to me on my long run that the best explanation is from Rocky 1 – Its not about winning or losing. Its about going the distance with the big boys and proving to yourself that you’re not another bum from the neighborhood. I don’t think a lot of people can understand that. They’re content with what they have, making subtle advancements in their careers or starting relationships/families/whatever. And that’s fine—really. I’ve got nothing against that. I guess that, in the same way they’re confused as to why I need to do this, I’m confused as to why they’re content with hanging up the shoes for good. I’ve got this feeling that I have to keep striving for something and right now… that’s making the trials.

Oh well. A boxer can express his anger and frustration with a lightning left cross, but otherwise he’s inarticulate. Maybe it’s better I can’t explain myself and I just show people why with my actions.

Besides, I’m starting to ramble too much with these logs. Signing off until next week.

Two weeks to peak mileage

Hey Coebra!

First of all I really have huge respect for your effort! Just a couple random thoughts to be considered:

1. I really don' think low running alone makes a fast runner. Of course you will get in better shape by running that much. But it isn't the best way to go IMO. You wrote that the goal is ti run 10 hrs/week and NOT 5:30 miles. That's the fault. I know many 8:2X steeplers who almost never ran 10 hours per week. But they were pushing it at least a couple times per week. Remember? Hard days... Easy days... Recover... Get faster.

2. With that beiing said I feel like after reaching something like 1 hour per day you should have at least these zones in mind:

- Future race pace. You will need 8:00 for 3k or faster so you gotta work towards that 2:40/k speed.

- tempo running. That fast pace that you're able to rock and roll. If you wanna run 8' or faster for 3k someday this pace will at least be 5:20ish per mile.

- base endurance. The backbone of your training. You should at least get to the point where 7ish/mile feels super easy.

3. So if I were you I'd do some 100 - 200 reps at future race pace here and there. E.G. this year working up to 6 x 200 at 32''. In 2018 like 6 x 400 at 64''. In 2019 like 12 x 400 at 64. And in 2020 obviously being able to string those together for a 3k run. Then I'd do some longer reps (1-3k) and tempo runs and do those moderate runs...

Sloggng around at 9' pace won't get you to the trials. It's ok to run slow when you're wiped out. But you gotta progress and you NEED to hit those quality runs more often even when that means you're NOT running 10 hours per week at first.

Just my 0.02.

Update #49

@ Old Semi-elite Runner:

Thank you for your input! I really appreciate you offering your 0.02. Writing my replies really makes me think about my training and seeing it written on paper often proves how sound/silly the ideas really are.

I completely agree with everything you said. I only have two qualifiers that I’d like to add:

#1) I was doing a schedule with more varied workouts, then I hurt my ankle ~4 weeks ago. I could run through the ankle issue if I kept everything at an easy pace, so that’s why everything’s slower.

#2) My problem has always been “not having enough base”. Doing my monkey math, I figure that approximately 10 hours of running a week is the least amount of running I can do to be successful at this level. Or start to be, really. I don't think you can really play the game unless you're very naturally talented or doing a certain volume of running.

So, in my mind, my first “milestone” if you will, was to run 10 hours a week, which comes out to about 70-75 miles (at current paces). If things keep going the way they have, I should be able to hit that mileage this week (ending 8/19), for the first time in my life.

In my mind, the next step after achieving the volume is to introduce the quality. So, here’s the next three weeks:

Current Week: Hit 585min of running (not ten hours, but close enough for now)

Current Week +1: Rest week to consolidate

Current Week +2: 585 min of running with quality workouts

Quality Week Outline:

Sunday: Long (alternate 100min & 85min)

Monday: AM-30min easy PM: Faster than 3k Race Pace workout

Tuesday: AM-30min easy PM: 40min Recovery

Wednesday: AM-30min easy PM: VO2max Workout (10k/5k/3k paced)

Thursday: AM-30min easy PM-40min Recovery

Friday: AM-30min easy PM- Lactate Threshold Workout

Saturday: AM-30min easy PM- 40min Recovery

I think this hits every point you listed in #2. From here, everything goes from general to specific over the next 5-6 months:

Faster than Race Pace: 1500m pace --> 800m pace --> 400m pace (special endurance 1 & 2)

VO2 Max: 10k pace --> 5k pace --> 5k pace over hurdles --> 3k pace

Lactate Threshold: Intermediate Runs --> LT Cruise Intervals --> LT Continuous Runs

And of course, the goal is to keep driving improvement by altering either rest or intensity. Year over year, I can increase the volume.

Context is important too. Currently, I am about 47 miles away from the biggest mileage week in my life. I know the pace is slow, right now, but I also know things will get faster when I introduce a more varied workout diet. I am certainly not under the illusion that 9min miles will be enough to make the trials; that’s just unfortunately where I’m at fitness-wise. Gotta be patient, though. Can’t force fitness.

Current Week Results:

S: 90min, 11.4mi, 7:54 avg. Long

M: [AM-30min, 3.22mi, 9:19avg.] [PM-50min, 6.21mi, 8:03 avg.] Easy

T: [AM-30min, 3.25mi, 9:14avg.] [PM-40min, 4.84mi, 8:16 avg.] Easy

W: [AM-30min, 3.36mi, 8:56avg.] [PM-50min, 6.92mi, 7:14 avg.] Easy

R: [AM-30min, 3.35mi, 8:57avg.] [PM-40min, 4.83mi, 8:17 avg.] Easy

F: [AM-30min, 3.35mi, 8:57avg.] [PM-60min, 7.56mi, 7:56 avg.] Easy

S: [AM-30min, 3.53mi, 8:30avg.] [PM-40min, 4.99mi, 8:01 avg.] Easy

Total (week): 550min, 66.8mi

Comments:

Shortened the long run to 90 minutes; the more I thought about it, I could not think of a good reason to push myself to squeeze in an extra 10 minutes just to hit what increasingly felt like an arbitrary number. Yes, a 2 hour long run is better than a 1h40m long run but at this point… really? That’s going to make or break it?

I have also been reading through some old logs of Steve Scott, Brian Diemer, and Mark Croghan; interesting thing is that between the three of these world class athletes, their long runs ended up being 12-15 miles long, or ~80-90min.

Now, I have not read ALL of their training logs (not available) and I know that the same training volumes do not always work for everyone. What I am seeing, though, is a consensus around certain volume for the long run, from these athletes and from the training literature around the distance of 13-14 miles, which is what I get out of a 100 minute run. So, this is a very long-winded way of saying that my long run will top out at 100 for next week.

Peak mileage next week!

Hey Coebra I've been following your thread for a little while and always enjoy reading about your progress. Just as a word of advice, I'd be cautious about introducing quality workouts too quickly. Given your injury history and the fact that you've only been doing 'easy' running for a while, 3 workouts a week might be too much right away, and if I were you I'd ease into the workouts gradually. Just my opinion. Good luck!

Update #50 – Anniversary post

@runnerintraining832

Thanks for your thoughts! I’ve thought about that a lot myself, but I think it’s going to be okay.

We’ll see, I guess, but I don’t think the intensity of what I’m going to do is too much and I think I’ve got a pretty good handle on knowing if I’m burning the candle at both ends. But, I’ve also been wrong before.

..

So, it’s been 1 year and 1 week since I started this post. And originally, I had thought about providing this big, vast, retrospective piece that analyzed the past 53 weeks of training…

And yeah. I got nothing. The biggest news is that I hit 73 miles of running in 1 week; the highest I’ve ever recorded. Ever. So yeah, that’s great.

Week:

S: 100min, 12.74mi, 7:51 avg.

M: [AM-30min, 3.56mi, 8:26avg.] [PM-50min, 6.38mi, 7:50 avg.]

T: [AM-30min, 3.6mi, 8:20avg.] [PM-40min, 5.03mi, 7:57 avg.]

W: [AM-30min, 3.6mi, 8:20avg.] [PM-65min, 8.35mi, 7:47 avg.]

R: [AM-30min, 3.45mi, 8:42avg.] [PM-40min, 5.04mi, 7:56 avg.]

F: [AM-30min, 3.58mi, 8:23avg.] [PM-70min, 9.21mi, 7:36 avg.]

S: [AM-30min, 3.58mi, 8:23avg.] [PM-40min, 4.89mi, 8:11 avg.]

Total (week): 585min, 73.0mi

Comments:

Pushed the pace a bit on Wednesday and Friday’s runs; Friday I felt like a diesel truck that couldn’t go any faster if it tried; well, what do you expect from basically a year of only easy runs?

I’ve decided to try a few low-key workouts next week, just because I’m so bored with doing only easy runs. Also; because I do a majority of my longer runs on certain trails, the commute is killing my days. So, it’s easier to run after practice from the high school if I’m doing workouts and 40min easy runs.

So I’m gonna do that.

Yay peak mileage!

the above post is me; apparently too tired to make sure i've put in the correct handle

amateur hour

I've not read line by line every thing you've done but you are 50 weeks in. Have you run any races except the one around Thanksgiving? Maybe it's time to get a more realistic goal.