oddly enough all my PRs have been set in fall , even though I have done on average many more miles in winter for spring racing .. than in summer for fall racing.
oddly enough all my PRs have been set in fall , even though I have done on average many more miles in winter for spring racing .. than in summer for fall racing.
Howdy everyone,
Didn't post this week so far cause it was a down week that ended with a complete and utter disaster- Bombed my 10 mile TT.
Should have pulled the plug after 3 miles cause everything felt all wrong but you know what, I am proud of myself for finishing it.
No sweat, I picked myself up and am taking another crack at the 10 miler next Monday!
Hope everyone had a stellar week of training!
BHViking wrote:
This week I did my long run in about 75 degree temps and was POURING sweat despite it not being that high of an effort. The following day I did a 10 miler in about 65 degree temps and 90% humidity and again there wasn't a dry stitch on my body. I probably looked like I just finished a swim and not a run. Maybe avoiding the heat is a lost opportunity?
BHViking: Isn't there something about an increase in blood volume due to training in the heat... something akin to altitude training?
Also, heat is one of the major factors influencing "perception of effort," so by training in the heat you are recalibrating the system in a good way... once the cooler temperatures come back.
I wonder if that's what rrr experiences in his superior autumnal performances? I know my running year follows that general theme of slogging through the mountainous heat of summer and then cascading down into speedy autumn paces... running faster and feeling better about it. It's a thing.
Hey, Rhodium, nothing wrong with an occasional bombing. It's better than being trigger shy.
I’ve read about increases in blood plasma, and I know that fall marathons at 60° have felt sublime (for RRR) after the heat of the swamp in the summer. I’m sure there is a training benefit of some sort.
Thanks Coach Jeff ROC!
I agree. Better to try and fail than to not try at all!
Excited for a redemption next Monday!
Also I love what you said about the heat training. I think it is definitely beneficial to push yourself in the heat and then watch your times explode in the fall once cool weather returns!
I will not this: after age 43 or so, I noticed the heat and humidity kept having a bigger effect each year. We need to be mindful of that as we age and listen to our bodies and not push things beyond a reasonable point.
Goodness I sound old.
*note this:
Coach Jeff, I honestly don't understand the physiology behind running performance as much as I'd like. I suspect no one does. If it the puzzle was solved, we'd all be following the same script.
Between Smoove and RRR, it's hard to argue the results.
The time trial virtual races that I ran this spring all resulted with me feeling like my times were "ok" but could have been way better had I been mentally tougher (total "give up" periods in each). Perhaps my workouts are too soft. So blood plasma is one thing and toughness is another. I'm sure both play major roles. How do you train toughness? Run with Smoove would be a good suggestion. Or introducing some "tough" variable. Maybe high altitude running adds that component as well as the physiological benefits. Who knows???
BHV: There's a book by Alex Hutchinson called "Endure." It's set against the backdrop of Kipchoge's original sub-2, but there's a lot more to it. I have the audio version and I have listened to it several times.
There's a lot of good info about "toughness," about how athletes have a higher tolerance for pain than non-athletes and (which I think is really cool) how that tolerance fluctuates throughout a training cycle. When you're doing a lot of hard work, your pain tolerance rises... the pain is the same... but your tolerance gets affected.
For a kind of "mini" version of this: think about bumping up to marathon pace after 18 miles easy. Compare that feeling to slowing down to marathon pace after a 30 min threshold/tempo run.
Your brain has a lot to do with your body's performance...
Smoove: I dropped that "I know this makes me sound old..." on my 18yo daughter recently. She replied, "Yeah, why do you think that is?" Ha! That's my girl. I raised her right... never pass up a chance for a good dis.
Hey everyone. Sorry for the late post but my last week was mostly scuttled like HHW and Smoove and only ran 12 miles. I've been dealing with some groin tenderness for the past couple weeks and took most of the week off to start doing some (p)rehab stuff like holding a soccer ball between my ankles and knees. I feel better/mostly fine now though so I'm good to go for the 4th. I figured I should start being proactive instead of wishing it would just bugger off.
Sorry for the double post, but I have a race report for y'all. I raced a virtual 5k with Run Gum to celebrate the launch of a new flavor because I'm an ambassador for them and I just felt like it. I've been in kind of a funk and this snapped me out of it.
Report
Since this was virtual, I decided to do it on the roads since it was drizzling and the track I would go to would have puddles in lane one. So I said f*** it and ran a pre-planned loop course nearby.
Since I blew up badly last time by going out in 19 mid pace, I decided to play it more conservatively. I was aiming for 20 mid since my workouts and corresponding heart rate seem to point to that and it would be interesting to see my VDOT mile/5k split. I started the first mile with the goal of being slightly slow to set myself up for a strong finish instead of a death march.
Mile 1: I started out at a strong, but not killer pace. I left my watch on mile splits instead of switching to kilometers because I can't do math in my head when I'm going hard or to 0.25 mile laps since the constant buzzing would throw me off. During the first mile, I was feeling pretty good. I glanced at my watch a couple times to make sure my feeling good was matching to similar time and not something crazy fast that would screw me later. I hit a couple uneven patches of asphalt, but it was overall smooth. I clocked 6:40.4. Pretty much bang on for what I wanted.
Mile 2: Things felt fine through 1.25, but then started to turn for the worse. I'm not sure if its because I haven't done proper mile repeats in awhile or if it is roughly the third or fourth 400 in a Deeks Quarter session where the difficult seems to spike. Whatever it was, it sucked. I had to bargain with myself. "If this sucks too bad, call it at 2 miles. Don't wreck yourself for a virtual 5k. At worst, it'll be done in a few minutes." But once I got to 1.5, I knew I was going to finish. I was (basically) half done and could grind out another 1.5. It'd be like 13 more minutes if I died, less if I didn't. The grind from 1.5 to 2 was very real. Just trying to keep it together and focus on hitting goal pace this mile. Watch beep: 6:36.1. Basically dead on pace.
Mile 3: Ok, the first two miles was rougher than I thought, but its all (figuratively) downhill from here. Only 1.11 miles left, no biggie. Try to run a bit faster to hit 20:30 pace going into the last .11 since there isn't a lot of room there to claw back time. Focus on breathing, check watch for distance elapsed. Breathe, wipe away sweat, check watch. 2.971, this is the last 400m, kick it in. If this was on a track, you would be going into the second to last bend. Fast, smooth and fast. Watch beep: 6:26.2.
Last 0.11: Just keep going. Hold this pace, smooth is fast. You have another gear, but keep it where it is. Less than .11, watch check, less than 0.08. Almost there. Watch check, less than 0.03. Watch check: 3.12. Pause. Finally, it's over. That was more unpleasant than I expected, but definitely worth while. 40.1 for the lap (5:34 pace).
Final time: 20:22.9.
Overall, thank the gods because I knew I was in this shape and I actually pulled it out. This is faster than my current 5k time and about 1:50 off my best ever time of 18:35 in high school (yeah, I sucked but part of it was never running during the California "winter" and the other part was my coach was an idiot). Bearing in mind I was about 35 pounds lighter then and have more muscle, I'm doing pretty damn well.
Now to keep it easy for the mile on Saturday before switching to more miler focused training. Gunning for sub 5 on 8/23 and roughly 17:45 on 8/31. And hopefully shedding about 10 pounds between now and then. Being a chonk is really getting old
Smoove wrote:
I will not this: after age 43 or so, I noticed the heat and humidity kept having a bigger effect each year. We need to be mindful of that as we age and listen to our bodies and not push things beyond a reasonable point.
Goodness I sound old.
After a few months of 100 degree Arizona days I felt the payoff right away the first morning I stepped outside on a 58 degree Idaho day. Instant 40 second a mile payoff.
As with integral calculus, my brain struggles to remember the lesson it learned in high school that a sharp increase in lactate is not a sure sign of impending doom.
And that lactate end of 5k type pain is so unique... The worst pain I have endured is that Indy Half running (I mean I didnt know) on three stress fractures. But that end of the mile pain Saturday may top that one! But as The Great One says
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At least mile pain is short-lived.
Made it through the heats this morning (1600 - 4:53) to qualify for Saturday’s final.
BHViking wrote:
Smoove wrote:
Adding to the list of things we perhaps shouldn’t do:
7 mile run spanning 12:00 pm in Central Florida in full sun and 93°.
Did this yesterday too, and it was actually somewhat pleasant. Today was just a death march. I lost 5 pounds of sweat in 7 miles.
We all know how talented you are in addition to all the smart, phenomenal work you have put into past race preparations. To add to that, I sometimes wonder if enduring these kinds of runs gives you an extra edge.
Oh good grief. I thought we were past all the Smoove worship. And now this. Makes me want to puke. How much did he pay you to post that?
Sub 6:00 wrote:
At least mile pain is short-lived.
Made it through the heats this morning (1600 - 4:53) to qualify for Saturday’s final.
I assume you are going American Eagle JUNK Headband? 'Murica
Smoove - Nice to see that you are feeling better. Perhaps you can start that ramp up soon?
Stone - I miss ya, buddy. Hope you are feeling better soon. All the best to Mrs Stone.
As for me, I am simply tring to break throuogh, both phyically and mentally. I am doing all I could to keep my hamstring/compresse disc in check. It has been a struglle at times, but at least I am still going, taking it day-by-day. I have felt less of a "pull" sensation in the last 10 days or so and hopefully that is a good sign. Was able to do this in the heat on Sunday...
4.5 at 6:26 overall...6:43, 6:35, 6:26, 6:11, 3:04...All of the slow running got to me and I just had to try a fast one.
36 miles for the week (5 runs)
This week seems to be going okay. Hoping for the best.
Ironically, green is not a good color on you AJ.
BH was just saying the nice things because he didn’t want to be insulting with his main point: heat and humidity training likely have significant training effects.
Unfortunately, will have to bail out of the mile TT.
While hiking on Tuesday morning, slipped and fell very badly on my butt. Hit my right butt on a protruding stone. Managed to finish the hike, but have not been able to run a step after that. Still have a hard time sitting down. Hoping that it is just a bone bruise and not a major muscle injury. It is improving every day, but no chance that I will be 100% by Saturday.
Have a great TT guys!!