(Road Racing and) Time Trialing and Training Thread - Week Ending 1/3/21

M35, 6'2, 174 lbs

Next: Still Getting Stronger

Mon - 20.58 mi cycling @ 18.1 mph

Tues - 8 x Power 500s (400 @ ~73 avg; Hard 100)

Wed - 6.00 mi @ 7:46/mi

Thurs - 10.00 mi @ 7:30/mi

Fri - 5.10 mi @ 8:06/mi

Sat - Wilderness 10 Miler - 56:18 | 1st Overall

Sun - 6.00 mi @ 8:06/mi

Kind of sprung the idea of doing a hard 10-mile effort on my coach a few weeks ago. Wondered if it would be smart for me to gauge my fitness with some kind of workout on the rolling hills that the race would offer. He rearranged some things on the training schedule and sent me out there with the directive of keeping it relaxed in the first half of the race and then listening to my body in the second half.

This is probably what you came to read...

It appeared as if there would be some decent competition (A few college athletes & a top high school runner in the state would be doing his last hard long run before track started), which definitely excited me – but also made me nervous...

1. How would I respond to other people possibly taking out the pace harder than I wanted?

2. Would I stick to the game plan & put in a good, hard effort? Or would I hit the switch on "Race Mode" & risk setting myself back after this long road to recovery so far?

I settled into a groove with one of those aforementioned college athletes early and hit the first two miles well under control at 6:02 & 5:58, chatting with him about his training and his goals for the upcoming seasons (Hopefully they happen). By the third mile, the high school phenom joined us, as did a guy from Indiana who ran collegiately and was visiting his girlfriend in the area.

The pace got a little bit hot for my liking at the third mile with that 5:47, so I backed off a bit and let them go about their business, while I went about mine (5:49, 5:43 for the next 2). I wasn't too far behind them, but felt no reason to be running stride-for-stride with them at that moment.

After going through the halfway mark in 29:19, I felt confident that my legs were doing exactly what I wanted them to and began to pick up the pace just a bit. My sixth mile came in at 5:36, which is right around where I had been doing marathon pace miles last training cycle. It felt natural to me.

I went from fourth place to first place in a hellacious 7th mile, which featured some big climbs (At least they felt big, because down in Louisiana, we don't have many ... Plus, post-race stats had me at 72 feet of gain in that mile alone). I kept reminding myself that it's all about effort going uphill, not pace. Once you crest the hill and get to flat ground, then look at the pace and you'll see exactly where you are after you establish a rhythm again.

Over the last 3 miles, I just got to work like I planned - 5:27, 5:29, 5:16.

I crossed the finish line in 56:18, which gave me a huge negative split of 26:59. I also ended up winning by 28 seconds over one of those aforementioned college athletes, all of which I put between myself and the eventual runner-up in the last 4 miles.

A few days later, my body is definitely still feeling the effort -- but I was able to get out there today for an hourlong aerobic run that went as well as I could have hoped.

taking my mid winter down week this week, and feeling a bit ambitious so just going to do a 5k on fresher legs this saturday and see how far I have improved since august on basically no speed work. hopefully it goes well!

I hit you up on multiple platforms but really strong effort Tyler. Huge step in the right direction.

Colielio (so?) - I see a solid PR in your future. You are at what? 15:50?

yeah, last august I ran 15:50 on the track pretty evenly split. i would like to go out a little harder this time just to see what is possible.

You should be able to crush that (no pressure). I couldn't do pretty much any of the training you are doing from either a volume or quality standpoint when I hit 15:45 and still felt like I underperformed a bit. Good luck. Excited to hear the result.

Fairly sure I have Extensor Tendonitis on my left foot after the hilly runs last week. Any thoughts on whether I should take some days off or run through. Other rehab? As mentioned to Darkwave I already switched my laces to parallel on that shoe to take pressure off.

This would be the same pain that ruined my early 2019 because I didn't know if it was a stress fracture or not. In short I took a bunch of time off, the low level pain didn't totally go away so I got annoyed and started to run more and eventually it went away.

Will roll and stretch to calf muscle, might apply topical anti-inflammatory cream left over from my wifes knee inflammation awhile back. Guess I should ice. Rest is the only other obvious (to me) route.

From what I've read as long as the pain doesn't affect gait I can run through. just wondering if a few days off will get rid of it early.

Nice write up Tyler, looks like a fun way to win.

Nice race Tyler...impressive!

Last week was decent - another 50 miles, about 20 miles quality or so - did a 12 miles effort with 8 miles @ 6:05, which felt good. Time to ramp up to 60-80 miles for a few weeks before I go skiing

Goals for 2021? In order of priority

1. Continue to enjoy running and exploring new things / routes

2. Run 3,000 miles

3. Half <1:15

4. Marathon <2:40

Tyler - I enjoyed the race report. Congrats on the win and on being patient in your running. Smart racing, my friend.

Congrats on the well-run victory, Tyler, and probably more important, the return to racing healthy.

A few comments:

HHW: Mediocre midwinter weeks can be the things that strong springs are made of.

coleiolio: Very impressive midwinter weeks, ditto.

RRR: Love running in falling snow. Good to see you running healthy again.

Stone: Chapeau to Mrs. Stone. I've probably said this before, but I've had some success with taping for PF issues. Happy to explain what worked for me if it would be helpful.

lurker: Solid week. 30 for 200 is right about my lifetime PR so that seems pretty fast to me!

Sub 6: I had a friend in college who swore by ten miles a day, every day for base training.

OR: As the man said about the pursuit of arete, "we are what we do repeatedly." Fine maxim for a distance runner.

Seppo: You're going to be super strong coming out of this winter.

GNR: A new year, and another stack of training weeks begins!

ZM: Snow covered trails are always a good idea! (Ok, no, they're not, but I tell myself that anyway.)

jmar: Welcome to the thread.

darkwave: "Some days you eat the bear, and some days the bear eats you." Very odd about the ankle - is that the same ankle that you had the weird tendon issue with? (Not that I can think of how they would be connected.)

doithomedepot: Strong week - a solid dose of quality running for this time of year.

fatsos: I've been in a similar place over the past couple of years. Your progress is inspiring!

Viking: Hope you're running healthy again soon.

cramister: Way to get in those doubles.

Sam: Looks like some good climbing on that Tuesday run.

jewbacca: Good to see you running healthy again.

Lanc: Hope the knee eases up on you.

runner chef: Solid week, good goals.

stat: Not bad to just get some low-key miles in this time of year.

Picking up on the goals for the year discussion:

Like runner chef, just exploring is pretty high on my list.

Like stat, hoping to get more active in the local racing scene when it comes back.

In the big picture, trying to become a fast old guy, not an old guy fast.

gfmah - Yes, a great maxim for a runner.

Had a scare this week. After my little tempo on Monday, I got some significant lower back pain—nasty disc/nerve type of pain. Felt fine during the run, though. Anyway, I halted my training and focused on stretching and some lifting. Felt a little better each day and well enough to give running a shot after work tonight. Glad to report that it went well—7.5 at a decent pace, and no pain during or right now. Not sure what happened but I hope it has passed. I tried some new shoes for Monday’s run and maybe that was the problem...stiffer, different shoes (not what I usually wear).

Enjoying a nice runner’s high right now while relaxing in the couch. The best high I have had in a good while. That run must have really cut the tension...

Forgot to mention...a good run on my last day as a 51-year-old...

Tyler - fantastic race! That must have been so fun, especially with a long journey back from injury.

angryjohnny - indoor meets in your neck of the woods in a few weeks. Not sure about spectators.

https://www.letsrun.com/news/2021/01/good-news-there-will-be-a-2021-indoor-track-season-but-it-will-look-much-different-than-normal/

The pic of Tyson indoor is RRRs neck of the woods!

RunnerSam, I've been dealing with something similar this week. I had pain on top of my right foot, first on the outside of the midfoot. The pain was more noticeable running (or walking) on a slight downhill. The pain/soreness disappeared as soon as I removed my running shoes and I could walk barefoot and hop without pain.

I took 4 full rest days, and 3-4x daily I switch my foot from a warm water bath to an ice pack. I went for a test run on day 5 and was happy to feel just a slight discomfort, not on the outside of the midfoot but on the highest bit of the top of my foot. This ruled out a bone stress injury because they are not supposed to move around. I went back to reading!

I found this very useful:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B_Rusj9JCNx/

and got to work on it.

- I applied anti-inflammatory cream in the morning and at night.

- I continue applying heat followed by cold.

- I used a hard massage ball to apply pressure on top of my foot. I found a sore spot that wasn't softened significantly.

- I also used the massage ball and the roller on the anterior tibialis, the extensor digitorium longus, and the extensor hallucis longus muscles.

- I switch to straight bar lacing and removed the insole in my shoes to make their inside roomier.

I did all that yesterday and this morning (day 6) I ran without pain, up or downhill!

I thought I'd share. I guess there's no harm in poking around those muscles? :)

Good luck!

runrincerepeat wrote:

The pic of Tyson indoor is RRRs neck of the woods!

Very true! Looks like Arkansas gets to host a bunch of indoor meets, that's awesome.

Happy birthday outsiderunner!

imagebearer wrote:

runrincerepeat wrote:

The pic of Tyson indoor is RRRs neck of the woods!

Very true! Looks like Arkansas gets to host a bunch of indoor meets, that's awesome.

Happy birthday outsiderunner!

Yeah i have watched some great meets there over the year... saw Rupp break the 10000 AR some years back

M, 23, 5'8/165

Super late this week. Took last week as a down week of sorts and this week is similar. Hitting the weights a little harder and building the foundation for this year. Not sure what it's going to hold for me, but I might have a long work vacation on tap where I'd be unable to race for 9ish months. My focus is going to be on getting a little more all-around athletic in the event that happens, and hopefully run some PRs from 5k up to 10 miles. I'm thinking 40-45mpw, emphasis on getting in some quality work each week and a long run, and making sure I lift 3x/week. Just not sure I'm gonna have the time for more running while still getting in some lifting, but we'll see. I ended up with 2530mi or so in 2020, it might be more like 2200 this year.

M - 5.26 @ 7:37 + 200 KB swing 53# / leg strength

T - 6.13 @ 7:32 + 200 KB swing 53#

W - 5.39 @ 7:37 w/2x10x30/30 on windy technical trail + 200 KB swing 53# / leg strength

TH - 4.01 @ 7:43 + 200 KB swing 53#

F - 4.43 @ 6:46 impromptu progression down to 6:15. Horrible weather/time constrained.

S - 300 KB swing + weights

S - 12 @ 7:35 trails, progression down to 6:15-6:30 for last 25mins.

Week - 37.37mi/4h39m

Thanks for all of the kind words, folks!

Felt good to let the legs go a bit during a hard workout. Cautioned myself to consider it a race, because I didn't want to get ahead of myself. Kept it under control and while my legs have been rough for the past few days, they came around this morning during my workout. You love to see it!

Re: Indoor meets at Arkansas - I doubt they'll be allowing spectators and/or unattached athletes. They've already banned fans from attending the NCAA Indoor Championships happening there on March 12-13.