Road Racing and Training Thread - Week Ending 4/25/21

Pretty happy with my week. Basically the week I needed to turn in given where I am in my cycle. Bigger effort this morning and next Sunday before cruising into some TTs. My recovery and easy runs have been way faster at the same HRs I have been running all cycle on sporadic days the last few weeks. This week it seemed like every day was a fast day. Good omens I hope.

M - 8 recovery @ 8:05. Avg HR 134 BPM.

T - 8 easy @ 7:10. Avg HR 144 BPM.

W - 2 up @ 7:28 + 1 easy tempo @ 5:58 + 2 LT @ 10:40 (slight downgrade) + 1’ jog to hill and 4x45s hills at VO2 max effort + 2 down @ 7:46. Light workout. Felt really strong. Fastest I have been on the hills and didn’t feel like was tying up like I usually do.

Th - 8 recovery @ 7:59. Avg HR 135 BPM.

Fr - 6 easy @ 7:15. Avg HR 141 BPM + 11x100 w/ walk back (3:54 avg mile pace) + 2 cool down @ 8:12. Avg HR 141 BPM. Felt fast.

Sa - 8 easy @ 7:24. Avg BPM 144.

Su - 2 up @ 7:42. Avg HR 142 BPM + 10 @ Aerobic Tempo in 57:39 (5:46 pace). Avg HR 177 BPM + 2 down @ 8:53. Avg HR 144 BPM. Felt crappy during warmup but workout went alright. Very even w/ first 7 feeling easy and last 3 starting work a bit. Could have dropped down to LT for a few miles at the end if I had to. Looking at GAP all miles were in a 9 second range. 10 mile PR according to Strava although I have never raced the distance. Previous PR was last 10 miles of my HM PR last May.

Total - 63.5 miles

If I don’t post next Sunday it is because a combo of driving 12 hours to the outer banks and 5x2 mile next Sunday killed me.

Rehabbing runners knee.

"Talent doesn't go away, just fitness"

PT has me up to skipping now. Will try run/walk in a couple of weeks

Still working on my pullups

Total - 132 (pullups)

RRR 6ft 18x 37y/o

Motivation was low this week. Transition back to more running. 2 mile Race in 6 weeks

32 miles

1 Q day if 6x30 sec at 4:3x pace. Little R work (track is under construction getting resurfaced)

Hope to increase the miles and workouts this week. Legs were dead and sore all week from all the biking then the week off injured. But coming around. Shoulder is all healed w pink new skin. Should be back on the pushups this week and the lifting next week which will help w the motivation through the week

Male, 52 yo, 5’7”, 142 lbs

Goals:

Short term: Introduce some workouts into the mix

Longer Term: Year-end marathon PR

Strava Relative Effort Past 4 Weeks

270 | 224| 360 |

HRV rMSSD

30 Day Avg: 42.6

This Week: 36.7

About 45 km running

About 25 km biking

I missed a day due to unplanned stuff related to work, but that happens.

Stuff resembling workouts:

Wednesday: Easy + About 12 minutes at around T effort + Easy

Saturday: 11(200m @ 0:45/200m jog) (My vdot from 12/2020 marathon)

Sunday: 90 min “long run”, hilly.

The T effort did NOT feel smooth. I feel like I’ve lost a bit of that higher-end fitness over the past few months, but the pace actually was right at the exact vdot corresponding to last December’s marathon. Part of it is just not being used to working at this end for a while I think. Sunday’s long run in my hills... wow, it’s been so long! Haven’t had that fried quad feeling in literally years... I’ve lost quite a bit. It’s ok. But the bad heel was wicked ouchy after the Saturday “speedwork.” I should have medicated.

With no racing on the horizon, I’m going to follow a general plan of 2 “workouts” plus a “longish” run each week. Though the details will vary, I plan to run according to this 4-week Daniels-esque workout cycle for a while:

Week 1: WO1-T, WO2-R

Week 2: WO1-T, WO2-R

Week 3: WO1-M, WO2-I

Week 4: Workout optional week

Strava Relative Effort Past 4 Weeks

270 | 224| 360 | 359

Male, 43, 5’11”, 177 lbs

PRs: 16:43 (2019) 1:17:24 (2019), 2:47:00 (2018)

Goals: Lose weight, regain fitness

Next Goal Race: Jim Thorpe Marathon (5/23/21)

Goal Time: 2:50:00 - 2:55:00

M - 5 (8:31)

T - 11 (6:58). Including 3 x 2 miles (6:00) off 3:00 recovery jogs.

W - Rest

Th - 13.1 (6:54). Including 3 x 3 miles (6:24) off 3:00 recovery jogs.

F - 10 (9:02)

Sa - 12.25 (8:57)

Su - 13.11 (6:56). Pacing a buddy’s TT. 1:30:57. His ‘A’ goal was 1:32:00. Huge negative split. / 6.3 (8:29)

Weekly Total: 70.8 miles

YTD Total: 1,074 miles

4 weeks to go. Hope everyone else had a great week.

M37, 5’10”, about 160

Goals: Run a race sooner or later?

Mo: 10 @ 7:26 (54, cloudy) trails

Tu: 10 @ 6:44 (52, sunny)

We: 10 @ 6:53 (60, cloudy)

Th: 10 @ 7:38 (40, sunny)

Fr: 10 @ 6:44 (44, sunny)

Sa: 10 @ 6:34 (61, partly cloudy) track tempo*

Su: 10 @ 6:46 (57, cloudy)

Total: 70 miles

*6400m tempo in 21:04. Splits 5:19, 5:19, 5:15, 5:11. Always good to push it a little when marking off another year, check that I’m not too decrepit.

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Didn’t get to comments/replies until late last week, so I figure it’s best to post them now.

RRR - I wouldn’t be appalled exactly. I probably mentioned this before, but in college there was this idea that you shouldn’t drink more beers in a day than the number of miles you ran, but then I started hitting 100 mile weeks...

HHW - I think it’s kind of funny how you’ve built up these long cruise interval workouts, since they’re within your capability, just something you haven’t done before. They’re hard, and take a lot out of you, but you can do them. Similarly, I felt pretty intimidated seeing workouts like 4x2 and 4-3-2-1 until I tackled them in my Boston 2019 cycle.

darkwave - Thanks for the early bday wishes. The beard is off, but I haven’t noticed a change in drag yet!

Coach Jeff - I’ve been through that “has been” cycle quite a few times. It can be trying. Glad to see you’re back at it.

Lanc - That was some fast track work. Dang.

Cocoon - Got some before and after pics of the beard. It’s freaky.

runnerchef - Hope the recovery is going well. Did you have surgery for the sports hernia? I had to get it done up in Philly back in 2008.

notarobot - Good prediction on my birthday run!

imagebearer - Congrats on the big half PR after the layoff.

Ya. They get in my head. The long aerobic tempo type workouts actually stress me out more than the cruise intervals. I think this is just residual response to being a sprinter/soccer player etc. in my youth.

I will say that they definitely get you in shape and ready for prolonged feelings of moderate pain.

Terrible week. Combination of busy at work, physical/mental fatigue, and laziness got me lucky to hit 30 miles this week after lots of 70+ weeks recently. At least I'm feeling much better rested now and should be able to get back up to my usual ways this coming week.

Been very tough to keep the motivation without consistent racing.

Hello everybody. Hope training is going well and you are hitting it hard right now.

No race this week for me, but a usual week for me.

Monday- 14.55 miles 1'30"34 (6:13 avg)

Tuesday- 14.54 miles 1'31"16 (6:17 avg) and 1224 feet of gain on the run.

Wednesday- 9.02 miles 56:03 (6:13 avg) and 5.91 miles 40:44 (6:53 avg). Same run, just had to take a short stop, and after I started again my legs basically said you are not going fast again on this run. 934 feet of gain on the run.

Thursday- 2.29 miles 14:26 (6:17 avg), 10.10 miles 70:14 (6:57 avg) and 2.26 miles 14:00 (6:12 avg). Run was broken up as I did the 2.29 miles and 2.26 miles before and after I ran with a friend.

Friday- 15.0 miles 1'33"15 (6:13 avg) 883 feet of gain.

Saturday- 14.65 miles 1'26"51 (5:56 avg) Interesting run, was 56 low at 10, 62 low at 11, and 1:14:50 at 13. Not a workout, just felt good, so I went with it.

Sunday- 14.51 miles 1'31"52 (6:20 avg).

102.8 miles and 4891 feet of gain on the week.

Have a great one all.

Comeback Attempt Week #7

- Running steady every day between 145 - 150 bpm.

- Occasional higher aerobic days for 60 min at steady 155 - 165 bpm.

- Aerobic Fitness Progress Tracking: Plotting trend of Power to Heart Rate ratio (Steady State) from Mile 2 to Finish. Power measurement is basically “Grade and Wind Adjusted Pace”

* - Treadmill - Distance / Pace measured by calibrated Stryd foot pod. Treadmill paces are faster with no wind resistance at 0% incline.

*Mon - 75 Min @ 7:06 (147 bpm)

*Tues - 60 Min @ 7:10 (146 bpm)

*Wed - 60 min @ 6:33 (160 bpm)

Thurs - Windy 75 min @ 7:19 (148 bpm)

*Fri - 75 min @ 7:08 (147 bpm)

Sat - 75 min @ 7:14 (148 bpm)

Sun - 60 min @ 6:18 (163 bpm)

Avg Power to HR Progression/Regression:

Week 1: 1.48

Week 2: 1.57

Week 3: 1.62

Week 4: 1.69

Week 5: 1.72

Week 6: 1.79

Week 7: 1.79

This Week's Totals

Miles: 68.8 Miles

Duration: 8:00

Stryd Running Stress Score: 464

M/40/5’7”/~135

PRs - too old to matter

2020: 2m - 12:53 / 5k - 22:05 / 4m - 28:28

2021: 5k - 21:14 / 4m - 26:26 / 8k - 34:04

Upcoming Races: May 1 10k (dirt/gravel)

Next Time Goals: 1k - 3min (stretch); 10k - 42min

Looks like an imagebearer week! (ok, yes, a lot slower) Two workouts with the second in the ‘long run’, including mix of threshold and 5k pace work. Haven’t taken a day off this month yet. Next week will be a down week, leading up to 10k.

M - 4.1@9:30, trails, mostly easy run, surged the hills coming home

T - 6.5@9:11, HRavg 132

W - 11.5 @8:16, long tempo targeting HR150, avg 7:45 for 8mi @150avg, hilly route

Th - 7.7@9:19, HRavg 133

F - 4.9@10:00, HRavg 133, trail, dead-legged

S - 11.2, workout in the middle 2k threshold (4:08, 4:12), 2k with 30s fast/30s easy (4:12, 4:21), 2k threshold, not sure of pace, GPS wandered across a river, apparently I ran a 45s 400 😂, felt hard but good

Su - 6@10:05, trails, HRavg 133

Total for week: 51.9

Mn - 7 @ 7:25s

Tu - 5 @ 8:20s

Wd - 4 @ 8:20s with 4 Strides

Th - 7 @ 7:50s

Fr - 7 @ 8:35s

Sa - 5 @ 8:40s

Su - 9 @ 9:30s

Total - 44 w/ 2000ft elv

Monday was the only solo run, might try for two next week along with a workout.

Female, 46, 5'4", 108

PRs 5:25/18:51/38:56/1:02:28/1:24:08/2:57:42

Goal races: Miles on the Mohawk 10 Miler (May 30), Grandma's Marathon (June 19).

Goal times: 18:30 for 5K, 1:23:xx for half, sub-2:55 for full (targeting sub-3:05 for Grandmas)

78 miles running, 1500 yards swimming, and 70 minutes pool-running

M: 9 miles very easy (9:10) with drills and 6 hill sprints and upper body weights/core

T: 13 miles, including 2x(1200, 400) in 4:36, 89, 4:33, 87. ~2:40 recovery after 1200s, 1:40 recovery after 400s. Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming.

W: 8 miles very easy (9:05), drills and 2 strides, streaming yoga, and 4 miles very easy on treadmill (9:20) plus drills and 4 strides.

Th: 3.5 miles very easy on treadmill (9:46), 50 minutes pool-running, and upperbody weights/core.

F: 12 miles, including a 4 mile tempo in 26:49 (6:48/6:41/6:41/6:39). Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming.

Sa: 11 miles very easy (9:05) plus drills and 6 hill sprints, followed by streaming yoga.

Su: 16 miles progressive, split as first 5 miles averaging 9:01, next 4 miles averaging 7:44, next 7 miles averaging 6:56, and then a 1.5 mile cooldown. Followed with leg strengthwork, 500 yards recovery swimming, and 20 minutes pool-running.

A bit of a rough start - Tuesday's workout was supposed to be 3-4 sets, but I bailed after 2 since I was feeling slightly off. I've also been feeling a bit more tired the last few weeks. So I checked my folate levels, and they had dropped considerably. Not to "low" yet, but close. So I upped the folic acid supplements again (my doctor and I had reduced the dosage when I hit normal range to see if I could get along without high supplements, but looks like I can't). I've also noted that I've been having to use my rescue inhaler a lot the last few weeks with the uptick in pollen in the area, so I swapped long term asthma meds back to Advair, which has worked well for me before.

One or both of the changes was the right choice, since I felt improvement by the weekend.

HHW - another good week. You failed to mention how early you started that Sunday Aerobic tempo :) Good luck next Sunday - that sounds grueling.

Funny - I would much rather do a 10 mile aerobic tempo than intervals. For the former, you can just lock into a not-too-easy/not-too-hard rhythm and enjoy. (this preference is probably why I suck at 5Ks)

Pewow - skipping is good. How are you allocating the pull-ups among the 7 days of the week? Lower volume and higher volume days?

RRR - glad the shoulder is healed up.

Coach Jeff - I think it's normal for a reasonable workout effort to feel a bit hard the first time out. It's a matter of the mind not being calloused.

Stone - good week, and good job pacing.

Sub-6:00 - nice week with a solid tempo

get it faster - sorry about the awful week. Good news is that it's done.

ZM swift - yet another big week.

BHViking - continued progress.

Lurker - kudos on the 45 second 400. What is your secret?

RunnerSam - good work on the comeback trail.

HHW - strong long tempo.

Sun-6:00 - Happy (Belated?) Birthday

RunnerSam - Glad to see you in the mend.

BHViking - Strong week, especially the two tempo runs.

darkwave - Damn. Really strong strong week, particularly the second half. Definite seeing a boost from your HM performance starting to kick in. FWIW, I’ve been struggling with tiredness the last few weeks also, just trying to make hydration and sleep a priority.

Male, 31, 5’8”, 148 lbs.

PRs: 2:15 (2020), 4:58 mile (2020), 18:17 (2019), 36:50 (2021).

Goal: put my old 5K PR to shame

Upcoming races: 5K on 4/28, 5K on 5/19, 8K on 5/29, 5K on 6/13.

M - 5.7 with 10 strides (8:34)

T - 2.3 up, 5 x 1000 with 400 jog (3:23, 3:26, 3:24, 3:24, 3:17 with 2:37-2:44 jogs), 2.9 down.

W - 7.2 with 8 strides (8:45)

Th - 2.3 up, 5 km threshold in 18:38, put spikes on, 4 x 200 with 200 jog (37, 38, 35, 34), take spikes off, 2.1 down.

F - 7.7 (8:33)

Sa - 8 with 8 strides (8:43)

Su - 12.1 (8:14)

Weekly Total: 58 miles

YTD Total: 912 miles

Two more easy days and then I race. Unfortunately it's supposed to be 75 at race time. Not ideal, but barring disaster I will PR and get in a solid race effort as I gear up for the more important races.

On another note, today I finished running down every street in Ithaca, NY. Shout out to citystrides.com which compares your GPS data with a database of streets organized by city/town and lets you know which ones you've run.

I think you have a shot at sub 17. Good luck.

M42

PRs

18:05 11/20

38:03 3/18

1:23:52 11/18

2:58:49 3/21

M- 7 @7:57

T- 8 @7:26 (3 miles of 1 min on 1 min off)

W- 7.1 @8:27

T- 8.2 @7:42 (8x100m integrated strides)

F- 15.1 gravel bike easy

S- 5k race 3.1 @6:06 18:51 +3.3 w/u c/d

S- 14 @7:59 (moderate finish)

50.8 run

15.1 ride

Biggest week since marathon (running). Race sucked, ran positive splits 5:59, 6:08, 6:15, 5:14(.1) Caught the leader (kid) near the end and made him work for the win, lol. Hope to keep the running consistent and improve that 5k time in about a month or so.