Road Racing and Training Thread - Week Ending 5/30/21

Goal Race: IGT Downtown 5k (Providence) on 9/18, 3-4 tune-ups in August/Early September

Goal: 14:5X

Current PR: 15:23.8

Other Stuff: M/36/6'2"/180-185 LBS depending on dinner

Looking back at Strava my first run 6/11/19 (

https://strava.app.link/lh5o6Te2Fgb

). Approaching my 2 year running anniversary which is kind of exciting. Lots of change (mostly positive) during that time. I still remember how much that run positively sucked.

First day of the new training block starts Tuesday so this week was a bit of a transition week. Goal was to get easy days back to where I left off and get in 2 light workouts to maintain some level of higher end aerobic fitness and to feel out the new pace ranges I received (which are a bit terrifying honestly). Pretty happy with how things progressed and feel like I am entering the summer in the best shape I have ever been in at the beginning of a cycle. Also feeling healthy which is not something to be taken lightly.

M - 8 @ 7:29. Avg HR 149

T - 3 up @ 7:30. 3 aerobic tempo @ 5:29 + .75 jog @ 7:34 + .54 in 2:16 for a Strava crown. 3 down @ 7:53. Garmin had me through the 800 in 2:06. Was on a 1% down grade but felt pretty easy/smooth. Surprised myself a bit. Aerobic tempo was a bit faster than planned but a bit slower than prescribed LT.

W - 8 @ 7:59. Avg HR 142

Th - 8 @ 7:34. Avg HR 150

Fr - 8 @ 7:19. Avg HR 148

Sa - 3 up @ 7:41. 10k easy tempo @ 5:45 on the track in POURING rain. 35:46 (5:48/5:50/5:42/5:44/5:43/5:43). A bit quicker than planned but felt pretty solid so just went with it. Realistically somewhere between aerobic and easy tempo.

Su - 8 @ 7:18. Avg HR 144

Total - 62 miles when adding up change

Hope everyone had a good week. I saw a barrier broken on Strava last night so excited to see that get reported.

T: 4x 1:30 walk / 3:00 run

Th: 4x 1:30 walk / 3:00 run

M37, 5’10”, about 160

Upcoming: Cherry Blossom (9/12), Half (9/19).

Looking to fill out some more races, but many I wanted to do this summer are still cancelled, including a 5k in July and a 10 miler in August. A 20k I ran in 2019 is still on for August, so I might do that.

Mo: 10 @ 7:27 (65, stray showers)

Tu: 10 @ 7:12 (62, overcast) 24-16-16 intervals*

We: 10 @ 8:05 (75 + 68, mostly cloudy)

Th: 10 @ 7:44 (74 + 61, few clouds)

Fr: 12 @ 6:50 (71 + 55, mostly cloudy) 3-2-1**

Sa: 8 @ 7:55 (55, light rain)

Su: 10 @ 6:52 (53, overcast)

Total: 70 miles

*2400m (7:39.4), 1600m (5:04.6), 1600m (5:04.8). Jog 800m rest (4:28, 4:24).

**4800m in 15:56 (5:19, 5:18, 5:19), 600m jog (3’), 3200m in 10:36 (5:18, 5:18), 400m jog (2’), 1600m in 5:16.

Both workouts were pretty hard efforts. I often don’t have set plans for interval workouts, and I was thinking 4-5 x 1200 on Tuesday, but kept going on the first rep. Friday I was starting to feel pretty warm by the end of the workout, despite it not being that warm or humid.

Nice work, guys.

As for me...

M52, 5’6”, 125

Goal: Get back to being OR...flyering and advanced flyering

Heavy storms here overnight...windy and wet on this morning’s run...nice cool temps...some flooding here and there. Very happy with this morning’s effort. Legs are getting closer to normal. Cannot believe I got 50+ miles this week.

M: 8.65 at 7:24 overall...full progression...7:49, 7:47, 7:38, 7:30, 7:28, 7:21, 7:17, 6:49, 4:21.5

T: 6.5 at 7:05 overall...pretty nice...7:28, 7:21, 7:13, 7:08, 6:56, 6:43.1, 3:15.6...full progression

W: 8.75 at 7:21 overall...tiring run

T: 6.75 at 7:12 overall...hilly...7:29, 7:24, 7:27, 7:34, 7:03, 6:52.1, 4:47.9

F: 5.5 at 7:17

overall...hot/humid...did

this after driving 6+ hours

Sat.: 6.75 at 7:11 overall...humid...7:55, 7:16, 7:17, 7:10, 7:02, 6.55.5, 4:55.7

Sun.: 9.5 at 7:01 overall...best run since I have been back...felt good the whole way...full progression...7:39, 7:18, 7:07, 7:04, 6:58, 6:57, 6:56, 6:52, 6:41.8, 3:10.8

52 miles

Happy running!

M/37/145/6'0"

Ok week for me. Lower volume, but that's b/c I tried to taper a bit going into track race on Saturday. Still haven't run yet today, but probably skipping the long run and just going out for an easy 8 or so...

M - 6.1 @ 7:12

T - AM 4 @ 7:19, PM Light workout - 2 up, 2x1mile, 4x400 400 RI b/w everything. Miles in 5:33, 5:31. 400s at 74.4, 75.0, 75.8, 72.1 - Felt comfortable. Just a light tune up for Saturday

W - 8.1 @7:10

Th - 6 @ 7:12

F - 4.2 @ 7:08

Sa - 2 up, 5k race, 2 down, 800 leg of DMR, 1.2 CD

Su - Probably 8

Total - around 54 miles

5k race was on the track with the club. We invited another club down for a "meet" and had a few races.

Goal was sub-16, as it has been for a while now.

Had a few buddies out there to pace for a lot of this, which was super helpful. Goal was to go our around 5:10 and cut down from there, just slightly, to dip under 16.

Race starts and I get out well, settle into pace behind a few guys, and feel good. First 400 in 76 which is basically on pace so I just focus on feeling smooth and controlled. First mile goes through righ ton pace. 5:08. Second mile I lose one pacer, but another one is right in front of me, so I don't miss a beat. Kind of go blank and just stick to his heels, so nice to be able to zone out. Go thorough 2 miles in about 10:18, so I know I'm ok, but have to start to really work this last mile. I feel pretty good, but effort is definitely increasing. Go through mile three in 5:06, and just haul ass for the final 200 b/c I know it's going to be close.

Hit the line, hit the watch, look down... 15:59.0. Awesome. Goal completed.

Upload it to strava and strava puts in on as 16:00... WTH STRAVA. I know it doesn't really matter, but I am super annoyed about it. Anyway, 15:59.0 is about as close as I could have pulled it. I think there is more in the tank, I just needed to get over that mental hump of sub-16, now I can go out there and try a few different things, not be worried about blowing up, b/c it won't matter as much to me anymore, and I can just go for it.

All in all, a great week. PR at age 37, can say I'm a sub-16 guy, and I can skip the long run today b/c I feel like I owe it to myself.

Oh, also ran a leg of our B-team DMR in 2:16 after all that. 68/68 splits. Was all that was left. Was fun though.

Unrelated to this thread, did anyone watch Hobbs Kessler last night? He's in HIGH SCHOOL... and ran 3:34 1500.... unreal. Track in the USA has some hope for the future. Hope he doesn't burn out, but damn... that's real fast.

RRR 38. 6ft 179

2 mile on June 11th 😬

Another inconsistent week for RRR but I rallied for the Q work anyways. Work stress been getting to me a tad and I always don’t go for a run as a stress reliever, and sometimes when a race is coming up missing a run when exhausted seems to cause more stress. So need to work through that some in the future. At least I broached 180 for the first time in a long time it seems. (My best race I was 147 🤣)

Runs 4

Miles 32

Lifts 3x (fairly hard)

2 Q days

Q1 8 miles including

3x200 R 37-36-36

3xMile T 5:59-5:55-5:54. (faster than true T)

4x 20s hill sprint @800m effort

Q2 11 miles including

3x200 Fast Reps 34-33-33 off 2 mins

3x1000T @6 pace off 60s

1 mile steady

6x200 R at 37avg 90s rest

3x400 @79s

We shall see how the race unfolds. W lack of consistent mileage the last half a mile mAy be killer.

LancRunner wrote:

Unrelated to this thread, did anyone watch Hobbs Kessler last night? He's in HIGH SCHOOL... and ran 3:34 1500.... unreal. Track in the USA has some hope for the future. Hope he doesn't burn out, but damn... that's real fast.

Did not see it but saw the headline here. Just awesome and just what we need here on the men’s side in the US. The US women have been making the men look bad lately...

Lanc - Neglected to say GREAT JOB on breaking the 16 barrier. Nice work with a short-distance PR at 37. I think you can run faster yet...

...and the OR will be in action this week on Wednesday...signed up a few minutes ago...

hhw - Thanks for taking over thread duties. I'm surprised you've only been running for two years! Did you do any other sports before that?

Sub 6:00 - Great workouts.

OR - Nice week. The progressions look very strong. Good luck on Wednesday!

Lanc - Awesome 5K! Congrats on getting into the 15s!

Male, 31, 5’8”, 148 lbs.

PRs: 2:15, 4:51 mile, 17:17 , 36:50.

Goal: Race well at the 5Ks.

Upcoming races: 5K on 6/5, 5K on 6/13.

M - 5.2 with 6 strides (8:28)

T - 2.1 up, 3 x 1 mile with 2:00 rest (5:55, 5:58, 5:50), 2.2 down.

W - Off

Th - Off

F - 4.4 (8:36)

Sa - 2.3 up, 4 strides, "8K" in 27:41 for 3rd place, 2.1 down.

Su - Off

Weekly Total: 26 miles

YTD Total: 1131 miles

I'm still dealing with a niggle above my left ankle. It reared its head in a bad way during my Tuesday workout, so I took the next two days off. It felt mostly okay on Friday, so I decided to take my chances racing on it.

The race - My A goal was to win and my B goal was to finish in the top 3. The first two runners didn't waste any time gapping the field, so within the first half mile it was clear I would be racing for 3rd. I eventually made a comfortable gap ahead of 4th place, so I was only racing the clock for the last 2 miles. My leg wasn't at 100% but it didn't derail my race. Also, I'm pretty sure the course was short (I checked some other runners on Strava and with one exception everyone's GPS was in the 4.84-4.89 range instead of the expected 4.97). Super fun race, even if it was probably short.

Off today to give my leg some more rest. This Saturday's 5K is supposed to be hilly with some grass trails, so I won't be chasing a PR. Depending on how I feel I might sandbag it and make sure I can make it to the 13th feeling healthy.

outsiderunner wrote:

LancRunner wrote:

Unrelated to this thread, did anyone watch Hobbs Kessler last night? He's in HIGH SCHOOL... and ran 3:34 1500.... unreal. Track in the USA has some hope for the future. Hope he doesn't burn out, but damn... that's real fast.

Did not see it but saw the headline here. Just awesome and just what we need here on the men’s side in the US. The US women have been making the men look bad lately...

Same. Haven’t had a chance to watch it yet, but 3:34 is just unreal. Too bad it was in a 1500 and not a mile, since only track fans will care. I was trying to contextualize for my wife and realized it’s 28 seconds faster than my HS 1500 time (probably my best HS time), and that’s just such a vast difference over that distance.

M42

PRs

18:05 11/20

38:03 3/18

1:23:52 11/18

2:58:49 3/21

M- 30 ride moderate(hot!)

M- 6.25 @8:11, +.45 strides

T- 7 @8:28

W- rest

T- 8@ 7:12 , some strides integrated

F 5@ 8:08

S- 5k race 18:37, +2 wu/cd

S- 30 ride super easy

60 ride

31.9 run

Think I overheated myself Monday during my ride which gave me super a high HR during an easy run that evening. Kept it pretty easy rest of the week since I was racing Saturday. Race went pretty well despite behind warm and humid. Ran well with negative splits. 6:08, 6:03, 6:01, 5:13(.08). Think GPS was acting up a bit since this is a certified course and same one I ran on a month ago.

HHW - impressive progress in just 2 years! Followed you on Strava as well.

Sub 6- strong workouts!

Outsiderunner- nice week!

LancRunner- great race, congrats on the PR!

Notarobot- nice race! Congrats on hitting your "B" goal. Races can be a pain when there's no one near your abilities to chase or run with.

Male, 53 yo, 5’7”, 142 lbs

Goals:

Short term: Stay consistent, come up with an optimal way to manage my heel pain

Longer Term: Year-end marathon PR

Strava Relative Effort Past 4 Weeks

197 | 395 | 266 | 302

HRV rMSSD

30 Day Avg: 43.6

This Week: 43.2

About 65 km running

About 0 km biking

One workout this week:

Friday: Continuous 20 minutes at T effort

More consistent this week than last, running 6 days in a row. I would have preferred 2 workouts, but it just didn’t line up that way and there was no reason to force anything. Masks are mandated even when outside, so when I want to run a little harder, I’ve been heading back into the rural roads, at night... no people... no harm... no foul.

Did some drills at the end of Saturday's run, and a single hill sprint on Sunday. The heel is good enough to handle some of this stuff now, though the hill sprint was too painful. Getting up on the forefoot doing heel lifts, I have discomfort... up on the toes for a hill sprint considerably worse. But overall, better than it was a month ago, IMO. But it's all good. Compared to not being able to run, and then running with pain all the time... I feel comparatively great!

I wanted 70km this week, so I came up a little short. Same goal for next week. I’d like to transition to running in the morning. We’ll see.

Congrats to Lanc More comments to come!

Great job to Lancrunner, NotaRobot, and Dirtroad on your respective races! I will try to get to more substantive comments later.

My week:

Female, 47, 5'4", 107

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 sub-3:05).

Eventual goal times: 18:30 for 5K, 1:23:xx for half, sub-2:55 for full

39 miles running, 500 yards swimming, and 2 hours pool-running

M: 1 hour pool-running and streaming yoga.

T: 9 miles very easy (9:01) and upper body weights/core

W: 10 miles, including a track workout of 3x800, 4x200 in 3:04, 3:04, 3:03, 42, 43, 43, 42. 2:30 and 2:27 recovery between the 800s; full recovery otherwise. Followed with 500 yards recovery swimming.

Th: 1 hour pool-running and DIY yoga.

Fr: 6 miles very easy (9:03) followed by light upper body weights/core.

Sa: Off. Just travel and DIY yoga

Su: 3.5 miles warm-up, then a 10 mile race in 66:57. Followed with a .5 mile cooldown.

Splits were 6:53/6:53/6:40/6:37/6:38/6:32/6:36/6:40 and then 13:28 for the last 2 miles.

I was hoping for a faster performance yesterday, but I'm still happy with how I ran. The course was mostly on a bike path, and some on roads and sidewalks. There were a few rough patches of road/bike path and some turns that were hard to take at speed, and I struggled a bit with those, losing time there. My bad ankle (the one with the torn ligaments) is working great on level pavement, but not so much when things get a bit more uneven (and uneven is a very relative standard - I think a lot of people wouldn't be bothered much by the broken pavement that gave me trouble).

That shouldn't be a problem for Grandma's, fortunately, which is on well maintained roads with few turns. But I'm going to check in with PT to see if we can add some new exercises to my routine to improve my stability when running on uneven terrain. It's frustrating to have to slow down to navigate a section that others just bound across.

The forecast was for fantastic weather (50 degrees and overcast) but we ended up with light rain that got more steady by the end of the race. I'd still take that over the heat and humidity I anticipated when signing up for a Memorial Day weekend race.

Congrats Lanc. You worked hard for this and it’s a great accomplishment. I also wouldn’t short change yourself. 37 isn’t that old especially considering you don’t have decades of training behind you. Your workouts also say you can go much faster. If you can figure out that piece I think you have quite a bit more to drop. Onwards to 15:30!

More comments later.

M37 6’1” 175

PB / 2021:

Mile 4:06 / NT

3k 8:20 / NT

5k 14:32 / NT

10k 31:30 / NT

Half 1:08:31 / 1:10:40

Full 2:32:50 / NT

Upcoming Races:

TBD 🤷‍♂️

M: easy, 6M

T: strength, 2k-16-12-8 ladder w lap jogs (avg 5:20 pace), 4x200 strides, 8M

W: easy, 9M

T: strength, 5M @ 5:55, 4x200 strides, 10M

F: easy, 9M

S: off, —

S: long run, 15M

05/30 Total 57 (6d)

Been awhile since posting in here during a brief running hiatus. Enjoyed the time off and being able to simply jog for pure joy of it, but also realized how much I missed having structure. Goals for remainder of the year include: developing a consistent strength training routine (and sticking with it), eating / drinking less and healthier (less fast food, soda, beer—God this is gonna suck!) and getting back to a comfortable training/race weight (shed about 15 lbs).

05/23 - 03/07 Light / Inconsistent training

02/28 - 01/31 Break / Time off

01/24 Total 35 (4d), 16M

01/17 Total 51 (6d), HM 1:10:40 (pacer)

01/10 Total 56 (6d), LR=15

01/03 Total 58 (6d)

2021 (take 2): 57 mi / 1 wk / 6 days

2021 (take 1): 250 mi / 5 wks / 28 days

2020: 3,064 mi / 52 wks / 296 days

2019: 2,811 mi / 52 wks / 296 days

HHW - It is amazing how much progress you have made in 2 years. My first 'run' was 7 years back at 14+ mins/mile for 3 miles.

Sub 6 - Nice, solid week. Also interesting that you don't have an exact set of intervals in mind for workouts.

OR - Great to see you back and enjoying!

Lanc - Congratulations!! Barrier broken..

RRR - All the best for the race.

NotaRobot - Nice racing!

dirtRoad - Impressive race

Coach - Glad to see you running with slightly less pain every week

DW - Nice, solid race. Always negative-splitting!

___________________________________________________

M/42

Races coming up: Maybe a half in August and then Chicago in October

Now that races have been tentatively scheduled on my calendar, I am hoping to train more consistently and also post my training here regularly.

M: 5.3 @ easy

T: 10.5 @ easy

W: 10 with 8 miles at around marathon effort

Th: 4.2 @ recovery

F: 5.6 easy

Sa: 16 easy

Su: 5.3 @ easy

Weekly miles: 57

Weekly hours: 8

Did my first marathon-pace workout for this cycle. Generally happy that the pace landed at about 7:20/mile. The workout got progressively harder but I felt in control most of the time.

I have 18 weeks till Chicago - hoping that I can get the marathon pace down to under 6:50 /mile.

Comeback Attempt Week #12

Ok, going to run my first race since the 2019 CIM disaster (hobbled in last 8 miles on massive blisters). I’m going to run the Deadwood Mickelson Half Marathon next Sunday. Very rusty when it comes to racing. I have modest expectations but do expect to push a strong effort. It’s a nonconventional course with beautiful surroundings. It starts at around 6200 ft elevation and ends at around 4700 ft with some uphills thrown in there. So VERY net downhill and VERY fast. Should be fun.

Mon - 68 min @ 7:38 (142 bpm)

Tues - REST (glute)

Wed #1 - 4 mile warm up and Stryd cal check + 2 miles @ 6:04 (161 bpm) on Track

Wed #2 - 30 min @ 7:35 (138 bpm)

Thurs # 1 - 67 min @ 7:29 (148 bpm)

Thurs #2 - 28 min @ 7:06 (144 bpm)

Fri - 60 min @ 6:56 (153 bpm)

Sat - Hungover - little sleep - 60 min @ 6:59 (161 bpm)

Sun - 65 min @ 7:46 (143 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

Week 8: 1.81

Week 9: 1.80

Week 10: 1.81

Week 11: 1.80

Week 12: 1.80

Weekly Totals

Miles: 57.7 Miles

Duration: 7:05

Total Elevation Gain: 1551 ft

Stryd Running Stress Score: 378