Road Racing and Training Thread - Week Ending 3/20/22

Great life week. Decent running week. Our daughter Matilda Worm was born on Monday 3/14 @ 10am. 8 lb 5 oz and 20.5 inches. She is wonderful and healthy and her two big brothers are adjusting really well to her presence.

Running wise the week was a bit sporadic but overall decent. Having my in-laws here helped a lot with logistics but I am back on my 3am running routine for the foreseeable future. Wednesday workout was a bit of a dud due to some stomach issues but this mornings workout went great. Mainly happy to keep volume up given how crazy things have been! I have a real monster of a workout next week so time to rest up for that.

M - 6 @ 7:38
T - 10 @ 7:07

W - 19 @ 6:18 overall as 5k up + 5k @ 5:50 + 8k @ 6:20 + 8x1' on/off @ 5:15-5:25/6:10-6:20 + 8k @ 6:22. Was supposed to do 22 with another 5k @ 5:50 at the end but was having some MAJOR stomach issues.

Th - AM: 10 @ 7:34/PM:5 @ 7:53
Fr - AM: 10 @ 7:42/PM: 2 @ 8:10
Sa - 10 @ 7:06

Su - 14 @ 6:17 as 8k up + 5x(1600 on/400 off) + down to 14. 33:37 10k for the workout portion. Optimistic LT working down to optimistic CV.

Reps: 5:19/5:18/5:15/5:10/4:58
Floats: 90/92/90/91/88

Total - 86 miles

HHW - Congrats on MW. 🥰

Now that you are back to the early schedule, feel free to takeover as the thread starter on Sundays. I’ll be cutting back for a bit after the marathon in two weeks.

Male, 44, 5’11”, 176 lbs

PRs: 16:43 (2019) 1:17:24 (2019), 2:47:00 (2018)
Goals: Lose weight, regain fitness
Goal Race: Boston (4/17/23) - PR or go down swinging
Tune-Up Races: Salisbury Marathon (4/2/22) in 3:00:00-3:05:00, Chicago Marathon (10/9/22) in 2:50:00-2:55:00.

Week of 3/14 to 3/20

M - Rest
T - Rest
W - 6 (7:27). Including 10 x 1:00 on (5:36) / 1:00 off (8:01). 6:36/avg for the 20:00 minutes.
Th - 10.7 (8:39)
F - Rest
Sa - 16 (7:27). Including 2 x 5 miles (7:00 / 6:51)) with 5:00 recovery jog
Su - 4 (8:48)

Weekly Miles: 36.7 miles
2022 YTD: 649 miles

Took extra rest days due to just general exhaustion/lethargy from work and life. Yesterday’s last big workout went well. Now it’s just staying in one piece and getting back into a rhythm heading into the race.

Hope everyone had a great week.

Mrs. Stone’s week:

Female, 46, 5’6”
PRs: 21:06 (2020), 1:33:14 (2021), 3:13:53 (2021)
2021 TTs: 20:24, 41:42, 1:29:51
Next Goal Race: Salisbury Marathon (4/2/22)
Goal: sub-3:10:00

Week of 3/14 to 3/20

M - Rest
T - 10 (8:43)
W - 9.1 (8:54)
Th - 3 (9:21) / 3.4 (8:05)
F - Off / inflamed toe joint
Sa - 1 (8:40). Toe still inflamed.
Su - Off / inflamed toe joint

Weekly Total: 26.5 miles
YTD Total: 755 miles

Her second toe on her right foot developed a very sudden pain in the middle of her second run on Thursday. No trauma. No progression of pain to that point. Just hurts to push off when running. PT evaluated it Friday and said it should go away on its own within a few days.

Bad timing as she was going to run the United Half as a practice MP run this morning, so she was bummed to miss out on the experience.

Just hoping at this point it feels 100% for Salisbury because she is clearly fit.

M37 6’1” 160

PB / 2022:
Mile 4:06 / NT
3k 8:20 / NT
5k 14:30 / 16:06
10k 31:30 / NT
Half 1:08 / 1:13:02
Full 2:32 / NT

Upcoming Races:
4/09 - road 5k
4/30 - track 5k

M: easy, 8M
T: 8 x 400 @ 4:35->4:25 pace, 10M
W: easy, 8M
T: moderate 8M @ 6:15 pace, 10M
F: off, —
S: 3 x 2k @ 5:05 pace, 10M
S: easy long run, 15M
03/16 Total 61 (6d)

03/13 Total 60 (6d), LR=15
03/06 Total 44 (6d), 1:13:02 🥵
02/27 Total 58 (6d), LR=13
02/20 Total 66 (6d), LR=18
02/13 Total 70 (7d), LR=16
02/06 Total 74 (7d), LR=19
01/30 Total 63 (6d), LR=17
01/23 Total 61 (6d), LR=15
01/16 Total 61 (7d), 16:06 👎
01/09 Total 60 (7d), LR=13

2022: 678 mi / 11 wks / 70 days
(Projected: 3,200 mi / 52 wks / 330 days)

2021: 1,250 mi / 35 wks / 180 days
2020: 3,064 mi / 52 wks / 296 days
2019: 2,811 mi / 52 wks / 296 days

Congrats HHW!

Congrats, hhw!

Male, 32, 5’8”, 144 lbs.
PRs: 2:14, 4:51, 17:17, 36:50, 1:19:48
Upcoming races: 10k on 4/3, 800s in June/July
Goal: <36

M - 6.6 @ 8:10 / 4.3 @ 8:08
T - 2.1 up, 3 x 2 miles (5:55/5:55, 5:56/5:54, 5:54/5:49) with 2 minutes rest, 3.3 down
W - 5.5 @ 8:09 with 8 strides / 4.3 @ 7:57
Th - 2.2 @ 7:24 with 4 strides, 5 x 1000 (3:22, 3:22, 3:23, 3:21, 3:19) with 400 jog (2:27-2:33), 3.1 @ 7:40
F - 4.3 @ 8:35 / 4.9 @ 8:19
Sa - 7.9 @ 8:13
Su - 13.7 @ 7:51

Weekly Total: 73 miles
YTD Total: 559 miles

Great week for me. Two solid workouts and my highest weekly mileage ever.

M62, 5'11", 177 lbs
Age 23: 16:05, 2:40:30
Age 43: 17:10, 2:56:03
Age 58: 18:58, 3:07:23

RACE CALENDAR
May 7: Half Marathon
May 29: Marathon

MARCH 14-20, 2022
Mo- Off
Tu-- Off
W - 12.0 miles @ 8:54/mi (even pace)
Th- Off
F --- 7.7 miles @ 8:33/mi avg (9:26>7:51)
Sa-- Off
Su-- 3.0 miles (9:49, 9:25, 9:17)
TOTAL: 22.7 MILES

On Wednesday, the worst knee pain yet was extremely difficult to push through during the second half of the run. Going forward, I'll medicate BEFORE any longish efforts.

Regarding medical concerns, I'm told pin-point radiation therapy promises 90% chance of cure, but requires nine weeks of daily 110-mile round-trips. Or I could choose surgery, but that needs months of recovery (no work for 6 weeks), and unpleasant long-term side-effects.

Good news: My son's marathon training is progressing nicely. Our May marathon will be his first (age 34). A surprisingly easy 15-miler has him adjusting his goals. Hooray!

Run well.

HHW: Fantastic news! Little worm is blessed with a great family. Congrats to mom, dad and brothers.

Good luck racers!

My week was okay. Might run the Sioux Falls Half Marathon on April 30. Deadwood-Mickelson Marathon in early June.

My week:

1 x 20 Miler - With 2 friends. 2:46 duration, 8:18 avg pace, 133 avg bpm

1 x 9 Miles @ 6:30 pace (160 bpm)

Total Miles - 85.6

Total Duration - 11:13

Total Vert - 2846 ft

Congrats HHW!! Awesome!

M53, 5’6” 125

hhw: BIG congrats on little Matilda! Bless all of you…

Allen: A tough choice for you. Be well, my friend.

M: off…wanted a little more rest this week

T: off

W: 18.85 at 6:52.6 overall in the hills…warm day…a tough run…quads started feeling dead/hurtful at about 10…6:55, 6:50, 6:56, 6:43, 6:52, 6:48, 6:43, 6:54, 6:46, 6:43, 6:47, 6:43, 5:37.7

T: off

F: 13.35 at 6.49 overall…finishing 6:49, 6:41, 6:36, 6:32, 6:26.2, 6:26.2, 6:21.1, 2:15.9

Sat.: off

Sun.: 14.35 at 6:46.8 overall…hilly, windy…finishing 6:45, 6:49, 6:35, 6:39, 6:30, 6:24.3, 6:19.1, 6:09.6, 2:07.9…felt good…quads not as sore

46 miles

Got a massage after Friday’s run. She did an excellent job. Quads felt better in today’s run. Still some soreness there, but I am feeling better about it.

On a massive high…

HHW - Big congrats! Shocked by what a real week of running you managed.

M37, 5’10”, low 160s

Upcoming plans
RNR DC Half (3/26), goal ~1:13
Cherry Blossom (4/3)

Mo: 8 @ 7:36 (36, partly cloudy)
Tu: 10 @ 6:50 (66, partly cloudy) track tempo*
We: 8 @ 8:26 (46, cloudy)
Th: 8 @ 7:16 (50, fog)
Fr: 8 @ 7:05 (48, better fog)
Sa: 8 @ 7:17 (69, cloudy)
Su: 10 @ 6:49 (57, cloudy and windy) track tempo**

Total: 60 miles

*6400m in 21:05, splits 5:17, 5:17, 5:16, 5:16. A “workout PR” (at least for the last several years), which for a tempo run usually means “too fast”.

**6400m in 21:29, splits 5:22, 5:23, 5:21, 5:23. More restrained effort than Tuesday, but the wind didn’t help. (Did not feel 6s/mile easier.) Winds at DCA (several miles away, but my usual reference) were 23 mph, gusting to 39 mph.

Allen - tough choices either way - I'm thinking of you.

HHW - congrats!

(I'll try to circle back for more shoutouts later)

Female, 47, 5'4", 108
PRs 5:25/18:51/38:56/1:02:28/1:24:08/2:57:42
Upcoming race entries:
Scope It Out 5K (3/27), Cherry Blossom 5K (4/3), BAA 5k (4/16), Broad Street 10 Miler (5/1), Garry Bjorklund Half (6/18)

60 miles running, 3 hours pool-running, and 1500 yards swimming.
M: 90 minutes pool-running and upper body weights/core.
T: 12 miles, including a track workout of 6x800, 2x400, 2x200 in 3:27, 3:26, 3:23, 3:20, 3:18, 3:15, 93, 92, 45, and 45. Recoveries between 2:2x and 2:5x after 800s; ~80 second recovery for 400s and 200s. Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming.
W: 10.5 miles easy (9:37) plus drills and four hill sprints. Streaming yoga mid-day.
Th: 90 minutes pool-running and upper body weights/core.
F: 11.5 miles, including a 4 mile tempo on the roads in 28:08 (7:12/7:05/6:57/6:54), 20 minute jog, and then 2x"200m" (using marks of questionable accuracy) each in 47 seconds. Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming.
Sa: 8 miles easy (9:31), followed by streaming yoga, and then another 3.5 miles very easy (9:26) plus drills and two hill strides.
Su: 14 miles progressive, split as the first 5 miles averaging 9:44, next 4 miles averaging 8:14, next 5 miles averaging 7:15, and then a half mile cooldown. Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming.

Tuesday's workout was in the dark again (thanks, daylight savings time) and I really struggled with my balance until the sun came up for the last 800. Once I could see, I was much better.

Friday's workout was better, though still a bit wobbly due to shoe choice (I decided to test myself with the New Balance RC Elite 1, which in the past few months has been a shoe I just could NOT run in - I managed to run somewhat fast in it on Friday, albeit with a lot of concentration and some balance challenges, so yay).

Today's long run felt like a big step forward. I decided to challenge myself with the unholy trifecta of a) supershoe (New Balance RC Elite 2), b) downhill running, and c) windy conditions. These are three things that make running hard for me right now. And....I stayed on my feet and actually didn't ever feel like I was going to face plant. It was amazing. Really gave me a bit of confidence that things are going the right way.

In other news, on Thursday I finally saw the back surgeon my primary care had referred me to. The back surgeon looked at my MRIs and told me that I had the lumbar MRI of a 20 year old (which was certainly nice to hear). He thought the good results I got from the steroid shot in L5 were due to systemic effects of the corticosteroid. Had absolutely nothing to say in response when I told him I thought the platelet lysate in my back was helping (which means he's probably in the subset that thinks that PRP is snake oil).

Like everyone else, he thinks I need to get a second neurology opinion (when I told him which neurologist I saw, he noted that I had already seen the really good guy, so he wasn't sure where I should go for a second opinion). He also thinks I should get checked out for Lyme disease. So I guess that's two more appointments to make.

Congrats to HHW

4 weeks out from Boston for me.

Monday: Planned day off

Tuesday: 6.1M @7:41 on Bridle

Wednesday: 7.3 ft 2x2mile with 2’ rest dodging some walkers on Upper Res. 12:10 then 12:19. Pleased with it.

Thursday: 6.1R @ 8:03 on outer loop

Friday: 6M @ 7:56 on Bridle this felt super-hard and was a bit worrisome but i hypothesized it being 70 was the reason why (this was correct)

Saturday: 21 @ 7:09 ft. 3.4 pickup at 6:38 upon returning to Park. Was happy to not botch the pacing, and cut down on non running time (basically just lights this time) Did this in supershoes for first time ever. Ran on West Side Highway way north. That did add a pretty huge couple of hills before I turned around. Ran into moderate breeze on the water for a while. Once I turned back did basically 6 miles just under 7 min pace.

Sunday: 6R @ 8:12 on Bridle after heavily working on my ailing legs.

Overall: 52+ miles. Feeling very good about finishing an up-and-down cycle hitting on all cylinders. Last pretty hard week coming up. Probably will do a threshold workout and debating on hills.

Male, 32, 6'1", 166

Congratulations on the new arrival, HHW!
Great week for me. Encouraging results as we head into the bulk of the spring racing season. I ran my season opener at the Shamrock Shuffle yesterday (report below), and now I need to get some track 5Ks on the schedule as my main goal for the spring is to break 16:00.
mon - Cruise intervals on the treadmill. 3x2 mile, 5:52 pace down to 5:42 by the end of the last segment. This was easily the strongest I've felt in a workout this buildup.
tues - 7 easy
weds - 6x800, 4x400. 1:45 walking rest on 8s, 1:30 on 4s. Paces were 5:30ish for the 8s and a little faster on the 4s. Didn't feel as good on this workout but it was good to get in work at something closer to goal race pace.
thurs - 6 easy
fri - Planned off day. Drove the 7 hours down to Chicago.
sat - 4 easy with strides
sun - Shamrock Shuffle 8K. 27:38. Very good result for me! More rambling thoughts below.
total - 43
YTD - 563

Race thoughts: Overall I feel like my fitness has turned a corner the past few weeks and I knew based on a time trial result 3 weeks ago I could probably run 28:00 or a little under if I was smart about pacing and felt decent. I started maybe 2 or 3 rows back in corral A, which consisted of everyone who seeded themselves between 35 and whatever the cutoff for "elite" was, minus people who qualified for club VIP treatment. Long story short, I spent the first 4 miles passing people lol. Between that and GPS wackiness in downtown, it was hard to gauge pace. I didn't see the fist mile marker, but I was feeling pretty relaxed. Also worth noting this was my maiden voyage in super shoes (Vaporfly) which was probably stupid but I got away with it. Anyway, I hit 2 miles in 10:59 - a little more aggressive than I was planning to go. I slowed down quite a bit the 3rd mile when it started to hurt. When I saw my split (roughly 5:44 or something) I had a bit of a wakeup call and picked it up again. The last mile was tough! You go down Michigan Ave and then turn towards the lake on a slight uphill, then turn north to a long straightaway to the finish. It was probably ~600 meters but felt somehow both longer and shorter than that. I think I both passed and got passed, but I'm very happy with how I finished. My mile 4 to finish split was roughly 5:25. I really couldn't have hoped for much better than this. Maybe if I had been more disciplined in the 3rd mile I could have maintained 5:30s and finished a little higher, but I still am very happy with it. I know I still have a long way to go to hit a 15:59 5K, but this gives me confidence I can get there.

Male, 26, 5’9", 130lbs
PRs: Half Marathon: 1:17:53 (2021), Marathon: 2:47:57 (2021)
Next Races: Boston Marathon 2022
Future Goals: Sub 1:16 HM, Sub 2:40 Marathon, Sub 17:30 5k

Monday
5 Miles - ?
Tuesday
PM Run: 8.08 Miles - 7:10
Wednesday
AM Workout: 3 up - 7:23, 3 mile workout - 6:00, 2 down - 7:25
Thursday
PM Run: 8 Miles - 7:27
Friday
Lunch Run: 6 Miles - 7:42
Saturday
PM Run: 4 Miles - 7:31
Sunday
NYRR Half Marathon - 1:21:06

Race Report

This was my first time running a major race in a big city. Seeing everyone and trying to transverse the area of New York with Uber and Taxi was expensive and looking back at it, I probably should have brought some food or kept to my normal routine and stayed in instead of exploring my diet, New York, and more while showing up there. But I had a lot of fun for my first time there and regret nothing.

Race morning was perfect PR weather with a cool temperature in the mid 50s and no humidity. Average winds of up to 15mph but I was hoping I'd be able to stick with a pack and tuck in and try to stick according to plan. Goal was to go out in the 5:50s for miles 1-5 and creep into the 40s from 5/6-10 then hammer the last 3. That didn't happen at all the from the awkward gun start with an official jumping in front of wave A after the elites in AA took off, I had a weird feeling this wasn't going to be the perfect race I'd hoped for.

Miles 1-5 (6:11, 5:56, 5:49, 5:23, 5:58)

This is where I got scared and jumped it a bit in mile 4. I took a cafeinated gel a few minutes before the gun and set off with a pack that had bumped into eachother multiple times because of the awkward situation with an offical. Going up and down and around prospect park, I knew I shouldn't let the first mile dictate what I do for the rest of the race and I could see my coach's other athlete ahead of me (we raced together our last half and had similar goals). Ticking down to the second mile, I tried to settle in comfortably into the 50s like we planned, going finally to a net down hill of 40ft after climbing some hills for 44ft, and then continuing to net down until mile 5, where we had a steeper climb over the first bridge of about 80ft. I passed the timing mat each mile and knew my watch was off for distance and time, I was ahead by about .3 miles and off about 30 seconds total time.

Miles 6-10 (5:49, 5:48, 5:57, 6:02, 6:23)

I did my best to keep it into the 40's and did so for the first 2 of these miles in this goal plan, trying to keep my friend within eye sight and going down the bridge. My arms and chest were going very sore but not lactic, and I had no trouble breathing but the legs and body did not want to move any faster than they were. I'd not experienced that feeling before in a long time, like I wasn't strong enough to support my own weight. Taking a gel at mile 6/7 around the 10km mark like I practiced for the full marathon and I did before, I thought maybe the 200mg of caffeine and some guts could get me close to what I ran before. Mile 10 things began to fall apart with more climbing and bridges, I didn't think I had much of a chance after that but still had hoped to go below 1:20.

Miles 11-Finish (6:24, 6:02, 6:44, 6:34)

This is where it got ugly, my legs did not want to move. At this point, I'd climbed and went down nearly 600 feet. I don't get near that within a month's worth of training in the south, and I'd not prepared for that at all. Simply put, my body was not muscularly fit enough to handle this portion of the course and I paid for it. Struggling to move but not feeling any cramps, just my legs feeling like they couldn't stretch out or climb, I saw fleeting goals as I was passed by the 1:20 pace group. Just looking to give it all I got and know I can't give up on myself, I finished the race without ever once walking it in or feeling sorry for myself.

I can hang my head up high with the results of this. I'd not ran something of this caliber before and am happy for Beers who did get a PR, and my other friend who also PR'd on a hard as hell course. The goal is still 2:40 for Boston and I'll continue training for that. Sunday was how I wanted to feel aerobically at the second half of the full, but not how I wanted to feel bodily at the end. I'm happy to be a part of the experience with all my friends and am not ready for a break, I'm ready to just keep running and moving forward.

Add on

I did luckily get to change some PR's in the 5k and 10k from this half.

Male, 27, 5’8”, 135 lbs

PRs: 17:11 5k (2015), 28:31 8k XC (2015), 36:11 10k (2018), 59:23 10M (2018), 1:18:47 HM (2021)

Spring Race Schedule:

4/2: Run the Bluegrass Half Marathon (Lexington, KY)

4/30: Capital City Half Marathon (Columbus, OH)

Good week to report here. Two pretty strong workouts and solid volume considering I took a rest day. Feeling good about my fitness heading into these upcoming half marathons.

M: Off

T: 10 EZ

W: 10 total, 2 up, 5 mile progression, 3 down. Hoping to start around 6:20 and take it down near 6:00, got a little antsy on the first mile so it was more like 6:15 down to 6:00, but a really good effort. 6:07 average for 5 miles.

Th: 6 EZ

F: 10 EZ

Sa: 10 EZ

Su: 14 mile long run, with middle 10 at 6:27 over rolling hills. Closed with 2 6:17 miles so had plenty left in the tank.

Total: 60 miles