Mo: 8 @ 8:09 Tu: 8 @ 7:36 We: 8 @ 6:33 with 4 x mile* Th: 3 @ 7:45, stroller Fr: 3 @ 6:45 with 3 x .25 pace strides Sa: 16, with 13.1 in 1:10:36** Su: 4 @ 8:47
Total: 50 miles
*4 x mile with .33 jog: 5:23, 5:23, 5:20, 5:24
**RnR DC Half, 12th place in 1:10:36.
New course that no longer ends by my house. (Just learned that Tuesday—glad I checked!) First 7 miles were pretty flat but sometimes open and windy. Steep hill (~150’) between 7.5-8.0, slight climb (50’) in mile 9, then gently downhill (with some rollers) about 200’ in 10-12. Then little net change at the end. Low 40s, cloudy, with winds about 14 mph.
Plan was to hit 5:27s until the hill, get through that, and see what I had left.
First 2 miles were controlled, slowly reining in 2 runners ahead of me. One fell off after a few miles, but ran with the other (I think a clubmate of darkwave’s?) until 10, when he made a push I thought would be unwise for me to cover.
The hill wasn’t as bad as I remembered, and the wind wasn’t as bad as I’d feared.
… the other (I think a clubmate of darkwave’s?) until 10, when he made a push I thought would be unwise for me to cover.
And on second thought I’m pretty sure I’m wrong about that. (My brain is extra bad after a race.)
My teammates were wearing red singlets, so if he wasn't wearing red, it wasn't one of them. I think our fastest runner was 1:12 anyway, so it was likely someone else.
Nice race! BTW, if you noted a short crazy woman with a red top cheering on all the runners as they descended down 6th street right before the turn to Pennsylvania Avenue, that was me. I showed up there to cheer for people I recognized and realized that there was nobody else on that stretch, so I pretty much cheered for everyone from the first male to the 1:32-ish runners. By then, my voice was pretty much shot.
And yes, I was wondering how you lived that close to the National Archives. But some people do live in Penn Quarter.
Recent best times: 5K in 21:08, half-marathon in 1:33:20, Marathon in 3:24:40
43 miles running, 1000 yards swimming and 4.5 hours pool-running. M: 100 minutes pool-running. T: 11 miles, including a track workout of 7x800, 12x200 with splits of 3:40, 3:35, 3:34, 3:29, 3:23, 3:20, 3:19, 47, and 48. Recoveries of 2:1x-2:4x after the 800s and full recoveries for the 200s. Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming. W: Streaming yoga and 8 miles very easy (9:47) on treadmill. Th: 80 minutes pool-running and upper body weights/core. F: 4 mile fartlek, with some 100s in 23-24 seconds and 200s in 48-49 seconds, plus running drills. Sa: 4 mile jog to start+warm-up, and then 5K in 21:45 (7:13/6:57/6:53/0:41. Then ran another 7 miles as I first cheered at the race and then jogged back to my car. 500 yards recovery swimming in the evening. Su: 6 miles easy on treadmill (9:51), 90 minutes pool-running, and yoga.
Ran a large 5K on Saturday, simply because I knew it would be crowded and chaotic and non-flat and I need practice dealing with those. Time was very meh, but it was a good tune-up for Cherry Blossom. I ended up running a lot of extra miles on Saturday, so I skipped a Sunday long run in favor of a mixed run/pool-run.
Male, 26, 5’9", 131lbs PRs: 5k 17:47 (2022), 10km 38:27, Half Marathon: 1:17:53 (2021), Marathon: 2:45:27 (2022) Next Races: Boston Marathon, Fall TBD Future Goals: Sub 2:45 Marathon, Sub 1:17 HM, Sub 17:30 5k, Sub 5:00 Mile Mileage: 90 Pretty sure I joined Darkwave in on cheering Sub 6:00 and many other GRC and Dojo runners throughout the RnR course. Monday - Rest Tuesday - PM Run: 12 Miles - 7:26 Wednesday - AM Run : 6 Miles - 8:08, PM Workout: 12 Miles = 3 Up (7:20) --> 6 Miles - (6:16) = 5 x 1 Mile (6:00, 5:56, 5:56, 5:52, 5:50)/ .25 Mile Jog (8:00) -->3 Down (7:21) Thursday - Am Run: 6 Miles - 7:54, PM Run: 10 Miles - 7:09 Friday - AM Run: 10 Miles - 7:56 Saturday - AM Run: 12 Miles = 2 - 7:32 + 10 - 7:48, PM Run: 4 Miles - 7:49 Sunday - AM Long Run: 18 Miles - 6:42 = 2.5 Up -> 10 Miles at Goal Marathon Pace (6:10, 6:12, 6:10, 6:12, 6:13, 6:10, 6:09, 6:11, 6:13, 6:09) -> 5.5 Down to total 18
AFF - If you’re with Dojo of Pain, which provided excellent crowd support, then I’m pretty sure I was running with *your* clubmate. I was wearing a blue long sleeve shirt, which is the only thing to distinguish me from all the other 30-something bearded white dudes wearing bright green Nikes in the top 20.
darkwave - Good tune up. I think I did notice you! Were you shouting about there being 200m to go after the turn?
The guy I was running with definitely wasn’t from your team. (He was Dojo, I think you’re CAR?)
Oddly until recently a college teammate of mine did live right by the finish in the Newseum Apartments, but just moved out this month. (I’m in the semi-gentrified hinterlands just east of Capitol Hill.)
M: 8 easy T: Workout - 2 easy - 20x400 with :30 jog - 2 easy (averaged 1:14 for the 400’s) W: 12 easy Th: 7.5 easy F: Workout - 2 easy - 9 miles (3@6:00, 3@5:35, 3@5:55) - 2 easy S: 4 easy S: 13 Easy 70 miles total Thoughts: As of today, we’re six days out from Project 13.1, less than a month out from Boston and I’m feeling very confident in my training. The hard work is pretty much done. The 20x400 workout was essentially a continuous 5 mile effort and clocking 1:14 per 400 felt very smooth, and I wound up closing number 20 in a 69. Broke in a new pair of Adidas Adizero Adios Pro 3’s this week and I’m thinking I like them more than the Vaporfly Next % 2. Although they’re a tad heavier, they seem to offer a bit more stability which I think benefits me more than the slightly aggressive arch in the Nikes. Project 13.1 will probably be one of two last hard efforts for Boston and I think sub 1:10 is in the bag. Excited for the upcoming month.
AFF - If you’re with Dojo of Pain, which provided excellent crowd support, then I’m pretty sure I was running with *your* clubmate. I was wearing a blue long sleeve shirt, which is the only thing to distinguish me from all the other 30-something bearded white dudes wearing bright green Nikes in the top 20.
darkwave - Good tune up. I think I did notice you! Were you shouting about there being 200m to go after the turn?
The guy I was running with definitely wasn’t from your team. (He was Dojo, I think you’re CAR?)
Oddly until recently a college teammate of mine did live right by the finish in the Newseum Apartments, but just moved out this month. (I’m in the semi-gentrified hinterlands just east of Capitol Hill.)
Yup - that was me (it was the most useful and encouraging thing I could think of to yell at people).
And yup, I'm with CAR, but have friends on both Dojo and GRC. AFF, Jenny is a good friend of mine - we pool-run together regularly.
Male, 29, 6’4”, 150 lbs Races: HM 3/26, M 4/17 Goals: Boston tbd
Mn - 10.75 @ 7:15s Tu - AM: 3 @ 8:25s, PM: 2-2-1 4x150 + WU/WD = 11 Wd - 11 @ 7:40s Th - 9.25 @ 7:50s with 4x200 in 39 38 38 39 Fr - 6.5 @ 8:10s Sa - AM: 5k in 17:07 + WU/WD = 8, PM: 4.5 @ 7:55s Su - 16 @ 7:50s
Total - 82
Tu - paces were 6:07s 6:01s 5:59
Sa - 5:26 5:39 5:28 + .1 for 17:07 and 62nd place. I believe this is my 5th fastest 5k. Middle mile was hilliest, first was slightly up and last was slightly down so I think I ran pretty even effort with a bit quick on the first mile. I more or less settled into my position after the first half mile, caught one and got caught by one. My wife finished in 17:18 bettering her 9 year old (and college) 5k PR by 5 seconds which we were thrilled with. Looking forward to the half next weekend to nail down a Boston goal. I got to say hi to TheStoneCutter just before the start but didn't find him after the race, was roped into a long WD right after.
M - 7.1 @ 8:16 with 8 strides T - 2.0 up, 5 x 1 mile + 1 x 0.67 miles with 1:00 rest, 2.0 down all on the treadmill W - AM 6.3 @ 8:25, 8 x ~6 sec hill sprints with 3:00 walk recovery / PM 4.2 @ 8:20 Th - 6.6 @ 818 F - AM 7.8 @ 8:00 with 8 strides / PM 4.3 @ 7:54 Sa - 2.8 up with 4 strides, 5 x 1000 (3:26, 3:24, 3;24, 3:23, 3:20) with 400 jog (2:20-2:33), 2.3 down Su - 14.5 @ 7:26
Weekly Total: 70 miles YTD Total: 477 miles
Tuesday's workout ended 1/3 of a mile early because my treadmill tripped a circuit breaker! I will probably avoid treadmill workouts in the future.
All in all a solid week. I bumped up my mileage by a lot to try to cram in whatever fitness I can for the 10k. My body is reacting well to the volume so I'll keep it up for another week and then taper.
I haven't been posting here recently. I ended up hitting some kind of complicated health issues which knocked me out of commission for a bit. I ended up aborting my marathon scheduled for next week as a result.
I just started up again this week after a few weeks off and decided I think I am done with the marathon for a bit. I'm going to focus on trying to run a fast 800 over the late spring and summer. I don't really know how to train for the 800 but will certainly have fun trying to figure it out!
M - 4.2 @ 7:32 T - 4 @ 7:55 in nor'easter W - 6 @ 7:00 w/ 4x17s strides on trail Th - 6 @ 7:16 Fr - 7 @ 6:35 w/ 3200 @ 11:30 then 4x35s hills @ about 5' pace. Sa - 7.5 @ 7:50. Slow first half. Faster second half. Su - 3 up @ 7:15 + 5x100m between 13.3-13.7 on track + .5 down. Weight circuit.
Dare I see that after some strides, sprinting and lifting I feel... athletic?
I have no idea what kind of an 800 time my aging body is capable of but looking forward to finding out.
M34 , 5’10/155 Upcoming Race: Jersey City Marathon (04/23), Goal BQ ~ Sub 3 Recent Races: 5th Ave Mile 4:48 (09/22), Chilmark 5K 17:52 (08/22), Tobacco Road Half 1:20:52 (03/23)
M: 6.7M @ 8:30 (Ran first 2 with wife) T: 6.3M @ 8:37 (same as Monday) W: 7.9 ft. 3x 1.65 @ Threshold with 1:45 rest (Ran on Lower Res ~ rolling, not fast footing, averaged 6:12 and 6:17, cut last one short to .65 (6:15) after feeling my calf seize up a little and not wanting to take any risks. It was really cold and windy, so not altogether surprising. Felt fine on cooldown and no lingering issues. 6:12 was probably aggressive for the conditions and I started out too fast on the third one (was sub-6 pace initially even though the first 400 was uphill and windy). Not smart but got most of the workout in. TH: 6.3R @ 8:06 (sigh of relief that no calf issues) F: 6.3 M @ 8:21 (ran first 2 with wife) S: 3.9R @ 9:37 with wife SU: 1:20:52 Half Marathon. Finished 43rd Overall and 4th in my age group.
Report: Going in my main goal was to dip under 1:23 to qualify at age 35 for the New York City Marathon. Since it’s not an NYRR event, it’s first-come, first-serve for applications, but still I’d have a decent shot barring web issues. I’ve run 1:24:38 in 2018 and I was pretty lightly trained for that, so I thought just on that I should be able to do it given much better fitness. That being said, I was 30 then and not in the midst of a pretty hard marathon block (55-60 mpw, longer workouts, longer/faster threshold work in my long runs). Anyhow, I was feeling good about it on the strength of some of the recent 5 mile + sessions at faster paces than 6:20 to do it. Course is lightly rolling (~370 feet elevation gain), out and back, and weather is unseasonably cold (33 at start). I like that the hills are mostly gradual and I’ve done a lot of threshold work on the lower res or Central Park loop, which are both rolling.
Race day, get a terrible night of sleep per usual (sleep OK from 11:30-3, then awake til 5am), but on the positive my stomach is good to go and my energy is good. Coffee, PB and J and banana. It is cold about 38 but temps are dropping to 33 for start time at 7. I have good layers and do about 1.2 miles worth of short parking lot loops to keep sight of my bag in the dark. Feeling pretty warmed up. Drills on the way to bag check and I strip down. Thanks to my wife for packing high socks because it is cold for shorts. We get in line for the port-o-pottys but about 10 mins to go I can tell we’re not gonna make it. Take care of business in the woods, jog to past the start. Couple strides and I line up around the 3rd/4th row.
Gun goes on time, and I try to hold myself back a bit. First 2 miles are rolling on the road, it’s dark so it’s hard to tell as far as hills. Then we hit the rail trail which is rolling, gradual hills that aren’t super noticeable. There are no mile marks until mile 4, but I have my GPS watch on and I hope its accurate. Early data says 6:04 first (uphill) mile. I dial back a bit and hit 6:13 (slightly up), 6:02 (slightly down), 6:03 (down), 6:00 (down). I talk to a couple people. First guy I’m running with miles 3-4 says he’s going for 79-80…Next I run with a fast masters and female runner miles 4-5 who have a biker pacing and locking them in 80’ pace. Mile 5 is downhill and 6-flat. Either way I’m way inside what I need. Mile 4 hits pretty much bang-on with my watch by the way, which was affirming. Mile 6 is uphill . It’s gradual but I dial back a bit (6:16) being cautious and mindful that I really don’t want to blow up going out over my head. I let the two go and am running on my own, though they aren’t really gaining much separation on me. Hit the halfway and they have a clock. 40:08 for the 90-degree turn. That’s 80:16 pace in my mind, I calculate 42:51 for a second half, which I know is a very comfortable bit of running even if I start feeling a bit down.And the cold is starting to get to me as the wind is now in my face and the course is shaded. Bit wary of cramping especially with my calves. But I have a ton of time banked up and know I can afford some 6:25-6:40 miles worst comes to worst.
Running on my own I’m cruising (6:20 for mostly flat 7th mile) and I’m starting to gain on a Kenyan woman (wearing a singlet with the colors) and 6’ tall+ guy who seems to be pacing for her (or being used as a pacer.). I catch up in mile 8 (6:09, downhill). I run behind, 3rd in the group happy to not worry about pace and have some wind protection as well as turn the brain off. Get a nice high-five from my wife who’s coming my way. Take a gel in mile 9 (6:16, uphill) and think it helped as I was running low on energy. Cruise the uphill mile 10 on the train (6:20). Mile 11 is off the rail trail and onto the rolling hills. I run a cautious 6:26 (uphill). My legs are getting antsy but I still respect the distance and am being careful. I start pulling up to share the lead as the tall guy starts to tire. Mile 12 though the downhills from the start hit and I open up and take over from the group. I’m a good downhill runner and my racing brain takes over. Hit 6:05 (downhill), 5:58 (downhill). And 5:29 last .1 with a couple gears to spare. Not close to all out, and I have nobody to catch, but enough to hold off the two I was running with. I also see the clock with 200 to go and realize I can go comfortably under 1:21 (gun time). Though I’m pretty sure it will be chip and I won’t be working against the age 34 standard (1:21), it feels like a nice time to dip under. Turns out well I picked it up because the tall guy got within 3 seconds of me digging hard for the finish.
Gun time: 1:20:55, Chip Time 1:20:52. PB of of 3:46. Calves were pretty wrecked post-race yesterday but feeling better today. I got a mile cooldown in, and a good walk later and those were helpful but my calves would stiffen back up. Now quads sore. I know people say their legs are way better coming off races with the super-shoes (I ran in Next %s), doesn’t seem that way for me…Going to hit the foam roller hard soon. Definitely think I can go faster in the half, tapered and running a tad more aggressively, but pretty happy to hit the time I did. Big confidence-booster and I think I competed pretty well too as far as sticking my nose in early and regrouping and regathering. This week with a lot of travel and a bachelor party will probably not be great, but will return to normal next week and get back to the hard work.
Overall: 52 miles for the week. Might add the Staten Half at the end of the year if I want to lock in NYC next year for sure. It’s cheap and supposed to be pretty fast. But right now focus is on marathon in 5 weeks, fitness is there and I’m going to add in a couple 20-milers, workouts and then taper time.
Male, 23, 6', who knows? Started running in late 2019; PRs: 6:11 mile (2022), 21:37 5k (2022), 1:14:45 (hilly+windy) 15k (2023) Goals: ditch the GPS, focus on consistency, volume, & aerobic work, see what happens in a few months.
M -- AM: lift // PM: 4 ez T -- AM: 2 ez // PM: 5 ez W -- AM: 2 ez // PM: 200s, 7 total Th -- AM: 5 ez // PM: 2 ez F -- AM: 4 Sa -- AM: 2 // PM: 5 (+strides) Su -- hourforty with a 34' fartlek in the middle. Let's call it 11.
Total: 49, 7:30-8 hrs total volume
Good week! Hadn't actually lifted weights in like a year, quads/hammies felt like ground beef until Wednesday evening. Doubles helped in that regard. First time experimenting with doubling this much, but it felt awesome. Worth noting my "2 mile" shakeout loop is more like 2.25ish, so my secondary runs were all around 20'. 5 milers all somewhere in 44-48 minute range (not even running with a stopwatch these days, so these are rough estimates). This felt great, so I'm just gonna take my time and let my primary runs get longer as my body dictates, then eventually let the doubles stretch to 30'-40'. Need to do more strides, though.
Wednesday PM -- 2x [6x200m @ mile effort (200m jg)], 400 jog btw sets. Easy workout. Did it in my low-tech flats. Felt really good, really smooth.
Sunday -- was going to do this workout on Sat, but an old friend visited unexpectedly so I prioritized seeing my buddies. Went to a basement show that night (Jazz & Funk night in RVA!) and was on my feet there from 7-12. Had a Cookout milkshake at 2 AM and went to bed. No ragrets! Slept till 10 AM for the first time in years and then rolled outta bed and ran my LR off a 7/11 brand gatorade and no breakfast (stupid, but I had places to be). Still felt great, did Saturday's fartlek in the middle: 1-2-3-2-1-2-3-2-1 w/ equal float recoveries in trainers on a winding, dirt loop w/ rolling hills. WINDY, but I felt pretty good. Got smacked with a gnarly stitch about 20' in and had to take a quick breather, but otherwise felt good. Will drink more water next time.
Great job to all the racers -- I wanna be like y'all when I grow up!
Male, 30, 6’0", 125lbs PRs: 3K: 8:33 (2023) 5K: 14:37(2023) 5M: 24:28 (2022), Half Marathon: 69:22 (2022), Marathon: 2:23:58 (2022) Next Races: Project 13.1, Boston Marathon Goals: Sub 67 at Project 13.1, Sub 2:22 at Boston
Monday: Off Tuesday: PM: 12.18 miles @ 7:20 avg Wednesday: AM: 5.03 @ 7:37 avg l PM: 3.03 up, 10 x 3 minute on/1 minute off, 3.12 down Thursday: AM: 6.41 @ 7:19 avg l PM: 12.15 miles @ 6:54 avg Friday: AM: 10.65 @ 7:21 avg Saturday: AM: 11.12 @ 7:37 avg l PM: 5.39 @ 7:04 avg Sunday: 18.12 @ 6:27 avg l 10 easy, 2 x 2 miles @ HMP effort w/ 1 mile easy jog recovery Total: 94.51 miles
Comments: Wednesday 10x 3 minute on/1 minute off: 5:01 (6:55), 5:00 (7:00), 5:03 (6:45), 5:01 (6:52), 5:00 (6:47), 5:01 (6:47), 5:01 (6:41), 5:00 (6:35), 5:02 (6:36), 5:02) Was supposed to be 10x 1K w/ 1 minute off but since the middle schoolers were running practice I did it in lane 5. Coach didn't want me going under 3:07 pace per K so I just focused on not getting any reps under 5:00 per mile. This felt like clockwork.
Sunday: Real feel of 8 degrees out there. Legs would not go with this cold and I pivoted to go by feel. Dropped my mighty pod twice on the workout so I had to run back to pick it up. 5:11-5:11 5:14-5:11 It was too cold to get my legs going and I felt that with Project 13.1 in 6 days it would be a good move to go by feel.
3 of the my last 4 weeks are the highest weeks of mileage I've ever hit in my entire running career. Looks like I just happened to stumble into my peak week without even thinking about it. I think I'm ready to go this weekend.
Last 2 weeks were both only 11-12 miles running and 3-4 hours on the bike. Hurt my foot a few weeks ago and was taking it easy trying to get it to heal up. Plus I got sick. Foot feels better now but still a little sick. If I can kick this cold, I think there's chance for a decent time in the half I'm running Sunday. Plan is to go out in 6:00 pace and hold on as long as I can. I was thinking before I got sick and hurt my foot that I might have a chance at going under 120. Now I'm not sure but the plan is to go out pretty fast and hold on as best I can.