Road Racing & Training Thread: March 2024

2/26/24-3/3/24

Male, 30, 6'4", 150 lbs
Races: 5k 3/17, Marathon 4/14

Mn - 9 @ 7:25s + Str work
Tu - 4x8min with 75s rec + WU/WD = 11mi (+ 4 Strides)
Wd - 8 @ 8:05 in wind/rain
Th - 10x1 on 1:45 off at mile effort + WU/WD = 8
Fr - 5.5 @ 8:05s (cut short due to stomach distress)
Sa - 9.5 @ 7:35s + 4 Strides
Su - 15 @ 6:45s
Total - 66

Notes - 8 min reps started at 6:00s down to 5:58s, really happy with how it felt. Also pleased with the 1 min reps at mile effort to work on the speed. LR started off hot, lost some feeling in the legs, not sure if due to my normal hip/glute/core weakness issues or due to the Hyperion Elite 4s which I had issues with in another effort. Switched shoes for the last 1.5 and felt fine on that front but rough some due to the pace, wimped out and stopped at 15 rather than 18-19. Between that and a short run Friday I was low on volume again this week.

Had a great time watching World Indoors Friday-Sunday (and S1 Paris-Nice). Also signed up for a marathon in ~6 weeks, going to up the volume next week for a few weeks and see what I can do. Mostly signed up to pace a friend for as long as I can, but If I make it to ~22 with him on pace (2:45) we will race it in.

Male, 55, 5'7, 141 lbs
Short term: Training for 4/21 10km at VDOT 48
Longer term: Get back to VDOT 50 for a December marathon PR
Current Level: VDOT 47

About 60km of volume this week with three harder days, including:
Tuesday: 5k “Race” : Kind of a cool event, more of a “parkrun” atmosphere, but on the track. I mentioned somewhere earlier that I was gonna treat it as a 10k-goal-pace workout. That made my goal 21:26, and I ran that time exactly. That’s the good news. The “bad” news is that I didn’t feel like I had another 5k at that pace in me. My HR was really steady, though, so if that wasn’t my current 10k race pace, it also certainly wasn’t my current 5k all-out race pace. (I’d like to break 20 this year, too.) About 7 weeks left to move the needle. I signed up to do it again on March 14.

Friday: 15 minute Threshold effort, feeling no effects from Tuesday.

Shoe update: I bought the Adios Pro 3. Thanks to everyone who offered advice here and on Strava!

Sunday: About 19k progressive up to Threshold for the last mile in my new kicks 🎉. Holy boing boing, Batman! Forget the Batmobile… I’ll meet you there.

Female, 49, 5'4", 108
PRs 5:25/18:51/38:56/1:02:28/1:24:08/2:57:42
Recent best times: 5K in 21:08, 10 miles in 1:10:19, half-marathon in 1:33:20, Marathon in 3:20:29

Upcoming races: Boston Marathon (April)
53 miles of running
M: 8 miles very easy (9:20) and strides, followed by upperbody weights/core.
T: 9.5 miles, including a track workout of 1600, 4x800, 400 in 7:05, 3:26, 3:23, 3:18, 3:16, and 96. 5:14 recovery after the 1600 and recoveries of 2:4x-3:2x after the 800s. Sports massage in evening.
W: Upperbody weights/core and 7.5 miles very easy (9:24) plus strides.
Th: 5 miles very easy on trails (10:27); streaming pilates in evening.
F: 7 miles, including an uptempo 1600 (7:10) plus 2x200m in 51 and 51.
Sa: Off except for DIY yoga.
Su: 3 mile warm-up and then a half-marathon in 1:34:11.

Ran my tune-up half-marathon in perfect weather on Sunday - manual splits were
7:36/7:10/7:13/7:06/7:20/7:17/7:13/7:12/7:08/7:03/7:01/6:47 and 48 seconds for the last bit. I was slower than I hoped I would be, but still ran about where my workouts would predict, and I thought I paced the race well, so I'm overall OK with the performance.

Coach-regarding that 5K - if you didn't taper for that race, I wouldn't worry about it feeling like you couldn't hold that pace for 10K. As long as it didn't feel like your all out 5K pace, I think you're on track. Especially since you've got 7 weeks until the 10K, if I read your post correctly.

RunnerSam - I think pulling the plug on the long run was smart, not wimping out. Those 8 minute reps looked solid.

RRR 6ft 169lbs ( down 23 from Jan 5)

I had 12 miles. Got influenza end of week and so I haven’t ran in 7 days but today or tomorrow will be back at it. it did hasten some weight loss 🤣.

Some good looking weeks! when I hit 50 or so I will start breaking down my weeks but it’s just been base miles with some “steady” miles and hard finishes thrown in. It does feel good to be a runner again.

Sam: Any specific reason for the 8 minute rep length?

DW: I'd say you paced that really well. You sound a little disappointed, but I'd say it looks really positive, given that you were still picking up the pace in the final five of miles. And, yeah, I'm not "worried" about the 10k. But (as u know) you always want that predictor race to either be faster or feel easier.

RRR: That's a lot of weight. I need to focus on that a bit, too. I need better beer discipline.

Hello all, heard JB was going to start running again soon and knew I had to be here for it.

Flashback time...

2016->2019: improved my half marathon PR from 1:37 to 1:14. Sent RRR home so devastated that he's only now recovering from it.
2020: Shutdown, had a baby. Ran 1400 miles, but 765 of those were before March 15 when Boston was canceled. Never raced.
2021: Ran 1500 miles. No races. (Signed up for one but got hurt. I think. TBH I don't remember why I stopped running for 2 months)
2022: Ran 1300 miles. No races. (Signed up for one but got hurt)
2023: Hurt my achilles in February but thought it was ok enough to race on based on high volume easy to steady running + strides. Made it 1.5 miles into a March half marathon before it took me down like a wounded bird. First time I've ever gone to PT for an injury. Spent most of last year running easy and waiting for it to feel better. Ran 1500 miles.
2024: Signed up for a late April marathon. Finally decided I can't train like 2019 off the couch and am trying to be more like 2018 me (for now). Training plan may be recognizable to those skilled in the art of mainstream book training plans...

M - 8 easy
T - 10 w/ 6x1mi & quarter jogs, reps ranging from 6:09.9 - 6:10.7
W - Off
T - 11 w/ 8mi @ 6:26
F - 7 easy
S - 16 @ 7:00
S - 8 easy
Total = 60

Still have some weight to lose.

GT, that cracked me up... Nice to see ya. 😁 I'm also trying to recreate 2019. Also arriving home somewhat devastated, but optimistic.

Male, 55, 5'7, 141 lbs
Short term: Training for 4/21 10km at VDOT 48
Longer term: Get back to VDOT 50 (2019) for a December marathon PR
Current Level: VDOT 47

Hope everyone is doing well this week!

Again, I’m at about 60km of volume this week with three harder days, including:

Tuesday: About 15 minutes of threshold work
Friday: 6 x 1 min hill repeats
Sunday: No time to go too long today so I tacked on 15 more minutes of threshold at the end of an 8 mile run.

I’m signed up to do 5k on a track again this week, and the plan is pretty much the same as last time: run at 10k goal pace. (Yeah, pretty wussy... I'm workin' on that.) Ideally, I will have a little more in the tank (and some recent experience/calibration) to push a little harder on the final lap and maybe improve my result over last time. I’m going to do a fartlek-ish workout tomorrow (instead of Tuesday) and then easy on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Cheers, everybody!

Add me to the list of those who peaked in 2019...

Coach Jeff - gentle (and unsolicited) thoughts - have you considered racing the 5K all out instead? Racing that 5K would give you a chance to practice working through race suck (what I like to call that moment of truth about 2/3rds to 3/4s into the race) which will be valuable for the 10K. And 10K pace will feel easier by comparison when you race the 10K for your goal time.

GT - welcome back!

RRR 2.0 - hope the flu is completely out of your system.

Female, 49, 5'4", 107
PRs 5:25/18:51/38:56/1:02:28/1:24:08/2:57:42
Recent best times: 5K in 21:08, 10 miles in 1:10:19, half-marathon in 1:33:20, Marathon in 3:20:29
Upcoming races: Boston Marathon (April)

56 miles running, 1000 yards swimming, and 2 hours pool-running.

M: 1 hour pool-running and 500 yards swimming.
T: 7 miles very easy (9:18) in the morning; streaming pilates in evening.
W: 7 miles very easy (9:27), upper body weights/core, and then 2 miles very easy (9:39) plus drills and strides.
Th: 11 miles, including 8 "Iwo Jima" hills at marathon effort, followed by leg strengthwork.
F: 12 miles very easy (9:27) plus drills and strides in the morning; streaming yoga in the afternoon.
Sa: 17 miles, including a marathon effort workout of 2x5 miles at marathon effort with one mile float between. Splits were 37:39 (7:32 pace) and 37:15 (7:27 pace) with a mile in 8:16 between the two. Followed with leg strengthwork.
Su: 1 hour pool-running and 500 yards swimming.

I focused on recovery from the half-marathon for the first part of this week, followed by hills at marathon effort in supershoes to practice mechanics, and then a marathon effort workout. It looks like I am locking into around 7:30 for a marathon pace on flat ground in good weather (with another 2 weeks of training that may get a bit faster). We'll see how that translates to Boston.

DW: Solicited, gentle, or otherwise, I always appreciate your thoughts.

I don't disagree with you about the 5k pace and "race suck." The difference between my goal 10k pace at VDOT 48 and my current training VDOT 47 5k prediction pace is something like 1.5 seconds per 400 (100 seconds vs 102 seconds per 400). During the last race, I actually had my watch set to buzz me every 50 seconds (ideally buzzing at the 200s), but I fell off from that pretty early. I'll do the same thing this time and hope to hang on longer. After so much marathon training, it's hard to believe how much a couple of seconds can make! Hope maybe I can find someone to chase and maybe spend a lap or two experiencing race suck.

Jumping on here 4 weeks out from my first marathon— hoping for some guidance and advice!

M-25, haven’t raced since HS. Recently started training again. Last week—

M - 7 easy

T - 6 easy

W - AM: 3x2mi @ 6:00 avg (1min rest)

PM: 7x1200 @ 4:23 avg (1min rest)

Th - 5 easy

F - 6 easy

Sa - 7 east

Su - 18 avg 6:55 (9 easy, 9 progressive down to 6:15) 1300ft elevation gain

Total: 66 miles

Last several weeks have been about 60mpw +\-

Some other workouts I have done in the last 3-4 weeks:

1) Hilly 16mi w/ last 4 6:07/6:16/6:10/6:00

2) 16x1km avg 3:39 (1min rest) - done this twice

3) 5 sets of 2k(90sec rest), 1k (1min rest) avg 7:23 / 3:37

4) 7mi T @ 6:00 (flat)

5) Hilly 6mi T @ 5:52

Does 2:45 seem like a feasible goal on a course that is a bit hilly?

Looking forward to following along with you all!

OrangeSoda: Nice to see ya.

Caveats first: I'm not a running coach and although I have a lot of marathon experience, my best race is on the other side of the 3 hour mark...

Looking at that threshold 7 miles at 6:00... That's over 40 minutes of work at a pace that Daniels might recommend for 20 minutes for someone aiming towards 2:45. So that looks very strong. MP is about 6:17/mile? Have you done any work at goal MP? If so, how does it feel?

Male, 31, 6'0", 125 lbs
Race: Mad City 50K
Goal: 2:50-52

Week of March 3:

M: Off
T: AM: 12 Miles @ 7:21 avg PM: 6.01 @ 7:23 avg
W: PM: 3 mile w/u, 30x 1 min @ MP/1 min @ MP+30 seconds, 3 mile c/d
TH: AM: 8 miles @ 7:38 avg
F: AM: 5 miles @ 7:38 avg
S: 19 miles w/ 3 easy, 12 mile progression (4@5:45-50, 4@5:35-40, 4@5:15-20), 4 down
Sun: 13.08 @ 6:50 avg

Total: 80.02 miles

Travel + a stressful week at work made this week interesting. Averaged about 5:34 pace for the 30x1 minute workout despite a real feel of 22 and 19 mph winds. One of those workouts I'll look back on when I'm 26 miles into this 50k. Thankfully I frontloaded a bit on Tuesday so I wasn't chasing too much to hit my minimum mileage goal. I drove to Savannah from Ohio after work on Thursday so a lot of the weekend was scheduled around traveling and friend's wedding festivities.

Bonked pretty hard during the Saturday workout. Humidity, lack of fluids, and some foot pain from the awful upper of the adidas pro 3 made for a crap finish to this one. Got through 9 miles of the progression and just had to stop multiple times because the top of my foot hurt. Got to 10.7, came to a full stop, and then was gonna drop but took one last gu and finished it up.

5:46-45-44-42-38-36-35-35-20-22-38-25

Week of March 10:

M: 4.03 @ 7:30 avg
T: 10.5 @ 7:22 avg
W: 3 mile w/u, 4x (2-2-2-2) (50k-MP-HMP-Easy), 3.22 mile c/d
TH: AM: 6.01 miles @ 7:15 avg l PM: 12.23 miles @ 7:04 avg
F: 12.12 avg @ 6:57 avg
S: 20 miles @ 6:24 avg, first 12 normal to moderate, then 50K to finish.
Sun: 11 miles @ 7:39 avg

Total: 88.14 miles

Traveled up to my dads place in South Carolina on Monday and spent the week enjoying (for the most part) some warmer temps.

Wednesday's workout was fairly easy. The path was a 1.5 mile out and back. Had some trouble finding some rhythm on the road and a couple of these were a little too fast. Thankfully it wasn't long enough to bite me:

5:30-5:16-5:00-6:49
5:26-5:22-5:04-6:42
5:29-5:15-5:04-6:31
5:26-5:13-4:59-6:36

Saturday's workout was just survival. I missed a storm in the area but got wrecked by humidity and warmer temps. 10 miles in and I felt that this was gonna be rough. I adjusted to just staying under 5:40 pace for this which lasted for about 5.25 before I had to pull the plug on it. Ended up being 20.12 at 6:24 average with 5 miles right around 5:37 avg. One of those days where you just needed to bring it home.

Splits: 5:36-5:38-5:38-5:37-5:36

Managed to add an easy 11 miler during a small break in Charlotte on my 9 hour drive back home. Not ecstatic about freezing temps here in Ohio but I'll take it over humidity and fear of bonking.

I think you're pretty close to where you need to be for 2:45. Would be curious to hear about MP workouts as well like Coach inquired.

3/4-3/10

M- 46, out of shape, banged up, no goal races at the moment.

Mon - 17.5k feet of Vert at Revelstoke. Second day at Revy in the middle of a six day powder highway trip.

T - travel home day - off

W - 3 easy

T - 5.5 w/ 2 miles ~6:30 to get the legs moving a bit again

F - off dealing with what I believe to be some peroneal tendonitis onset from laying over fat skis all week and old shoes. (it's better now thanfully)

S - 8 easy

S - 5.5 easy

Few little niggles I'm still trying to work through, most notably some hip pain that started showing up late in my marathon build. I don't think it's anything some focused strengthening and mobility work can't solved but need to be a bit cautious for now. This week planning to bring the mileage up to around 40 or 50 and start working on the preliminary ground work for some 5k focus. Probably go skiing Friday too :)

CoachJeff / WorkingHarder—

Appreiate the thoughts. I haven’t really done anything at goal MP. Honestly pretty much everything I have done is just getting used to running 5:40-6:05 pace for long sessions. I think my tempos would suggest a bit faster than maybe someone who is shooting for 2:45, but I also know I will be running this off of super low mileage and my first marathon. I think my 10k or HM fitness will probably indicate a fair bit faster, but the distance scares me - I’m not sure I’ll have the legs really ready for an optimal 26.2 on 60mpw. I do want to run a workout at pace to lock in the feel. Do you think a last long run of 20mi with the last 10 @ 6:15-6:20 would be a good target?

M35, 5'10/155
SB: 5:09 (80' gain, hilly mile)/23:30 Gridirong 4 Miler
Upcoming: NYC Half (Sunday), Boston Marathon (April 15)

Putting in the last 2 Weeks:

02/26-03/10:

M: 6.6E
TU: 7.1 ft 8x800 w/ 1' rest, aver 2:52hi, which is fastest I've done in some time, felt good
W: 6.1R
TH: 8.9 ft. 4x1.3miT, avg pace: 6:05(hill)/6:03/6:14(bad footing/constructions detours)/6:09(most wind and hill), felt solid, and most important Adios Pro 2 felt great and is go for HM
F: Planned OFF
SA: 7x300 uphill/downhill, wanted to do LR but it was raining hard and cold, did this uphill and downhill workout with 30" rest at the top and 90" at bottom, averaged around 5:40 pace with the uphills 10K pace, and the downhills relaxed
SU: 6.3R
M: 20.9 LR @ 7:28 ft. 3.9Tempo at the end in 6:27, it was nice, but maybe a little warm for me, probably good prep in case Boston is on warmer side
TU: 6.3R
W: 6.9R pacing Wife in the rain
TH: 7.6 ft. 6x1200T w/ 1' rest, first 2 on slower side (~6:12 pace) before settling into a smooth 6' pace, felt pretty easy
F: 6R
SA: 17.7 @ 7:23 w/ last 3.7 in 7:13/7:08/6:50/6:43, longer than I wanted to go but stuck with the group, quads have been feeling it since, felt fine during though
SU: Unplanned OFF (traveled to visit friend's baby, got home late and not worth it dead tired and with sore quads)

42/65 the last 2 weeks on 12 days running. NYC Half is Sunday, so I'll take this week easier, probably a light threshold (5x1K, and a few strides) Wednesday and easy running otherwise. Goal is sub 1:20 which would be a PB. Biggest concern is handling the hills, but will be nice to have a pace group and hoping to get to Manhattan feeling strong, and then squeeze from there.

Orange - I have always been a fan of 20 with last 10 at MP. Also stuff like 4 or 5 by 5k at MP with short recoveries around 800 meters a bit slower than MP, maybe 20-30 seconds. If I can hit those then I know I'm ready to nail my race unless I get ridiculously sick four weeks out.

Male, 30, 6'4", 150 lbs
Races: 5k 3/16/24, Marathon 4/14/24
3/4/24-3/10/24

Mn - 8.5 @ 7:20s
Tu - 9.75 with 1600 2mi 1mi
Wd - 9 @ 8:00s
Th - AM: 2250yd swim, 7 @ 7:45s
Fr - 10 @ 7:20s + Str Work
Sa - 6.5 @ 8:00s
Su - 9.25 @ 7:35s
Total - 60

Notes: Tu workout was 6:01 6:14s 6:24. Don't think I was recovered from my LR on Sunday prior. Some stomach distress Thursday on my second planned workout then didn't get around to doing it. Also skipped the LR. Running will take a higher priority as of this Thursday, will try to squeeze in a few high mileage weeks before the marathon. Pretty sure I've had 4 runs in the rain in the last two weeks which I haven't loved.

Coach Jeff - No real reason for the 8 min reps last week, just following a friends workout. Good training week last week, good luck in the 5k!
GT - Glad to have you back, appreciate the history, hopefully you are pain free. Will be interesting to see how the April marathon goes
darkwave - My peak was 2018, but I'm optimistic on another peak. Not a bad suggestion on the all-out 5k for CoachJeff. Any AG-related goals for 50? aka top 5 AG at cherryblossom/ broadstreet/ USATF XC/ Boston
Orange Soda - Welcome! I'm more of an orange cream soda guy but appreciate it without the cream sometimes. I've ran 2:43 2:46 2:47 on higher weekly volume but shorter (30%?) but similarly paced workouts, I'd say you are in better shape than 2:45. Partially depending if "a bit hilly" means 600ft of elv or 1500ft.
beersandmiles - Some seriously big workouts in those two weeks, that's going to be a fun 50k
WorkingHarder - Nothing wrong with being out of shape 3 weeks after a goal race.
OrangeSodaPt2 - I think your 20 mile plan would be a good one.
ThoughtsLeader - goodluck in the half, Nice workouts, I like the shorter recovery intervals