Masters Weekend Races and Runs

OMBTS, interesting you bring up motivation. I was just thinking yesterday that, for the first time in a long time, as I headed out the door I really didn't feel like going running. Part of it was I think that for various logistics/errand reasons I got out of normal routine of weekend morning runs and left it for late afternoon. But also I am (whining alert) tired of being cold, having to watch the footing on icy sidewalks, being unable to use my favorite trails, etc. Really looking forward to spring.

74 miles this week with one decent set of hill repeats on treadmill. Other notable day was 12 mile progression run Friday on the treadmill at work (trails unusable after ice/snow storm). The storm had knocked out cable TV reception in the gym, and I don't have an iPod, so it was a good workout for developing boredom tolerance ("look how flexible she is....that guy has been to the water fountain 5 times.....oh good, someone on that abdominal machine; i can count their reps....only 20 seconds till I increase the pace....").

have a great week,

Dave

ya, it's hard to get motivated in the winter. My motivation is to keep weight down(not doing a very good job) and I'm motivated to get out like today because there are 2 storms coming in, one from the north tonight and one from the south tomorrow. So I have to run when the opportunity avails itself. I did pretty well this past week with three 9 mile runs, a 6.2 and a 4 and 3. 40 miles is a good week for me. Take care.TC

Total of 43 miles for my week ending Sat and then started this week with a 17 mile run today. The last two miles were fairly painful.

As for motivation, being in Iraq, some of the motivation comes from just being able to run. Then there is the boredom. Also, I am learning to deal with tedium and monotony. It is a great stress reliever! Finally, I want to break my PR in the marathon (a rather weak one as I have only done two) and be able to say I did all my training in Iraq!

Billie

Another solid week for me - 2011 has started well! I've done 47 miles so far and will probably run another 3 tonight.

Motivation - I just plain want to be fast. I have never stopped running since 1986, but I didn't race much in the years 1997-2008. (yep, I turned 40 in 2008). So I have been on an upswing for 3 years now, and hitting new prs is what gets me out the door. I really regret those lost years and want to make up for them before I start slowing down.

One thing that works for me is to pick a peak race in mid to late summer - when I get down, I tell myself that in the last mile of that race I will need all the training I can do.

Going down to Miami in the warm weather was a great motivator to get out and run. Key West, Key Biscayne, Hollywood beach, and JFK causeway to Miami beach were a little more enjoyable than the Anytime Fitness treadmill.

I was amazed how sore my legs were going from 12% incline to flat running. Now that I am back on the treadmill, I reduced the incline to 3% so I can run much faster (3.5 minutes/mile) but hopefully not trash my knees like last winter.

Ran 52 miles after running 57 the week before in Miami. Highlight this week was 40 minutes of 2 on 2 off at a little faster than 5k effort.

45 miles this week...missed 2 run due to this cold/flu bug that's kicking everyone's butt here in the Hill Country of Texas! Between missed runs actually had a good speed session of 800s, and ended the week with a very solid 18 mile long run today.

My motivation is comes from something a friend said to me a few years ago...I do this because I have a mirror. I took that as, we have to answer that person looking back at us.

Something else I noticed yesterday as I was watching some of the athletes warm up for the Half Marathon Championships yesterday. I exchanged some greetings with a couple Army Runners I know, and some open runners as well...then it hit me...I used to be that skinny! Grrr!!

I'm just getting back into it after 2 years of on again, off again injuries.

I ran 11 miles yesterday at 7:00 pace and it felt easy plus it was 21 degrees. Nice feeling to feel so good on a decently long run.

Only 40 miles on 5 days of running. SUB 0 temps earlier in the week made running foolish, so I took a couple days off.

Welcome back to running , good luck with those injuries.

Very little running. Not enough to call it training. Long run of 15 minutes and that isn't a typo.

My main motivation now comes from the camaraderie of training with and seeing other runners. When I do make race goals, I get really focussed......I just haven't set a race goal in a while. I will when I get healthy again.

102 miles for the week, sixth straight 100M week. I was sick all week and it really affected my training from Tuesday on. The congestion makes it hard to breathe, so the times were slow.

M 14 on a grass circuit, 4x1.05M, 4x4x200m (200m jog at first and then just 45 s rest to speed up the workout, which was taking forever). The miles alternated with 4x200m.

6,5:53,5:47,5:37 (5:25 mile). The 200s in 34 to 36, last one in 32. I ran very well w/some 25:xx xc guys, feeling great but calves were very sore afterward from the 200s, which I had done only once since the marathon.

T 14 awful

W 14 6M tempo in 36:44 out in 5:40, then awful. calves sore again but not as bad.

Th 14 bad

F 15 bad

Sa 15 grass circuits. 5x200m in 34 to 32, 2.1M in 12:28, 5x200m in 38,36,34,33,31, 2.1M in 12:30. not much of any calf soreness. I was very happy with my last 200, trailing guys doing very quick 300s, because I have not run that fast for 200m since college and I'm convinced that losing my basic speed from my calf injuries last year has really limited my ceiling at mile, 3k/5k/10k and even half marathon. The 2M's were terrible though.

Su 14.7 bad napped in the afternoon and am really hoping to be able to get healthy for a half marathon on Saturday but might have to wait a week or more.

70 this week - 3rd consecutive week at 70+. Down to 74kg after 2 weeks dieting and calorie counting. It's interesting how much you can afford to eat when you do 12 miles - and how little when you skip a day!

Car needed some repairs this week and the garage is 13 miles away, down the Thames towpath. So I got two really nice runs in dropping it off and bringing it back, and found a lovely stretch of riverside I'd never run before.

One reps session on the treadmill: 2000-1800-1600-1400-1200-1000, 3 min rest, 80 sec pace down to 75.

Today I made it to my club Sunday run for the first time in months. A few young newbies (led by a mere thirty-something) decided to race the last 4 miles, working from 6:00 pace down to 5:25, and having missed by Saturday tempo I decided to hang on. I think I'll pay for that tomorrow...

jjjjjj wrote:

102 miles for the week, sixth straight 100M week. I was sick all week and it really affected my training from Tuesday on.

Are you sure running 100mpw with a cold is a good idea?

OBMTS,

I have the same desire for a quality TC here and feel like I will have to organize it...but I know it will cut into my training...maybe I'll join a good club further away and have motivation to meet them for team races at least.

A big key for me is to just get out the door. I only hit 39 miles this week, a little disappointing since I wanted to keep it close to 50 all winter. Eighteen more inches of snow this week didn't help, but I finally managed to run a race! Wow, seared lungs and difficulty staying on the 200m oval, but 9:46 for 3k-2nd place.

Motivation...High School Pr 15:49...maybe during June track meets. I can't wait for the snow to go, it would be nice to run on trails again

Man, do I ever NOT miss the 100 mile weeks, although it was pretty cool to be able to eat everything in sight and still weigh 150.

Ran about 50 this week, including a 3m tempo with my daughter. Her 18:29 tempo felt like a race effort for me! :-)

Did 5 great lifts this week, including a lot of lower body work aimed at that nast SI joint. Might be helping, as I am running more and better. Ended up with over 500 deadhang pullups this week.

I used to be able to do 15 dead weight pullups. Now I think I can do 3. Your upper body strength must be amazing. Did you put on muscle weight with the lifting you are doing?

Yeah, a little bit. I weigh about as much as I did when I was doing triathlons a decade ago. Pullups won't really add weight, but doing a lot of squats and bench would. I only squat for the health benefits, though, so I'm not squatting but body weight. I bench just because it's kind of fun, not because it does anything for me--up to +1.5 bodyweight now.

You can put on the right muscle for running and get loads of the benefits of lifting by using kettlebells and doing pullups and pushups. In fact, kettlebell training really has a ton of core benefit and very little downside. I (and my athletes) do Turkish Get-ups, swings, snatches, and even farmers carry with them.

ooooooohhhhhh, I have been so tired!! I knew this would be a tough week going in (since I ran a race and a 16 miler last weekend). I kept the mileage up and did two workouts - 12 x ~330 yd with 110 yd recovery on Wednesday and then 3 x 10 min. tempo w/ 1 min. recovery on Saturday. The 330s were HARD for me - I swear I am totally tired the first straight - and I'm not even half done yet. Yuck.

My legs were dead, dead, dead afterwards. I think I really react strongly to speed stuff since I do it infrequently. I slogged through a 2nd run that night and the next two days, I was really feeling it as I ran two easy days (both about 9 miles). Saturday, I was still tired, but did the tempo workout anyway (in between my son's basketball games). Today, however, I felt better than I expected. I started out with 3 friends (one turned back early) and the other two were not going to go further than 10-11 miles. I just went with them and I was surprised that my legs actually felt pretty good.

I only felt a little guilty for not going back and adding on another 5 miles, because......on Friday, I finally entered the USA championship xc (next weekend). I won't be fast and I won't place even in my AG, but it will be nice to see the sun for a bit. I still haven't figured out my ride from LGB (where my free ticket is to/from), but I hope that will work out.

My knee/leg is still tight, but I'm working on it. My calf seems extra tight, so that might be a problem. I was on track for about 68 miles this week, but ended up with around 63. This week will be a bit lighter and then back up in volume the following week.

another nice workout, captain robbo. running while sick may be a bad idea but I just didn't get healthy any faster when I took days off in the past so I've maintained mileage during colds for the past three years with no problems.

I had run some very strong workouts and lifted like a crazy sprinter this past week, but combine those with a stressful time at work and I felt the beginning of a cold coming on. This morning I awoke to rain which canceled hurdle practice. I admit I didn't mind in the least --I rolled over and slept for two more hours, and I think that may have kicked my oncoming cold to the curb. I'm feeling better now than I have all week.

My motivation is that I need to wring every ounce of enjoyment out of my speed because it will inevitably fade. Right now my 100m speed would make me competitive in our girls high school league races. When I slow down, I want it to be from age, not from lack of training.