Road Racing and Training Thread - Week Ending 12/8

rojo wrote:

back up

Much obliged. :)

Thanks, Portland. I don't recall seeing you out there, but looking at our mile splits, we would've crossed paths first between 19 and 20 and then again in the last mile. It certainly was a graveyard of broken runners that last couple miles.

You did have some nice splits there between 3 and 22. I'm sure some higher mileage will do wonders for your next marathon. I saw some of your earlier workouts, and you seem to have good speed.

Hi Everyone,

I'm late to this party as I'm on the road this week.

My Week:

M: 6.5 Easy (8:47/mi)

T: 9.5 workout (6:21/mi) 2 x 3 miles at 11:58 downhill & 12:30 uphill.

W: 6.5 Easy (7:59/mi)

T: 9.5 workout (MP run (6:28/mi)

F: 7.25 Easy (8:17/mi)

S: 12.5 Easy (8:58/mi) I had no breakfast, bonked by mile 3. total fail.

S: Rest

Week: 51

YTD: 2,304

After Saturday's run, I flew to Florida for work and to see my Mom. I fly home on Wednesday and drive to Kiawah Island on Thursday.

Saturday is the Kiawah Island marathon. After much advice, I decided to go out at 6:45 pace and try to speed up the final 10k. The expected warm weather may make my final 10k plan tougher that I want.

Thanks for the guidance recently. I will report back next week.

Guys things fell apart this week. Only got a bit of biking in, school has taken over for now. I am going to try and make a comeback next week once finals is out of the way.i feel bad when all you guys get on with your training. My goals are firmly a outdoor meet and road races in the summer. I know it can happen, I just have to give up a lot of my vices that hinder me. News years resolutions are coming around the corner so at least that is a positive.

Some more comments:

Portland - add me to the camp that thinks 2:48-2:50 is hardly a "crash and burn" given your goal time. Maybe not quite what you wanted, but still a solid showing. How did you miss the start? Was it the AM/PM button? Just kidding...:)

It's tough when you train in certain conditions and then get something totally different on race day. I am sure 25-27 degrees is not what you were expecting. Like you said, you learned a lot and can apply it toward the next race. Enjoy your recovery, whatever that entails.

NJ truth - I really like the way you mixed your workouts this week. Those 1000s on Thursday still tell me you are ready to crack 15:00 for 5k and those 3200s on Tuesday tell me you are ready for 31:00-31:20 for 10k. I know the cross conditions will be completely different, and that place not time will be the ultimate goal, but your fitness is impressive right now. Good luck at Nats!

reed - I am sure that cold on Monday had some effect, whether you fully realized it or not, on the rest of your week. Feel better and I am sure the effort will start to feel easier again.

Napper - another solid showing in those rough CIM conditions.

Muebele - first of all, major congrats! I am the father of "only" two girls but life definitely becomes much more interesting when you have a crew instead of a solo pilot (I was the oldest male in my family and the second of eight kids altogether!). Best wishes to Mrs. Muebele for a healthy pregnancy (ironically, I have the high risk thing going on in my family as well).

As far as your training, I honestly have mixed feelings about what I should tell you. Part of me wants to tell you that it would be great to go "all in" and draw up a structured training plan with consistent weekly mileage etc. The other part of me wants to tell you that when pregnancy is involved, sometimes those well-made plans fly out the window which at times can cause frustration with your training because you feel like you aren't living up to your planned running goals.

I think you know I am a big advocate of the Hansons plan, especially for time-crunched Dads like you and me. Having said that, maybe you can do what I am doing and play it by ear - plan a marathon cycle, but if life gets in the way, switch gears and focus on Broad Street. The way the Hansons plan is set up (focus is on SPEED at the beginning), such a transition is pretty easy to make. Good luck with whatever you decide.

jossman - Wow, definitely not what you were expecting on race day, I am sure. I hope your wounds are okay - both physically and mentally. If I recall, you have the busy marathon schedule for 2014. Just think of how much better all of those races are going to go than this one!

printer - beautiful taper week. Very strong sessions on both Tuesday and Thursday. I think your race strategy is a good one and should reward you with a very solid time. Best of luck!

Comments time for everyone, finals week getting me all worked up!

The Stone Cutter: very nice week. way to get that mileage up. my thursday run was 4 miles total.

cmm268: interesting random fartlek. awesome to get on the podium! i couldn’t imagine hopping in a marathon like that, without expecting it.

RunnersFix: nice solid week. your consistency is admirable.

TheGarbageDisposal: what’s the standard for USA hm champs? nice win! 70:45 is nothing to scoff at! I ran 4 miles of the alternating 800’s.

np1112: i don’t think that’s too much on monday and tuesday. it looks like a solid low week.

pewow: haven’t seen you here, welcome. nice week. what are Canova style hill sprints?

qrkid: nice friday workout!

xenonscreams: the club i train with is heading up to Bend, have a great race and enjoy the experience! nice workout on wednesday, not straining is good this time of the season. i’d like to hit the 5k in about april.

Perkunas: how cold is it in vermont right now? i’m in berkeley and 40 degrees is freezing to me haha.

Slartzio: nice week, take care of that tendon early.

King hobbyjogger: a non depressing week is a great thing. looks solid, that tempo was well run.

Portland: congratulations on the race. 2:48 is a solid time, looks like in better conditions and a better start you could have definitely been nearer to 2:43

nj truth: another club hats runner! that race is looking to be very solid, hope you have a good one. that thursday workout looked very good, you are going to roll.

reed: i hear you on that running plan, finals are getting in the way of my training too. good thing is as soon as it’s done, it’s time to get some nice solid mileage in.

Muebele: sorry to hear about you getting stranded. awesome of you to help get some cars unstuck. life does get in the way sometime, i just try to log it as a 0 and move on.

jossman: hope you’re feeling better, sorry to hear about the infection!

printer: i haven’t race a marathon, but i do agree with the conservative approach. it has done wonders for me since i tried to change up training since high school.

Stone cutter: about 20 minutes prior to the start I zip tied the square time square to my right shoe. It felt a little tight. I lifted my toes up and to my horror, the timing chip split in two. With it still zip tied to my shoe I looked everywhere for a official. The race started and I wasn't even close to the start line. After more then a minute I decided to start running and hoped the chip worked. It didn't. Luckily they are using my finishing time. It is slower then what I actually ran. But without the chip working it's the best they can do. Needless to say, running those first few miles in the masses was tiring. But kinda fun. I'll save the 2:43-2:45 for the next one. And I won't wait four years! A week off. Then a easy week.

Stone Cutter- Looks like a very solid start to the beginning of another training cycle. Very impressed you were able to settle back down after going out fast in the MP portion of your run. If I had scheduled a run like that (short MP) and gone out fast it probably would've just turned into a tempo workout. :)

QRkid- Sounds good. I like to do shorter time trials occasionally too since I feel that they break up the monotony of training a little bit and short enough that the lack of competition isn't as much of a factor.

Muebele- I am doing a revised version of the Hanson's plan and have always been a believer in their general philosophy. (less emphasis on a longer long run and more on quality running, specifically at/near marathon pace).

Jossman- Really sorry to hear about what happened, I hate idiots like those in the beginning of the race that not only don't belong in the front of races but do a fantastic job of ruining the race for others as well. Hope you are healing up with no major injuries.

Printer- Sounds like a solid race plan. Good luck!

Diesel- We all fall off the wagon sometimes, it shows something that you still experience some sort of negative feeling about it and want to get back at it.

Ramanujan- That's a very solid session! (4 miles of alternate 800s). the standard is sub-69. I probably wasn't quite there but didn't really have much else to lose so I went for it. Hopefully with a few more weeks of training I can take another shot and qualify for the 2015 race.

Portland wrote:

I lifted my toes up and to my horror, the timing chip split in two.

Wow, talk about stress. That had to have impacted your race as well, having to deal with that and stress about it as the masses were taking off.

I hate those little timing chips -- the ones on the back of the bib are so much nicer.

pewow: ahhh finals. hope you arent too drained after them to get started building.

cmm: thanks!

qr: thanks! way to work down on those mile repeats

xenon: good luck this weekend. put it all out there

perkunas: just got cold reading the nordic skiing. sub 7 beer mile would be awesome

slartzio: thanks. good luck on the 10k. i hate side stitches still get them randomly.

king: great week. lots of good workouts. cant run a pr everytime. some days its just not there. that progression schedule looks great.

stone: thanks. i always try and smile and have a good time. cant let those negative thoughts in. that is my eating every day! haha

portland: wow would never have expected those conditions for a california marathon. cant be too mad at a 248 especially fading, not too much

NJ: good luck at nationals. quick snow run!

redd: wouldnt worry about the 800s. plenty of time to get back into things.

garbage: haha yea i will probably still do some sort of pre race warm up so i dont go crazy.

muebele: congrats on the twins! that will be enough of a workout in itself

Printer: good luck saturday! cant wait to hear/see your results.

Some quick comments on my flight home, will read and post the rest tomorrow.

qrkid-Solid week, I like that Tuesday mile workout and the times you held on little interval rest

xenonscreams-I absolutely love your quote about being the runner you are and not who you think you are. I havent seen that one before and will keep it in mind for my races and workouts in the future.

Perkunas-Skiing should definitely help keep an aerobic base and the mileage will at least keep your muscles remembering what it's like to run. Not sure that I could handle running the extreme cold you guys get up there in VT anyway:)

king hobbyjogger-Make sure you back down the mileage (or run easy paced miles) if you are still feeling it. Not worth getting injured. I think your plan is fine--is your goal to do either T or M and then also 2 longer runs --I noticed 20 mile MP tempo so would you do another long run in this same week? I know Pfitz advocates that mid week 13-16 miler and am thinking that's the other run.

Portland-Congrats on your marathon. although it wasnt your goal time it sounds like you learned a lot and were hampered by a late start and cold weather. Very consistent splits as well.

NJ truth-Good luck this weekend. Your training is unbelievable, very inspiring.

reed-congrats on the Strava course record. I need to start using that site for running (used it back when I cycled). I hope your finals are going well this week.

GarbageDisposal-thanks dude. If I get one race around 2:35-2:37 this year I'll be extremely pleased. Need to kick this snack habit and drop some lbs first though:)

Some awesome training this past week everyone. It blows my mind the level some of you guys are at currently. I remember those days like they were yesterday! Now I'm about 8 years removed from having those types wheels!

Question: How does everyone go about recovery post marathon and getting going again? So far three days off and starting to feel better. I want to get going again while also being smart and respecting the distance I just ran. I've got a nice 10k February 2nd to get fired up for!

To be honest with you, I got by feel. I usually run 2-3 miles the day after, 5-6 the next, 7-8 the next and then settle into a week or two of running whatever I feel like. I would keep all the runs extremely easy or recovery pace to allow your body time to recover. Foam rolling is a must daily.

I know others like to take a few days or a week off, completely away from running to recharge.

The MP progressions will be run on opposing sundays. I will run regular long runs progressing from 16-22 miles on the other sundays. I will also do the pfitz style midweek longs on wednesdays from about 11-15 miles on a rotating schedule.

I finished finals so now I can comment! I had a very boring recovery week.

StoneCutter: Nice volume this week! Great long workout on Sunday.

Cmm268: Nice fartlek. And great marathon! 2:42 is amazing.

RunnersFix: Great 5 x mile and solid 100 mile week!

Ramanujan: That's pretty short rest for the 800 workout but it looks like you handled it.

GarbageDisposal: Nice race! Sub 71 is great.

Np1112: Good luck with your race!

Pewow: Love the Canova stuff.

Qrkid: Nice cut down miles with short rest. Solid week.

Xenon: Good luck at Club Nats!

Perkunas: Smart to take some time off. Skiing sounds very interesting!

Slartzio: Good luck with the 10k.

King Hobbyjogger: The tempo progressions look great.

Portland: Congrats!

NJ Truth: Nice threshold on Tuesday, and very consistent on all the other workouts. Good luck at Club Nats!

Reed: Good luck with finals, it'll be a nice mental break from running haha.

Muebele: Hopefully you can crush this upcoming marathon!

Jossman: Extremely unfortunate circumstances. Sorry to hear about that.

Printer: Nice week. Good variation with the uphills and downhills for the 3x2.