Road Racing and Training Thread - Week Ending 3/9

Goal Race: London

Time: Sub 3:17

Weekly: 45.25

YTD: 462.5

Mon: Weights and core

Tues: 6 1 up 2 down and 5k race in 19:24 for 37th/124

Weds: 6 recovery @ 9:03

Thurs: 11.25 with 5mins@6:08,4mins@6:04,3mins@5:57,2mins@5:49,1min@4:47

Fri: Weights and core

Sat: 7 1.5 up, 2.5 down and 5k race in 19:18 for 15th/125ish

Sun: 15, 5 mile, 1250ft of climb fell race in 44:00 for 23rd/121 and then hilly 10@ 8:30

Really good week for me in terms of running. It was a slight down week in terms of mileage but I kept the quality very high throughout. My car broke down at the weekend and that made getting about difficult and set me back a fair whack of money but the running made up for it.

Tuesday's race was a PR by 20 seconds and then I followed that up on Saturday by shaving another 6 seconds on Saturday and I can start thinking about going sub 19 now I think, when I was struggling to break 21 at Christmas after a bad patch.

Sunday was another good day, the race was very hard with a very steep hill right at the start really taking it out of you from the get go, but I hit my time target and was pretty pleased with my placing. The run after was really good marathon training as my legs were really tired for the last couple of miles but managed to keep the pace reasonable.

I've got a half marathon this weekend when I'm hoping to go sub 1:30 and then it's the start of the taper for me! Not long now!

dcrunner0910: You in the Northern 12 stage? My club are putting a team in as well, Tyne Bridge Harriers. We had a trial for it at the 5k on Tuesday. Range of times from our club 15:00-17:15ish for our 12 runners.

Slartzio: Nice week, glad to hear it's starting to feel better.

xenonscreams: Asthma maybe? That's what asthma feels like for me, or an allergy? Looking forward to seeing how you get on in the 10,000. What's the qualifying time?

pewow: Fingers crossed for the hamstring. Probably a good idea to be more specific with your targets as well, as you are.

Ghola: Nice Wednesday and Saturday, super consistent miles!

cmm268: 7 weeks of 100 plus, wow. Training like yours is an inspiration. Definitely worth a down week now I'd think though!

Muebele: Congrats on the yearly mileage high. It probabyl makes sense to aim for the ten miler rather than the marathon. I'd struggle to keep the training up to the level it needs to be if I thought I had no chance of PR'ing.

Kierran: Great week and very nice mileage total, I've found the Pfitz plans downweek every 4th week to be a Godsend when you're ramping up the miles in the first 8 weeks.

VF Runner: Still looks a good week with everything else that's going on and Sunday's run shows you're still running well!

KBXC: Congrats on the mileage PR, I've noticed a huge improvement in myself going from 30-50MPW so hopefully you'll start to see the same.

bajada master: I hate running with a HR monitor, it suggests my easy pace is just too slow. It may be right but I can't bring myself to run that slowly so I just don't wear it.

reed: Nice week, Tuesday looks like a really nice workout.

Hans E.: Well done keeping up the work while ill and the odd day off when you can't actually run won't kill your training.

pewow wrote:

bajada master - Do you like the heart rate monitor? I was doing a lot of cross training this past week so I was a bit puzzled at what I should do with the heart rate on the bike and elliptical. For the most part I ignored it but it was fun to see how it rose and then how I recovered during interval workouts.

So far so good I guess. I still need to figure out max HR to determine the different training zones but in general it seems like I was probably running most of my miles too hard. Which seems ridiculous given the pace I'm going. I don't remember being this slow as a young guy, but as an old guy I'm slow as molasses.

Another non-event week. No race this week, and I believe none this week.

Sunday: Raced in Pueblo. I discussed this one already, so I will leave it alone.

Monday: 12 64:58

Tuesday 12 63:40

Wednesday 12.5 87:00, never really felt great on this run.

Thursday 12.1 1:11:30 (4:33 first mile). Good effort on this run, felt pretty good. (I try to run a hard mile like I did during this run and the Sunday run to prepare for a race later in the year

Friday 10.0, no time.

Saturday 10.0, no time. Both the Friday and Saturday runs were not great. I did not feel great and just went out to hit the miles.

Sunday: 13.0 1:13:45, excellent run, was 70 degrees out. Ran a hard mile during the run (4:28).

80 miles last week as I go Sunday to Saturday. Overall an ok week with some good efforts and a few bad ones.

With no specific races for a week or 2 I am just going to continue to try and hit 80+ mile weeks.

slartzio - really good 3 mile session!

xenonscreams - it sucks when things like that happen (the throat business or anything ill-related). i take it you felt a lot better the next day to go out and do 16!

pewow - at least you are keeping yourself active! hope it all works out soon :)

ghola - them 2 sessions in 2 days are really solid! 15:30 looks a good shout :)

cmm268 - solid quality this week, and yet another 100 mile week! progressing nicely :)

muebele - great to hear that this was one of your best weeks :) the 10 mile race sounds like a good idea!

kierran - i agree, if you can hold 80s for the next few weeks you will round into great shape :)

vf - sounds like a beastly hill repeats ladder session!

kbxc - are there any 5ks coming up around your area? you've definitely got high 16 low 17min potential :)

bajada master - i never use a HR monitor, i find just running by feel rather than looking at numbers on the watch :)

reed - some good sessions this week :) the mileage progression so far this year looks very consistent!

hans e - 2 really good weeks despite the cold :)

once and future - you have progressed really well over the last few months :) keep it up and you will fly round london! our team are running the midlands 12 stage rather than the northerns.

swift23r - interesting that you would start a long run with a mile that fast!

for those of you who have asked about the 12 stage relays... basically the mens team has a team of 12 and 6 people will run a short leg (around 6k) and 6 people will run a longer leg of around 8.5k. not too sure of the distances exactly but they are around what i have mentioned. There are different ones around the country (the north of UK, the midlands + the south). I think the top 25 teams qualify for the national event at the start of april. We have a really solid team which will be very similar to the team that ran in the 6 stage relays last september... the A team came 4th and the B team missed out on the nationals by ONE place!

DC: Great workouts. Getting faster each week.

xenon: solid week overall. cant beat auto PR races

pewow: nothing wrong with good cross training sessions. you can still get in great workouts not running. Just ask Garbage

ghola: ski trip sounds fun. Is the track that much faster than the roads? (Know nothing about track having never ran it)

cmm: did you change your boston goal, or did i mix you up with someone else? That sunday workout is FAST!! how did that feel?

muebele: rough week but still your best in a while. that is a good sign. Maybe the shorter race will be better on the body and to train through somewhat than a marathon right now? Still plenty of time for a fall marathon if you can!

kierran: congrats on the mileage. and great outlook on things! I am sure things will change when the really hard tiring weeks/workouts come haha

VF: ouch, that would be horrible to move like that. almost had my first unplanned day off this past week too. looks like you made the best of the week and still got in a good one sunday.

kbxc: congrats on the mileage. things are coming together.

bajada: hopefully the HR will help things out. ouch that is a big hill!!

reed: great tempo and fast 200s after. in trainers is even better. hard to get the tempos down while still building or maintaining mileage. at least you know things feel better each time

hans: hopefully you get to feeling better soon! awesome that you can tough things out and train through, while being smart about paces. should help ya alot!

once: congrats on the PRs! good luck this weekend! what was the rest between effort sets on the thursday run?

Bad start to the week but the second half was good as I had more time.

M - off (planned)

T - 4 easy on no sleep

W - off (unplanned)

Th - 8 easy with 6 short (15-20s) hill sprints, full recovery

F - 8 easy

Sa - 2 warmup + 8 x 1000m with 400m jog recovery + 2 cooldown (3:47, 3:41, 3:41, 3:37, 3:38, 3:37, 3:37, 3:31)

Su - 8 easy

Total 39

Only one harder workout unfortunately, but it was pretty good. I was sore going in, started out slow, track was very wet but I found a dry spot and settled into a pace right around 18:00 5k pace and could have done a couple more. Last one wasn't even that hard, just took my wet shirt off and ran. This is the sort of thing I need to work on as I don't have the strength to push for 3-4 minutes at a time.

Upcoming possible races will be a 6 km next Sunday - mainly because it's a huge race and starts very close to my apartment. Goal is about 18:00 pace plus one km (21:36), but anything under a 5K season best pace would be good. Then a track meet 2 weeks later, possibly 1500. Two weeks after that, a 5K or 12K, then two weeks after, a trail race.

Goal: Boston

Tune up: half on 3/22

Mon: 7 + 30 min spin + 8 (15)

Tues:7 + 8A (15)

Wed: 4

Thurs: 21(3x6 MGP) + 30 min spin (21)

Fri: 12 + 6 (18)

Sat: 8 + 8A (16)

Sun: 24.5 (Progression) + 3.5 (28)

Total: 117

Calfs were really tight after last Saturday (3/1) long workout. Things took longer to feel right. Almost took Wed off but got 4 in really late.

Thurs: 21 (3x6 @ MGP). Legs felt a lot better that morning. The last set was horrible. Almost stopped at 2 (got 2 stitches at the same time), told myself I would at least make it to 3, then toughed it out (slowed some) to finish without killing myself. (3505) (3459) (3508).

Sun: 24.5 progression in 2:46:55. Last 3 were 553,550,545. Tougher than I thought it was going to be. But feeling good so far afterwards.

Going to get lasik at the end of this month. So I finally wont have to be blind (near sighted) while running. Been thinking about it for a while but Bostons new no gear check, bags, etc. rules helped make my decision.

Cheers np, the rests were half of the previous effort. So 2.5,2,1.5,1.

dcrunner: I looked up the 12-stage relays - looks like a ton of fun! Seems like you're in great shape, best of luck!

Slartzio: That tempo workout puts you right on track for your goal, and the rest of your runs look like they're providing enough of a foundation to build on. Keep it up!

xenonscreams: I've got to imagine the 24-hour work competition contributed to Saturday's difficulties. I wouldn't worry about it too much.

cmm268: Aww, what's another 100-mile week? Don't break the streak! :D

Muebele: I was going to suggest deferring your Boston entry if you ended up qual'ing, but I just read that they haven't allowed deferrals since 2010. A tough spot to be in for sure.

VF Runner: Way to power through what sounds like incredibly unfavorable circumstances. If you can manage to keep up those workouts in the worst of times, you should be all set for future training.

KBXC: Make your crew team go on runs with you. Claim that it will help them with their rowing endurance.

bajada master: It can be a little depressing at first to pick up a HRM and go, "Wait, I'm supposed to run how slow?" However, you should see improvement pretty quickly.

Hans E: Hopefully your race is close to sea level so you can carry some of that altitude fitness along with you.

Once and Future: Great race performances! I think if you follow it up with a 90-minute half, 3:17 for the full should be in the bag.

swift23r: Running that first mile hard is an interesting technique. I'll have to research throwing in something similar every now and then (nowhere close to 4:30 though!)

dcrunner and kierran, the hard mile at the start of the run is something I started doing last year. I had a race I was training for and knew that the first mile was fast, so I started running like what you see. So I ran the 4:28, and 4:33 as the first mile of both runs, and did a 4:24 to start a run 2 weeks ago. I literally do not run workouts, so stuff like this is I guess my way of working out. It helped with that race as I went 4:21, 8:52 and finished the 5k in 14:15. Lost it a bit that last mile.

I've gotten better about posting, but still failing a commenting.

Lots of good training going on. Should start paying off for everyone as we move into the spring.

Once and Future - congrats on the double PR's

Pewow - the hill is about .8 (I'm allergic to treadmills)

np1112 - you've run so many many miles you deserve a day off. I feel like I'm far enough behind that I should start tripling.