Road Racing and Training Thread - Week Ending 3/16

Hello everyone!

• Mar 10/Mar 16 Week 4/13 HM Cycle

M 5 (8:19)

T 7.25 (7:32)

W 7 (7:32)

T 8.5 3 x 2m @ T/~4:00 Jog ( 6:27, 6:19 / 6:22, 6:23 / 6:21, 6:22) (Av. 6:45)

F 7 (8:04)

S 7.25 (7:29)

S 13 w 12 30s hills, going out now

Tot 55

4th week of training, the tempo workout went well, despite the horrible wind.

Also I'm noticing that after 4 weeks of hills my easy pace picked up a bit, 7:30 was always easy, but required a little bit of focus, now it's almost effortless on fresh legs.

Hope everyone had a great week!

GarbageDisposal: Nice race!

Slartzio: Nice tempo workout

M - 6/7.25 w/ Hill Sprints

T - AM: 4.5. PM: 3mi w/u, 4.25 @ 5:13 + 800 in 2:18, 2x200 @ 32, 32. 3mi c/d.

W - 10/4

R - 5/5.5+strides

F - AM: 3mi w/u, 10x250m Hills @ 4:50-4:40 pace w/ 90s jog recovery + 4x250 jog, 150m strides. 3mi c/d. PM: 5.5.

S - 13.3/3.5

S - 4.5/XX

Total: 91+

Tuesday threshold work went pretty well, as well as the 5k and mile pace short stuff afterwards. Super windy on Friday so I adjusted my workout, then got on the track for some light speed with the wind at my back. Decent week all around, and I hope everyone is doing well!

Garbage - good effort in the 15K!

Slartzio - nice 3x2mi workout!

Force - solid speedwork this week!

Goal Race: BUPA Great Manchester 10K (5/18)

Goal Time: N/A (current PR 32:49)

10th: 4.07mi (7:41/mi)

11th: 4mi (7:33/mi)

12th: rest

13th: rest

14th: 4.05mi (untimed)

15th: 4.06mi (7:18/mi)

16th: Midland 12 Stage Relays - 14:02 (2.77mi) 4th fastest time for Stage 10

Week Total: 23.59mi

An easy week planned ahead of the relay event today. Wednesday and thursday i was out with family so i had no time to get a run in as it was a case of going out straight from work. Todays race went really well, was impressed with my individual effort and the team effort.I did have a tight calf this morning so i decided to have a fairly long warm-up and about 10-15mins of stretching before i ran which seemed to work a treat. The course had an uphill segment for the first mile, flat/downhill for the second, a few small hills and an uphill finish for the last part. My mile splits on the watch were 5:13, 4:50 & 5.07 pace for the final .77mi. both mens & womens 'A' teams both came 5th which left us all incredibly pleased.

Hope everyone has had a good week! :)

Goal race: Cinco de Mayo Half

Goal time: 83-84

Something clicked this week.

Monday: 8.5 miles at 7:56 pace. Started off slow and then some chick decided to follow me so I got cocky. Strength later.

Tuesday: 6 + strides at 7:56. Very sleepy. Core later.

Wednesday AM: 5 easy at 8:06.

Wednesday PM: Practice, 9 total with 1600, 1200, 2 x 800, and 3 x 400 with 2:00 rest and 90 seconds for the 400s. Ran 5:53 / 4:16 / 2:48 / 2:47 / 78 / 77 / 77 and felt great! By far the best practice of my life!

Thursday: 10 at 8:15 very easy. Core later.

Friday: 6 + strides at 8:07.

Saturday AM: Practice, 9.5 total with 8 x 400 with 90 seconds rest in 79 / 79 / 81 / 79 / 82 / 81 / 82 / 80. Feeling it on the back half, especially the last 200 of each one. Muscles felt like they were burning. But I think that's how 400s are supposed to feel. Not the strongest set of my life but pretty good, especially since I've only done 400s like twice in my life. Strength after.

Saturday PM: Super easy PM shakeout. 4 at 8:40.

Sunday: 16 at 8:05 pace on trails. Hilly, wet, rough footing. Felt pretty good but very stiff and kind of sore now.

Total 75. I'm just kind of amazed at Wednesday. I don't know what happened. I just felt different. Like I never hit times like that ever, but I didn't even feel tired until the second 800. Saturday wasn't quite as crazy but was still good. I honestly just had no idea I could pick it up to those sorts of paces, let alone maintain them. I guess I'm finally recovered from the 15M and clearly in good shape.

I have a 10,000 two weeks from now so I'll see what I can do.

Ran a 6K this morning. The first 5K of it was excellent. I hit the 3 mile in 17:34 (5k ~18:10) and was ready to make a final push the last 3/4 of a mile. Then my timing chip came loose. I stopped twice to check on it, the second time it had come off. I picked it back up (actually a nice guy behind me picked it up for me) but from there I started puking like crazy. Maybe I made too hard of a move to try to make up for it, or maybe the extra K just threw me off.

Finished with about 21:45 on my watch but I instinctively stopped it when I stopped so probably 21:50. This makes me very happy with how far I am still progressing, knowing I would have run under 18:00 if it were 5k today, on a rainy day where I didn't feel 100%.

M: 4 easy

Tu: unplanned off...

W: 7 total, with ~600m fast, 30 seconds rest, 150 near all-out, 5 minutes jogging rest, repeat, all on the roads. "Steve Scott" workout to help prepare in case I do a track 1500 in a couple weeks. Accidentally pushed this slightly too hard, as my hamstrings felt sore and never fully recovered.

Th: 6 easy

F: 7 easy

Sa: 4 easy... still sore

Su: 8 total, 2+ warmup, 6 km race, 2 cooldown.

36 total. Possible 4 more in the afternoon but I have lots of stuff to get done today.

Considering maybe trying a 5000m on the track and aiming for low 17's as I am feeling better about 5k shape. I am apparently learning to train smarter, this is the best shape I have been on in such low mileage. Just need to start adding.

You ran 21:44. Creeper status!

Hey y'all, I'm back after a while. Still not doing so hot.

Started a pfitz 55-70 12 week plan, just finished week 4 of it and missed both key MP workouts. The one in the first week I missed because of a toe injury and today I missed the second one from a combination of a GI issue, cold weather and nasty wind, and general apathy.

Other than missing the first 2 MP workouts I have been hitting all the other runs and the 1st tempo pretty well... Did a 4 mile tempo in very cold weather against a terrible wind in 24:35... Long runs have been tough in this extended chicago winter.

This week was:

Tues: 9 mi @ 7:30 per mile

Weds: 14 miles @ 7:44 per mile (against 30 mph headwinds)

Thurs 4 miles @ 7:35 per mile

Fri: 12 miles @ 7:22 per mile

Sat: 5 miles @ 7:27 per mile

Sun: planned 17 w/10 @ MP, actual 6 miles @ 7:56 per mile.

I think I might give up my dreams of a spring marathon and work hard on some shorter distances until its time to gear up for the Chicago marathon this fall... If I keep my volume relatively high and do a long run of 15-20 every week I believe that I will be able to balance working on my overall speed and short race capability while still building losing marathon-specific fitness... My ultimate goal is to be a great marathoner, but I am not sure if I am shooting myself in the foot by trying to hammer hard marathon training as early in my running career (just going on my 27th month of running) and at my young age (I am only 21)... Should I be focusing on building overall volume and working on short (5-21k) races now and then using that as a base to hop up to fast marathoning 5-6 years down the road?

Apologies for the wall of text.

TheGarbageDisposal- I was wondering where you had been, but glad to see you are back and in great shape. Looking good for these final five weeks heading into Boston! What was your injury out of curiosity?

Slartzio- great sign to see the rewards of those hills on how comfortable your runs feel at 7:30 pace!

Forcerunner-Nice week, especially that tempo into a brutal wind. THursday wind here definitely sucked, I thought I was going to blow away or get hit by flying debris:)

dcrunner0910- Awesome week, esepecially your run today! Very impressive time for that distance.

xenonscreams-That workout Weds is awesome! Fantastic interval times for sure, looks like you are rounding into graeat shape!

HardLoper- Nice week and great job on that 6k race

King hobbyjogger - Welcome back:) Unfortunately I didnt start running until my early 30s and jumped right in at the marathon level so I am not the best person to address your question. I think if you keep mileage relatively high you can do what you want in terms of distance. I would probably lean more towards speed and shorter distances if I were you at this point, at least for 2-3 more years.

Goal: Boston (sub 2:37)

Weekly: 92.8

YTD: 1065.5

Mon: 10 E AM @7:39--Strength: 25 minutes core

Tues: Interval Pyramid: 400,800,2x1200,800,400. 81,2:39,4:01,4:00,2:34,75,71, 6 E PM @ 7:18 --Strength: 5 minutes planks (front, side)

Weds: 10 E @ 7:32 AM, 3 E treadmill PM @ 7:20 --Strength: 15 minutes core at gym

Thurs: 7 E with 1 mile pickup (5:56) very windy and cold morning --Strength: p90x Ab Ripper

Fri: 5.5 E on indoor track with 5 short pickups (7:25)

Sat: DC Rock and Roll Half 1:15:55 (5:48 official time) . 2 warmup, 5 recovery PM (@8:02) - 20 total

Sun: 12 E @ 7:18 AM, 4.35 recovery PM @7:54 --Strength: 30 min core and foam rolling

I did a 2 day taper Thurs/Fri of cutting back the mileage for the planned Rock n Roll Half. The course was flat until mile 6 with an uphill between 6-7 and then some rollers rest of the way. Unfortunately I had to stop for GI just after mile 3 which cost me a little bit of time but managed to bring some of the people I was running with back in. Overall I was pleased with my time (+5 minute PR) but very disappointed because I think I could have went sub 1:15 for sure. Felt great after the race and today, so hopefully this is a good sign for Boston. Just need to stay healthy for a few more weeks, including 2 big ones left.

Aim: 2:47 in late May.

Mon.—6mi.

Tues.—am. 4mi./ pm. 6mi. total with 3mi. intervals (3x400-83, 81, 78; 800-2:54; 1200-4:21; 1600-5:54).

Wed.—am. 7mi./ pm. 4mi.

Thurs.—9mi.

Fri.—am. 7mi./ pm. 5mi.

Sat.—am. 4mi./ pm. 8mi.

Sun.—20mi..

Week: 80 miles (ytd: 854mi.). I was satisfied with Tuesday’s intervals -- though it seemed to take all week to recover and led me to cancel a planned tempo run for Friday. The quicker 400s left my hamstrings very sore. I’m glad I’m still a couple months out from race day. Hope everyone had a good week!

races: half marathon 3/16. 5k 3/22. 10k 4/5.

goals: 73:xx or top 3, sub-15:30, 32:00ish

my week:

M 7.5 easy

T 11 w/ 20min easy fartlek

W 8 recovery

Th 7.5 w/3x1mi at GHMP (5:37,41,40)

F 6.5 easy

Sa 6 miles easy and strides

Su ~16 w/ 1/2 'thon in 74:04ish (90sec PR)

total 63 miles

mini RR: goal was to run 73 minutes or get 3rd place. nearly got both

race splits (flat course, no wind):

my gps' splits were off (13.42 miles, and i ran good tangents), but i looked at my watch at most mile markers. the splits i remember (from mile markers):

1: 5:25

3: 16:57

4: 22:41

6: 34:00

10: 56:40

11: 62:25(i recall needing to close in 11:00 to break 74)

finish: 74:04

I had another gear at the end, but because the finishline view was obstructed until there were only 50m left, I didn't know I was so close to 74 flat.

Pleased with my result. I raced very well, sat in a pack until about 10-11 miles, alternating leads with 3 guys. We were fighting for 4th place, but we all knew that if anybody ahead of us fell off, one of us could get 3rd and some $$ (100 bucks). Decided to make a go for sub-74 with 3 miles to go. One guy from the pack followed me but I knew I had him beat. My focus was now on catching the 3rd place guy who we could finally see ahead of us. I caught him right around mile 12, and tried to make a bold move past him so he couldn't sit on me. It worked, and I kept pushing, knowing that sub-74 was possible. Looking at my gps was useless, as it was easily 5 sec/mi off. I ended up with 13.42 as the reading, and i'm sure it's only 13.11 as it should be.

It was very fun to be cruising at ~5:35 pace in the last mile, feeling like I could hold it for longer.

strava link to my run here

http://app.strava.com/activities/121261191#kudos

reed wrote:

It was very fun to be cruising at ~5:35 pace in the last mile, feeling like I could hold it for longer.

oops, meant 5:25 pace

Goal: London sub 3:17

Weekly: 55.75

YTD: 518.25

Mon: Weights and core

Tues: 12.75 with 28 min tempo surge @ 6:49

Weds: 5 @ 8:09

Thurs: 10 with 3x4min@5:54,6:02,6:06; 3x2:30@6:10,5:59,6:06; 1 mile@6:05 (1 min rests throughout)

Fri: Rest

Sat: 7 with 5k in 19:17 15th/142, 1.5 up, 2.5 down

Sun: Run Northumberland Half Marathon 1:30:00 for 61st/588. 8 miles on end for 21 total.

Had a great week this week, 2 really good training sessions, my 2nd highest mileage week ever and 2 PR's to boot! The 5k on Saturday was the same course as last week and I took 1 second off last weeks time, they all count though!

The half on Sunday was brutal, the wind was incredibly strong, worst I've ever dealt with on the tops. It's a fairly hilly course with around 500ft of climb but I was running really well for the first 6 miles, I was aiming for 6:50 pace and had 28 seconds in the bank by the 6 mile marker when the course turned into the wind. The next 2 miles were awful, just a long slog into the wind, I was running by myself for the full 2 miles as well, I could see a group about 100 meters ahead but couldn't close the gap to them. Those 2 miles were 7:31 and 7:34. Once I got out of the wind I got back on track but was starting to feel it by now just due to the effort to keep going into the wind.

I could see 1:30 slipping away but forced myself to keep going and crossed the line in 1:30:03 by my watch. Nightmare! Fortunately it took me 3 seconds to cross the line so I got exactly 1:30:00 on the official results.

I was really disappointed at the end, the conditions were so bad I'm convinced I could have ran 1:28 or just under without the wind and on a flatter course, but you can only deal with what's in front of you. It was a PR by 2mins 42seconds so I guess I can't complain too much!

4 weeks to go to London now and so this week starts my taper, so the mileage is going to start to drop down a little bit. Feeling pretty good and thoughts of 3:15 are starting to creep in, but I guess I'm better off playing it safe.

Garbagedisposal: Nice to see you back, looks like your training is ramping back up nicely as well.

Slartzio: Sounds like very good news on the easy run pace

Forcerunner: Nice week, couple of nice workout days as well.

dcrunner: Excellent running and result at the 12 stage, we got through as well (though obviously not with me running) so we'll be seeing you at Nationals!

xenonscreams: Great Wednesday session, bodes well for your coming race

HardLoper: Well done on the 6k time considering the chip related issues and the puking!

King hobbyjogger: I think you can start marathon training at any age, you just need to listen to your body and make sure you keep up the speedwork. You'll get faster over the shorter stuff as a by-product of the increased fitness.

cmm268: Great race off a 2 day taper and with GI problems. Can't complain about such a big PR and qan outstanding time.

Hans E.: Looks like a good week, how's the hamstring now?

reed: congratulations on the 3rd place and PR! Sounds like a very well run race.

Slartzio-Nice 3x2 and good week!

Forcerunner- Nicely balanced week. What's next up for you?

Dcrunner0910- Nice race. If I did the math right I think you were on pace for a 15:40-15:50 5K? I know it's about another 10% or so but it didn't sound like the course was super fast either.

xenonscreams- Congrats on the breakthrough

Hardloper- Nice race, sounds like you had a breakthrough day as well in your comeback.

KingHobbyjogger- Nice week as well. There's varying schools of thought on what you should focus on when you are younger, but it really comes down to doing what you enjoy and can handle. Consistent mileage with no/little injuries will allow your fitness to accumulate over the years. Don't be afraid to mix up the races/training a little bit too to keep things interesting.

Hans E- Nice week and solid workout. Glad to see you take it easy to let your body recover from that fast session.

Reed- Nice race man and congrats on the $$$. Don't take this the wrong way - it might just be because you're not used to the distance, but based on some of your workout times and your PRs from the shorter distances I would think you're capable of going at least 2-3 minutes faster.

Once and Future- PRs on back-to-back days?! That's awesome man and if you can run 1:30 on a bad day maybe 3:12-3:15 could be in the cards at the rate you're improving. Keep up the great work.

CMM268- Looks like YOU are in great shape, and congrats on the PR! (although I think that one was long overdue, and you are like NP1112 where your HM potentials are at least a couple of minutes faster than 75:xx).

My injury is kind of a mixed bag of annoying little things that kept me out 2-4 days at a time over the last month. (you can kind of see the miles going up and down over the last few weeks). But the easiest (and shortest) explanation is that my calf, hamstring, groin, and glute muscles took turns tightening up on me (probably one was the root cause and the others just compensated, and every massage therapist I saw had a different theory on which one it was).

I was about to bag Boston before things turned around less than 2 weeks ago. My race on Saturday is worth about 1.5-2.5 minutes slower than my half PR, but I also have 5 weeks to make up the lost fitness AND I am racing a full so I am optimistic about my chances as long as I am careful and don't suffer any more setbacks.

Good morning to everybody:

Well not much to report for the last week. No racing this last week, and I do not believe this week.

Sunday 13.0 1:13:45 Good effort, felt good.

Monday 12.0 1:12. Another good effort. Did not really push the effort on this run.

Tuesday 12.0 88 min, well this one was just bad from the start. Nothing wrong with having a subpar run here and there.

Wednesday 12.0 1:13:20

Thursday 12.0 1:13:55

Friday 11.0 69:00 Just took it easy.

Saturday 10.0 64:00

Week 82 miles.

Well a good week with what I would consider normal running. I did not hit as many fast runs as I like to, but that's ok.

Good work to everybody, keep the train rolling.

Goal Race: TBD 5K, Early May

Goal Time: sub 18:00

Sun 3/9.

- AM. Surf 3hrs.

- PM. 7.8 @ 8:12.

Mon 3/10. 5.9 @ 8:11

Tue 3/11

- Noon. 2 mile jog, 10 x 5 pullups on 60sec, 5 x 30 situps on 60sec

- PM. .5mi WU and agilities. Track Workout- 2000 (8:09), 4min standing rest, 1000 (3:40), 2:30 standing rest, 2000 (7:32), 4 min standing rest, 1600m (5:47). .5mi CD and long stretch.

Wed 3/12. OFF

Thu 3/13. 5.5 @ slow pace

Fri 3/14. 1mi WU, 3 mile progression (7:00, 6:45, 6:32), 1mi CD. 5 x 5 pullups on 60sec.

Sat 2/15. OFF

Total: 30.3 miles. First week of training after a few weeks off easy running. Checked out a local track club for my Tuesday workout and I had a blast. Started off in a group that was a bit too slow but I eventually found a good group. All other workouts went well.

17 March 2014

Week 8 of Pfitzinger’s 18-week / 85-MPW max plan

Goal race: Edinburgh Marathon

Goals: A - sub-3:00, B - 3:02, C - 3:07

YTD: 721 mi

Monday: Recovery - 6M am @ 8:40 / 4M pm @ 8:40. Temperatures spiked into the 40s, so Monday’s evening run was my first opportunity to break out the shorts in months. Felt incredible, I could have run for hours.

Tuesday: General aerobic - 9M @ 8:37. Huge snow melt made for completely clear spots in some places and sloppy messes in others. Paces are definitely coming down as the footing becomes more certain.

Wednesday: Medium-long - 15M @ 8:25. Another phenomenal Wednesday run. Temps dipped below freezing overnight and a lot of the snowmelt re-froze, making for tricky parts. However, cruise pace on the clear spots was around 8:00, much closer to where I want to be for these workouts.

Thursday: Recovery - 7M @ 8:47.

Friday: Tempo - 11M w/ 6M at LT pace (6:40 average during tempo segment). Paths were treacherously icy. Quickly realized that if I tried to run at tempo pace in these conditions I would be certain to slip and fall. Headed back at this point, logging 5 miles total outdoors, then did the tempo portion on the treadmill at home. Not exactly what I had planned, but close enough to call it a win.

Saturday: Recovery - 7M @ 8:23.

Sunday: Long run - 22M @ 8:30. Terrific run, honestly felt even better than last week’s 20-miler. It’s a familiar sensation from the previous training cycle; after weeks and weeks of two and sometimes three longish runs a week, the 20+ milers just stop being a big deal. Pace was slowed a little by the persistent icy patches, but on the clear stretches it was easy to maintain the 8:00-minute range.

81M total. Everything’s chuggin’ along. Happy with the tempo run even if the treadmill wasn’t quite representative of likely performance. Looking forward to next Sunday’s extended marathon-pace workout as a progress check.

TheGarbageDisposal—that’s a good sign when you can race so well after being out because of injury. It appears that the cross training helped you stay fit.

Startzio—good set of 2mi. repeats.

xenon—it’s funny how improvements seem to often come suddenly after being on a plateau. Nice combination of mileage and quality.

cmm—impressive how you can race so well in the midst of a full 90+ mile week.

reed—congratulations on the pr.

Once—nice race. I’d bet your marathon goal is well within reach.

swift—yet another solid week.

Kierran—very nice long run. Anything over 20 is tough.