Road Racing and Training Thread - Week Ending 3/30

impressive last 6mi

is 6:00 your goal marathon pace? 5:55 maybe?

i haven't done my long run yet so i'll wait to post my week

reed: if the weather is the same where you are as it is here youll enjoy the long run. ummm...I would like to break 2:40 but really like to be around 2:38 or faster. Next weekend I have a long MGP tempo. Whatever I do for that will most likely be my goal pace.

Goal: Boston (sub 2:37?) PR hopefully under 2:40

Weekly: 112.8

YTD: 1,289.1

Mon: 10 E AM @ 7:24, 5 recovery @ 7:42

Tues: 8 E AM @ 6:55 (final 6 below 7:00 descending), 5 E on treadmill PM @7:09 -- p90x2 Ab Ripper

Weds: 9.4 total AM with Interval: 1600,1200,3x800. 5:20(5:10),4:04(3:39),2:38(2:43),2:41(2:55),2:45. Track was snow covered and it was cold and windy and I didn’t feel 100% healthwise. 5 recovery PM --30 minutes core and foam rolling

Thurs: 10 E AM 7:01 with two decent hills at the end (last 5 under 7 min/mi). 4.5 Recovery PM wearing new Lunaracer marathon shoes:) @7:40 -- p90x Ab Ripper

Fri: 10 total AM, 5.2 tempo in 30:16. 21 laps on the track (5:59,5:42,5:51,5:49,5:41,1:14), 5 E @ 7:21 PM --p90x Ab Ripper

Sat: 12 E AM @7:26, 3 E PM on treadmill 7:42 --15 minutes core and stretching at gym

Sun: 22 progression in rain and cold 6:48avg total, miles9-15 in the 6:40-6:30 range. Did benefit from downhill with tailwind over final 6 of 7. last 7 were: 6:17,5:53,5:50,6:06,5:55,5:58,6:24 (pulled back on final mile), 3 recovery PM @ 8:13

Week 10 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: 871 mi

Monday: Recovery - 6M am @ 8:40 / 4M pm @ 8:37. Morning run felt a little sluggish after Sunday’s pace workout, but everything loosened up by the evening run.

Tuesday: General aerobic - 9M @ 8:06.

Wednesday: VO2max - 9M w/ 6x800m intervals (400m recovery jog in 2:30). Splits of 2:56, 3:01, 2:59, 3:01, 3:02, 3:00. First track workout of the training cycle felt good, and the pace was in-line with my 5k pace. Would like to push these down to 2:50-2:55 over the next few weeks.

Thursday: Recovery - 8M @ 8:47. Surprisingly stiff after Wednesday’s intervals. Nothing painful, just felt slightly out of alignment, if that makes sense. Took it easy and was fine by the end.

Friday: Medium-long - 11M am @ 9:06 / Recovery - 4M pm @ 8:34. Very icy!

Saturday: General aerobic - 8M @ 8:11. Tried to do some strides afterward, but felt some calf muscle tightness after a couple sets and didn’t want to push it.

Sunday: Long run - 15M-ish @ 8:00-ish (no watch or GPS). Temps spiked to the 40s, so another opportunity to break out them shorts. Felt so much lighter and easier running without all the cold-weather gear. Spirits were high.

74M total. A relatively easy week, nothing too long or strenuous other than the Wednesday intervals. Things pick up in intensity in preparation for the tune-up races, so that’ll make for some exciting times. Overall, March was a pretty terrific month: 31 for 31 days running (assuming I make it out the door sometime tomorrow), and almost 350 miles logged. Not a lot in the grand scheme of things, but a year ago 200 miles in a month was a big deal for me. Just super-pumped to be able to train at this level comfortably.

Hello people!

Week 6/13 goal:1:22

M 6 (8:xx) Treadmill

T 8 (7:33)

W 6 (7:43)

T 11 2 x 3.5m @ T/3:00 Jog (6:16, 6:19, 6:17, 3:09 / 6:17,6:20, 6:19, 3:06) (Av. 6:56)

F 8 (8:xx) Treadmill

S 8 (7:44)

S 13 (7:43) Very tired, no workout

T 60

Very good workout on Thursday but in the last 2 weeks some fatigue accumulated and today I felt way too tired to do a workout. Had to take many walking breaks just to finish 13, time to take some nice slow easy days next week.

Hope everyone had a great week!

Goal race: Boston Marathon

Goals: Sub-2:27 / Top 50

This week: 104 miles / 75 minutes elliptical

Monday AM: 75 minutes elliptical. (adductors sore from 24 the day before lol)

Monday PM: 6 miles very easy.

Tuesday AM: 12 easy

Tuesday PM: 6 easy

Wednesday AM: 8 easy

Wednesday PM: 6 easy

Thursday AM: 13 with 5 @ 5:37/mi average. (wanted to go 8 actually at Hansons "strength" pace but hit a bad patch and just bailed)

Thursday PM: 6 easy

Friday AM: 9 easy

Friday PM: 6 with 2 @ 5:25s. (Did the run on the treadmill at home and had to hop off for a pit stop at 3, felt good so I slipped on the flats and did 2 @ tempo)

Saturday AM: 10 easy

Sunday: 22 with 16 @ 5:53.4s. Did this during a 20-mile race with a friend also training for Boston. We went out easy for 4 miles and then ran the last 16 @ MP. Course was 2x(5 miles out, 5 miles back) and we got good practice taking water/gel. It was nice and rolling and the wind picked up for the last 5 miles so that was fun too. Cooled down for 2 miles after the 20-miler. The online calculators (Daniels based) I saw gave 13-16s/mi for the altitude so I am feeling pretty good with this one.

After a long, tough winter, I have decided to start posting my training again – now that I actually have something to post.

Week 1 of running after two weeks off

M – Sick

T – 3mi (7:56)

W – 3.5mi (7:54)

Th – 4mi (7:39)

F – 5mi (8:03)

Sa – 6mi (7:56)

Su – 10mi (8:31): pacing my stepdad to a huge PR in the Ocean Drive 10 miler – awesome motivation for me to get that “hungry” feeling back.

Weekly Total: 31.5 miles

YTD: 504 miles

Here’s how things have gone for me so far in 2014:

January – 221 miles, ran 22 of 31 days

February – 195 miles, ran 22 of 28 days

March – 97 miles, will end up running 16 of 31 days

Obviously I kept going in the wrong direction, haha. I finally threw in the towel a couple weeks ago and took a two week break to help shake some peroneal tendinitis I developed in my left ankle. I am finally back to full health, the weather is improving day by day – all in all, things are looking up again. :)

While I still plan on racing Broad Street in 5 weeks, I have thrown any time goals out the window and I am just going to run with some (normally) slower teammates to see how fast we can pull each other along. I am really in the mindset now of building up mileage before starting an 18 week marathon cycle in July in preparation for Philly in November.

Some of you regulars (cmm, np, garbage, etc) amaze me with the consistency you have been able to get in despite this horrendous winter. Kudos to everyone putting in the miles this year. I don’t think I am going to be able to give extensive comments each week like I used to, so I’ll probably pick one or two posters a week and rotate the commenting schedule.

Hope everyone else had a great week.

Good to see you back Stone! But don't count me in that group, I have been doing 2/3rds of my runs in the last couple of months to nurse my injury issues, and just getting out there for the long runs / races (as well as a few shakeout runs a week) to give my legs a good pounding on the hills/pavement.

cmm: Awesome week for you again. with 112+! That long run today should help build some mental strength for the tough weather days. Next week is ~110 and then I will come down. I dont know exactly how much yet. My coach and I do schedules two weeks at a time. But yours looks similar to what I would expect also

Kierran: great week. congrats on running every day and logging those miles! Very consistent 800s. I dont see why you couldnt work down to 2:50s eventually either.

slartzio: Nothing wrong with some very easy days to get back into things. Very consistent on the 3.5mi efforts also. Looks like you have that pace dialed in.

Garbage: great week and workout/race. Didnt know you slipped in a 2mi tempo friday. you cant stay away from those flats haha. One more big week for the boston crew!

Stone: Welcome back! now someone can start the thread at a decent time again ;) pacing someone to a PR has to be great motivation like you said. hope you can build on that. Maybe just having some fun and trying new things for a while will be what you need. Then i am sure you will get that "itch" again!

I feel lame for not commenting the past few weeks. Tomorrow!

Goal: sub-15 5k in May

Next: BAA 5k

M: Rest

T: 7 easy - extremely tired

W: 7; track workout: 3x(1000 @ 3:10, 600 recovery @ 2:10); 2:30 walk; 2x1000 at 3:01,2:59 w/200 jog.

Th: 8 recovery

F: 4 easy

Sa: 6; 5000m track race in 15:24 (PR)

Su: 12 easy long run (~7:30/mi)

Total: 45 miles

I was pretty happy with the race. Coming in I wanted to go 15:10, but it was windy and raining w/standing water on the track. Instead, I stuck with some guys hitting 74/75s and closed hard, hitting about 1:43 the last 600. This is about a 10 second PR (on half the mileage), so I'm encouraged.

Next Race: Boston Marathon

Weekly Miles: 0

After my 25k race last Saturday, I seemed to develop another blood clot in the superficial vein going up my inner left thigh. Anything below the knee is minor, but above the knee gets a little more serious.

My doctor was worried that my running wasn't helping me clear things up. So, She asked me to hold off on running for a while. I also started a 30 day cycle of blood thinner medication. I'm now giving myself a daily injection of enoxaparin to eliminate the risk of new clots.

It took all week for the pain in my leg to subside. I'll see how I feel this week and then decide of I can still salvage Boston.

Goals:

sub 16 5k

sub 4:40 mile

Mon- 1.5, 4 hills, 2 600s (2:00, 1:53), 1.5 = 6 miles

Tue- off

Wed- 5 at 6:49 (last 2 in under 13)

Thur- 4 at 6:52

Fri- 1.5, 3 mile (5:34, 5:42-45, 5:10-13) 16:30, 1.5 = 6 miles

Sat- 4 at 7 min

Sun- 8.25 at 6:42

Total: 33.25

Overall, This week was a real breakthrough for me in my training. Monday's workout was done at my school's cross country course. I felt pretty smooth during the hills and 600s.

Tuesday for me will have to be an off day every week, as there is no way to get in a run that day.

I did a 2k erg (even though I'm a coxswain) test on both Wednesday (after my run)and Saturday with the rowers, resulting in the run the day after/same afternoon to struggle a little. It's ok though, as I won't be doing any more erg test for a while. Besides, it was good strength training.

On Friday I ran one of my best workouts ever. I went out in 5:34 feeling extremely relaxed. I was a little bit nervous though, as this was close to PR pace. The second mile I slowed a little to stay relaxed, hitting the 2 mile in around 11:16-20. I had a good amount left so I sped up for the 3rd mile, but didn't realize that I was going at 5:10-13 pace. I finished the workout in 16:30, feeling way fresher than I did when I ran the 3 miles in 17:00. I did my cool-down around 30 seconds after I finished, catching my breath after 1 min. I almost PRd during that workout, and it was nowhere near race effort.

I feel like I'm in the best shape I've ever been. Going into a 5k race I could go at least 16:30, most likely better. I feel like these improvements are happening because I'm starting to mature a little and have gotten stronger, though I'm only 5ft 6 120 lbs. During one of my XC races I collapsed mid-race, and the doctor said it was because my mind and "engine" were ahead of my body. He said it was like having the engine of sports car in the frame of Beetle. I feel like my body is starting to catch up, allowing for big improvements.

I hope everyone else had a good week.

M - 4.5/7mi w/ Hill Sprints

T - AM: 3mi + 4x100m strides. 600,200,400,400,600,200 + 4x300, 4x200. Splits: 1:49, 33, 71, 67, 1:48, 34, 52, 52, 51, 52, 32, 31, 31, 30. 3mi c/d. PM: 6mi.

W - 10/3

R -4.5/5.5+strides

F -AM: 3mi w/u. 12x250 Hills avg 44.6(4:47 pace)and closed in 39. 4x150 after. 3mi c/d. PM: 4mi.

S -10.25/4

S -4/4+strides

Total: 89.8

Good weeks so far everyone! Had a so-so track session on Tuesday and a pretty good hill workout Friday. I hope every has a great week, it looks like the weather is supposed to be semi spring-like haha.

finishing up the 4th month of running (hobby jogging)

goals - sub 22 5k & sub 6 mile

last two weeks

3/24 - 5 miles 9:48 pace

3/25 - traveling for work

3/26 - traveling for work

3/27 - 6.5 @ 9:07

3/28 - 4 miles

3/29 - 9.5 miles

3/30 - 5 miles

30 miles total

3/17 - 4 miles @ 10:29

3/18 - 1.5 mile warm up

1600 @ 6:26

1200 @ 4:55

800 @ 2:55

400 @ 1:21

400 @ 1:24

400 @ 1:33

3/19 - 4.85 miles

3/20 - 8.45 miles @ 10:46

3/21 - off

3/22 - 7 miles @ 10:08

3/23 - off

have a great week everyone!

Goal: Broad Street Run (10 miles on May 4th)

Mon: 9 with 3 at race pace

Tuesday: Sick

Wednesday: Sick

Thursday: 10

Friday: Sick

Saturday: 12 easy

Sunday: 8 easy

Total 39

Not much to report here for the past couple weeks, some decent days but no consistent weeks. I have been battling some lingering illness going through my house, work and baby prep has been taking up lots of time. I still have time to salvage a good race and I am hoping that I can really hit it the next couple weeks. The plan is too try and get my milage between 60 and 70 per week with 1 race pace workout and one track workout a week. For this week I was happy with monday and struggled with stomach issues the rest of the week. I was going to pop into a 5k today but then my kid came down with an ear infection. I am staying postive, I think I am due for some good luck.

NP1112, CMM268 and The GarbageDisposal - great weeks! With Boston right around the corner you guys are looking great!

Keirran - jumped up to 40? It has been a rough winter....

Stone Cutter - welcome back!

Ghola - congrats on the PR in tough conditions

Printer - sorry to hear about the blood clots. My wife has a condition that she high risks for them all the time so I know they are nothing to mess with. Are you able to cross train at all?

The Stone Cutter wrote:

Some of you regulars (cmm, np, garbage, etc) amaze me with the consistency you have been able to get in despite this horrendous winter.

horrendous winter? ever heard of the west coast? lolololol

i haven't run in under 55 degrees in 2014 yet

GOALS: 32:30 10k April 4th

my week:

M 7 rec, 7:38

T 4 rec, 7:29 and 10 w/ easy track workout. 4x800, 1x1200, 1x1600, 4x200

W 7 easy, 7:13

Th 10 rec, 7:43

F 5.4 easy, 7:07

Sa 11.5 w/ 1500m in 4:23.25 (51.5,70.7,71.9,69.0), then 3 miles MP (6/mi)

Su 14, 7:06 feeling good

total 68.7, 7:10/mi avg

2014: 858mi (67.5 mpw)

march: gonna be ~295-300 miles

I've decided that I need to make a change to my training. the 1500 saturday went poorly (mostly due to poor racing tactics) but the best i couldve done was probably 4:15, and that's just not very good. I need to have more confidence in my training, and the way I can best do that is by running more. After my 10k on friday, i'm bumping up the mileage. probably just to 75-80. I have always felt the most fit when running my highest mileage. Seems wrong, but I'm going with history on this one.

You guys probably already saw the drama in my prediction thread but here it is anyways.

Monday: Woke up with both a cold (which I still have) and another one of my GI pain episodes. After two hours of being stubborn, went to the hospital. Spent the day there again. Didn't eat, didn't run.

Tuesday: 6 miles at 8:07 pace. Felt OK but tired. Strength after, felt terrible.

Wednesday: Practice, 8.5 total with a 20 minute tempo at about 6:12 pace. The pace felt decent but I felt a little drained at the end, not out of breath, but my muscles felt stale and achey.

Thursday: Off

Friday: 3 miles easy with some strides after

Saturday: Track meet, 10000. Terrible race, more to follow. 13 total.

Sunday: 10.5 easy at 7:58 pace, finally feeling decent (despite being sore and hungover).

Yeah so Saturday. I had several amazing practices going into this week and I was banking on 38:30. It wasn't a reach; it felt totally right based on how I'd been running, it was what I knew I was capable of (and I still think I'm capable of it on a good day).

Well I guess I probably should have given some weight to being sick on Monday, but I was stubborn and convinced myself it wouldn't impact me at all. I know we've all had bad races, but there's nothing worse than a bad track 10000. You feel terrible and want to die and as if to mock you someone's like "12 LAPS TO GO!" and you're like "f*cking seriously?" Way too much temptation to pull off the track and stop every 400m.

I started off on pace and felt OK. It's just that slowly 92-93 became 94, which became 95, which became 96, 97, 98, 99, 100. And the whole time it was like I was watching myself in a movie and couldn't do anything about it. I kept trying to get my legs to go faster. They wouldn't move. They were like rocks. The other two girls passed me. I tried to surge and keep contact. Nothing happened. I tried every way I know how to shift gears. Nothing happened. So I dragged my sorry butt through 25 laps of misery in the rain and wind fading and fading and fading in 40:10, which would be something like a tempo run on a good day at practice, moderately hard, still breathing easy. And I felt like I'd just run a marathon.

The lesson I'm taking from this is not to race when one of these episodes happens. I'm still trying to figure out what causes them but for now I emailed my coach and told him not to let me race the next time I send him a frantic email from the ER or hospital. In the meantime I'm trying not to let my confidence take a hit. I know I'm in good shape, I just had probably the worst day imaginable (it was actually worse than the "worst case scenario" I had outlined in my head the night before).

Didn't update last week as that wasn't a good one. It was a frustratingly busy week at work plus travel on the weekend for a wedding, and I only ran 3 times - 8 miles w/ fartlek, 3 miles fast, and 4 miles with a few short sprints. The 3-mile day turned into a tempo because I was really fresh but mad had limited time to run so I just went out and ran fast. 15 total.

This week I ran a 5k on the track in 18:13. Just as I predicted, the "second pack" went out in 80 seconds/lap which is faster than I can run for 5K but knew I wanted to test myself in running that pace, hoping I could hang on and still break 18. Ran the first 3 laps in 4:00, dropped off (passing one kid, mile in 5:28), and was very lonely after that as the next group finished 1 minute ahead. I will take the season best as another step, knowing I would probably break 18 in an evenly paced race and can still hope to break 17:00 by the end of the spring. More importantly it was a consistent week of training which I will need more of.

M - 8 miles, fartlek of 3-2-1-2 minutes fast, 2 minutes rest between each

T - 6 miles, 8 x hill cutdowns in 68, 65, 62, 61, 60, 59, 57, 60

W - 6 miles, progression run with last 20 tempo, probably ~6:30 pace

Th - 4 easy

F - 3 easy

Sa - 1.5 shakeout run at noon, 1.5 warmup, 5k race, 3 mile cooldown, went home, 2 more miles, 11 total

Su - 7 miles easy, finished at good clip

Total: 45

Next race will tentatively be a 12k over-distance race in 2 weeks. I think I can go low 6:xx pace so I will try to do one or two longer workouts around 6:00 pace this week. But mostly I will just try to keep consistent, with hills and fartleks/intervals as a staple.