Road Racing and Training thread - Week ending 5/25

Thanks for starting the thread lakerunner. Congrats on the race yesterday. I had some good success with Daniels but his two workouts per week are mentally exhausting sometimes, especially those brutal runs with 16-18 MP. I like the Durden plan in that it has a nice blend of speed, tempo and long run versus long tempo and MP that you get from Daniels. What kind of mileage are you targeting?

Goal: Get faster

Weekly: 93.3

YTD: 1,948.3

Mon: 10 E AM @ 7:05, 5 E PM @ 7:21 - x2 ab ripper + 10 minute of planks

Tues: 400, 3x800, 4x400, 1x1600T. 79(85),2:37(2:49),2:37(2:07),2:37(85),71(2:09),72(82),72(86)75(2:12),5:41 - 10 minute planks

Weds: 10 E AM @ 7:16 - standard core routine 2 sets

Thurs: 9 E @ 7:07 AM with hills. 6 striders, 6 E PM 7:28 - standard core routine 2 sets

Fri: 5k tempo 18:18 (didnt feel so good), 5 E PM @7:12 - core & strength (legs)

Sat: 12 E AM @ 7:16 with 6 striders --Strength: standard core routine 2 sets

Sun: 13 Progression @ 6:51 (final four 6:31,6:21,6:12,6:12), 4 E PM @ 7:33 + Form drills (2 sets of a&b skips, butt kicks, bounders, high knees) -10 minute planks

Overall not a great week. I really had a bad week from a diet perspective and it showed in my workouts--didn't really run well in the Tues or Fri sessions. Hoping to get back into a nice routine this week.

Hello everyone!

goal: ?

M 0

T 0

W 1

T 4 (7:59)

F 7 (7:38)

S 7 (7:39)

S 7 9x200 @ slow long strides (~38) (Av. 7:4x)

Recovery week for me, nothing special. Very stiff, also incredibly sore the days after the race, quads were quite trashed.

Hope everyone had a great week!

Nice weeks everyone! Here's mine

M - AM: 6 x 1mi w/ 60s rest. 5:26, 5:18, 5:19, 5:14, 5:10, 5:03. PM: 5

T - 8/4

W - AM: 3mi. PM: 4 x 300@54(300)/200@32(200) + 3 x 100. Splits for the repeats of 53, 31, 52, 33, 51, 32, 50, 31, 13, 13, 13.

R - 7/4.5

F - 6/4 + Strides

Sa -AM: 3mi w/u. 5k race 14:57. 3mi c/d. PM: 4mi.

Su - 13/x

Total: 90+

Pretty good week for me. The Threshold workout on Monday went very well, and the tune up on Wednesday felt great. New 5k Road PR and a very solid week all around. I hope everyone has a good long weekend!

Mon: 6 + 6.25 (12.25)

Tues: 12.75(8x800+4x400) + 4.25 (17)

Wed: 10 + 4.25 (14.25)

Thurs: 6

Fri: 14(ladder) + 6.25 (20.25)

Sat: 16

Sun: 9 + 5.25 (14.25)

Total: 100

Tues: 8x800 in 2:33 avg. 4x400 in 72 avg. felt like junk but sucked it up and finished.

Fri: 400-800-1200-mile-mile-1200-800-400. In 74, 2:27, 3:44, 5:04, 5:03, 3:43, 2:26, 72. New shoes must have helped on this one lol.

4 days of core and 1 day of weights. Feeling pretty good besides my hamstrings have Friday and Saturday haha.

Nice weeks everybody!

Goal: Recover, then construct a plan for the summer.

Next race: Mt. Ascutney race 6/8

Goal for race: Win age group. Break age record?

M - 1m WU. 3.8 miles easy. Strides

T - 1m WU. 2 mile race in 11:11. ah well. It was a hot day and I went out too slow. I never really gave myself a chance. Not too sure I'm quite capable of sub 11 and I'm tired from all the racing, so I think I'm gonna end my track season now.

W - Nothing

T - 15 min moderate effort on stationary bike

F - Nothing

Sat - Fun day. I ran the Wachusett Mountain Race, which is part of the USATFNE mountain racing series, which I am partaking in. 2.9 miles up the mountain via a paved road in 24:31. 3.3 miles down, half road/half trail in 20:17. The ascent went very well and I beat my projected time based off ideal conditions by 30 seconds. The downhill... that's a different story. I started racing this other person down and we were going about 5:20 pace for about 1.5 miles. Then it switched over to trails and I crashed and burned. My legs were trashed and my stomach had been shaken up like a carbonated drink. The last mile and a half consisted of me dragging my body down the mountain at about 7 minute mile pace while retching continuously. :) I knew the downhill was going to be tough, but it was horrible beyond my worst nightmares. It was easily the hardest thing I have ever done. Final time of 44:48. Average grade of +/- 7-8%, max of +/- 20%, although the first part of the downhill was much steeper while the last 1.5 miles were much flatter, so my legs got destroyed in the first 1.5ish then I got no help from gravity the last 1.5 :P 1267 ft elevation gain, similar loss.

Course map/stats:

http://www.cmsrun.org/attachments/category/85/wawa2013.jpg

Sun - Legs aren't working... I can't walk without my legs seizing up and then falling over. Felt OK yesterday, but I'm getting some significant DOMS right now. Probably gonna take a week to recover, then start summer training.

The race, although it has left my body feeling broken, was a ton of fun and I look forward to racing in the rest of the series. I was the fastest junior, and I got a nice t-shirt, a cup, and a really nice sweatshirt. The next race is thankfully all uphill!

I was down at the beach the last couple days with my family and had no computer access (which was a GOOD thing). :)

Lakerunner - thanks for getting things started for us this week.

Nice effort you put out for the 10 miler. I ran a very similar style race at that distance several weeks ago, so I know how fun that is to start fading from 6:00/mi pace, haha. But 53rd place overall, that's a really good showing. I have tried the Daniels' plan and had a similar experience to cmm268 - the two demanding workouts each week eventually wore me down. Since you and I run roughly the same volume, I would recommend tempering Daniels' workouts to 2/3 to 3/4 of what he generally prescribes.

The Durden plan looks interesting. Very heavy on the long run, but I share his emphasis on recovery. Probably the most overlooked component of any marathon plan - you can't run your race during training.

Forcerunner - Congrats on the 5K road PR! Sub-15:00 is a great accomplishment. Do you have any eligibility left after this year, or are you moving on to the roads full-time now? Either way, I see bright days ahead for you.

Hello everyone, and greetings from the lush Left Coast! I'm on vacation and loving it. Here's the week that was:

Monday: 14.3k easy. There is no run as easy as a holiday weekend easy run. Legs a bit sore from yesterday, but beautiful weather–blue sky, green grass, and a bit of fog over the river that gave everything a silvery sheen. Also, there were no bugs and lots of birds making bird noises along the route. Simply idyllic.

Tuesday: 10k easy. Bit cold. Watch died right at the end.

Wednesday: 10k easy with strides after (am), 15k with a potential new running group (pm). Running group a bit of a bust, but I think it’s important to try and find people to run with a bit.

Thursday: Off. Heel was a bit feisty and my bed exercised an indomitable pull on me when the alarm went off at 5.

Friday: 16x60 seconds hill repeats, 15k total. There was a big fitness group using the hill too, but they were very obliging about making space most of the time.

Saturday: Flew to Vancouver to start my vacation. An extremely leisurely 19.5k with an old buddy of mine from grad school. He’s a gifted conversationalist, so the time flew by, even if we did not. Sushi afterwards!

Sunday: 25k in the cold and the rain on the Sea Wall. I don’t mind running in the rain, really. Once you get wet enough, you can’t get any wetter, and the experience becomes more atmospheric than annoying. Plus it makes others stay in, so the route is less crowded.

As for the run itself, this was much more of a success than last week’s long run. Successfully hit 3:45/km for the 15th through 22nd kilometres. I can tell my legs will make me pay for this tomorrow, but it felt really nice to manage something at least in the neighbourhood of goal race pace as a portion of a long run. Of course, moving from 670m above sea level to the edge of the Pacific and running on an ultra-flat trail might help with that too, but, what the heck, I’ll take it.

Total: 108.8k. Pretty pleased with this week–I feel like a bit of strength is returning to my legs at last after the off season and then all that injury rehab. The heel feels like it is holding up well, and I am learning a bit better how to take care of it. This upcoming week will be lots of fun, with a few shots of hot yoga, some new shoes, and an LT session or something thrown in for fun. Goal mileage is around 110 or 115km.

Happy Memorial Day weekend to everyone. God bless the brave men and women who afford us the luxury of celebrating our everyday lives.

Goal: Stay healthy

Goal Race: Philly Marathon (11/23)

Goal Time: TBD (2:43-2:50?)

Base Training Week 3 of 11

M- Rest

T- 4mi easy // 4mi easy treadmill. Strides.

W- 10mi, including 4x1MOD/1E (7:14 8:04, 6:51 7:56, 6:46 8:00, 6:38 8:20)

Th- 6mi easy

F- 5mi easy // 4mi easy. Strides

Sa- 14mi, with 10x :30 “on” (5:00-5:30/mi), 2:30 “off” (8:00/mi) over the last 4.5mi

Su- 9mi easy progression 8:10/mi avg (9:38 8:38 26 43 04 7:47 35 28 07)

Weekly Total: 56 miles

YTD Total: 897 miles

Solid week for me. My body took the first half of the week to adjust to some temperature/humidity increases. I wore a watch on Wednesday’s run because I was trying to find a new 10mi out-and-back route from my house, and I was curious to see what “moderate” effort translated to right now. As usual, I didn’t check any of the splits until after I was finished, so I was surprised to see the discrepancy in paces between the first and last moderate segments even though all four moderate segments required the same effort level. Saturday’s long run with added fartlek felt much, much smoother – felt like I could have run another 5-10mi that day if I was so inclined. Today’s progression I kind of made up on the fly – ran the first 4mi very easy with my stepdad and the last 5mi solo, gradually “relaxing into” the run. Felt really great.

Hope everyone else had a great week.

2 weeks worth

week of May 12th

M - 8

Tu - 0

Wed - 7

Th - 6.2

Fri - 5

Sat - 4.6

week of May 19th

M - 4

Tu - 0

Wed - 0

Th - 6

Fri - 4

Sat - 6

Sun - 6

Hope everyone has a great Memorial Day and rest of the week.

Goals:

sub 16 5k

sub 4:40 mile

Mon- 4 at 6:55 2x 200 w/200 rest in 36, 34

Tue- 20 min stationary bike

Wed- 1 wu 4x 400 in 72 w/200 rest, 8x 200 at 33-32 w/200 rest, 2x 400 in 71, 67 w/200 rest 1.75 cd- 7

Thur- 5 at 7:02

Fri- 5 at 6:54

Sat- 1 wu, 5 mile tempo at 5:49 pace (5:54, 5:56, 5:52, 5:45, 5:40) 2 cd

Sun- 7.25 at 6:50

Total: 36.75

This was a gook week for me, as I averaged over 6 miles a day and my legs feel good. Wednesday's workout went pretty well. The 200s were pretty smooth and I didn't feel any lactic acid in my legs until the last couple of strides (easy to run through). It was a good way to get the legs moving.

Saturday's tempo was very good. It was much more relaxed than last weeks tempo. The whole time I felt comfortable and controlled and was never breathing really hard. I was able to feel a little lactic acid the last mile or so, so I accomplished exactly what I wanted this workout.

All I have to do is get through exam week and then I get to go home and start my summer training (I go to a boarding school). It was nice to get another solid set of workouts before I begin to build a base.

Slartzio-Nice to see the well deserved recovery week!

Forcerunner-Awesome week, congrats on the new PR. I assume first time sub 15?

np1112-back into the triple digits. I like the ladder workouts you've been doing and I'm sure I asked this before but what kind of recovery do you put into your intervals?

Nop200-Wow 1,000 feet of climbing is insane. My legs would be fried after that one as well. Sorry to hear about your stomach issues on the way down-still a great race though

Bonham-Solid week, especially that Sunday run. I'm with you on the rain being not that bad, especially in the summer months when it's warm and having the trails empty is a welcome sight

The Stone Cutter-Another great week with a few doubles. I am a big fan of the progression format runs and have been doing a lot of my runs like that lately--also trying to add in some strides and appears add them quite regularly:)

bajada master-nice weeks!

KBXC-Nice week and solid tempo on Saturday. Good luck on your exams this week!

Lake: congrats on the 10miler. Looks like the field was pretty deep overall. A local girl (to me) won the women's race. I don't have experience with either of those plans. Only thing I heard about Daniels is that it can get tough with his workouts.

Cmm: nice week. I had a similar long run progression. Just not as fast as you. Are you going to up the tempo run distance or stay short? I wish I had a weekly tempo right now. Some day I will be as dedicated to core as you hopefully! Haha

On my recoveries. Coach said 3min on the 800s and 4-5min on the ladder. I was right around 3 on the 8s and 2-4min on the ladder. More rest between the longer distances of course. Sometimes I think or feel like I can go before when I am supposed to. But I try to stick close to what I am given. I'd rather hit the intervals than push the rest.

Slartzio: for being sore that's a good recovery week. Easing back into things nicely.

Force: congrats on the PR. How would you rate those mile repeats In difficulty for you?

Nop200: sounds like a fun race and series. Besides the pain afterwards haha. Good luck in the series.

Bonham: nice week. Looks like you had fun and things are getting almost back to perfect?

Stone: right there with ya on the heat and humidity coming back. I lost 4.2lbs on this mornings easy 8mi run and it was only 79.

Kbxc: great overall week. I am sure heading home will be good for you.

Goal: 10K on June 7th, break 40 minutes.

Others: PR in the half marathon in September, break 5:00 in the mile in Oct-Nov.

Ugh. Had a few bad weeks. My legs have felt dead, lately. I'm not entirely sure why. I stopped doing static stretching after some of my runs and I think my legs hated that, especially my hips and quads. So I started it again and they feel great. Plus it's been really hot here..

M - 5 easy

T - rest

W - 5 easy

T - 10 easy (29degC - AHHHHH)

F - rest

S - 4.25 easy

S - 6 progression. Last half mile at 5K race pace. This was a great run, despite me having way too many drinks for my bday the night before.

Total: 30.25

Going on a work trip, and my flight gets back at about 10:30PM the night before my 10K. So I'm not sure I'll meet my race goal. On a good day, I'm confident I can break 40. I think I was capable a few months ago before I trained hard for my 5K at the end of April. So hopefully I have enough residual fitness. The jet lag will work in my favor as I'm flying west on the 6th.

This week was focused on recovering from surgery but staying as active as I could without setting myself back.

Monday: 45 minutes on the bike, easy

Tuesday: 45 minutes on the bike, moderate

Wednesday: 55 minutes on the bike, moderate

Thursday: 45 minutes on the bike, easy into 2 x stairs (2 at a time, exaggerating like I'm running). Nice to do some running-specific stuff. Jogged a little (like 30 seconds) in between sets and it barely hurt

Friday: .5 mile run, 45 minutes moderate on the bike, 1 mile run

Saturday: 3 mile run into 40 minutes moderate on the bike

Sunday: 4 mile run into 45 minutes moderate on the bike

This was probably my hardest week ever because on Tuesday I became very depressed, which apparently is a common side-effect of surgery. The depression only lasted a few days, but during those days it was very difficult to convince myself to get out of bed, let alone go exercise and then go to work. But I knew the exercise would help my mood so I kept at it.

I'm at the point where I can run without any abdominal pain, but apparently there's still CO2 trapped under my diaphragm. When I wake up it feels fine, so if I get out the door early I'm OK. But as the day goes on the pressure builds more and more, so that by the end of the day it feels like I have a permanent side stitch and when I breathe deeply or cough it's excruciating. Then it goes away again and I feel great for the next morning. So I don't think evening runs are an option yet.

Lakerunner: Congrats on the race! Managing expectations is always the trickiest part of running (or life, really), and it sounds like you did an excellent job. And raging hangovers the day after triumphs on the track are obligatory.

cmm268:That still looks like a pretty solid week to me. I don't think it's reasonable to expect you'll crush every workout, and you got in some pretty good volume. What are these 18 mile MP runs you speak of the Daniels plan? That frightens the crap out of me and makes me glad I chose Pfitz this season.

Slartzio: The sight of "goal: ?" made me laugh. Well played.

Forcerunner: Wow, very impressive 5k. Nice moves!

NP112: Killer week, man. I find new shoes generally make me about five seconds faster per mile for the first week, and then their magic is spent.

Also, to reply to your comment about hot yoga last week, I didn't find it at all unpleasant. Well, the sweat that poured into my eyes when we did downward dog was a pain, but outside of that the whole thing felt like a really great stretching session. And the feeling once you get out of the shower is priceless, like you've just had the world's best massage. Still, I can see why everyone might not like it. Different strokes, I suppose.

Nop200: Egad, that sounds terrible. I'm kind of scared of mountain and trail races for exactly this reason. I hope you recover quickly.

Stone Cutter: Great week, man. I always admire your discipline in running progressions, because my instinct is always to go out like a decapitated chicken and hang on for dear life. I fight against this urge, but I often lose. Also, I wish I had your discipline in avoiding looking at the watch when you don't need to. Again, I try, and, again, I often fail.

Piano: I believe it was Winston Churchill who said "Thou shalt stretch post-run or thou shalt suffer." Good luck in the race!

xenonscreams:Glad to hear you've pulled out of the funk, at least. Mental health is no joke. Now wax that abdominal pain!

Didn't mean to scare you! You shouldn't be scared of mt/trail races! They are probably the most fun sort of race there is, and you should give them a chance. Ok, maybe be scared of downhills, but uphills are your friend. The great thing about uphill races is that, while they work wonders in terms of making you stronger (mentally and physically), you recover quickly from them because of the low impact nature of them. I am actually feeling better already, so thankfully the downhill hasn't completely destroyed my legs.

Lakerunner - Solid Week. The Durden plan looks interesting. That Long Run is Long!

Cmm268 - Great workout on Tuesday! And nice progression on Saturday. I actually ran sub 15 on the track a few weeks ago, but this is the first time on the roads. Last year I ran 15:24 on this same course so I'm quite a ways ahead.

Slartzio - Nice first runs back. Hopefully that lingering soreness goes away.

NP1112 - Great volume and very consistent in your workokuts. The effort was honestly the same the whole time. I thought about cutting it after one rep but I'm glad I stayed with it.

Nop200 - The mountain race sounds rough!

Stone Cutter - Thanks! Nice atlernate miles workout on Wednesday, and Saturday's fartlek looks good! Any plan on increasing time for the 'ons' in the future? I'm going to be a senior in college this year but I have forgone my remaining eligibility. I like the roads a lot better anyway, plus I've seen lots of improvement coaching myself the past year and a half.

Bonham - I love hill reps like the ones you did on Friday!

Bajada - Looking forward to seeing some good training from you!

KBXC - Nice workouts! That Tempo looks like it went perfect.

Piano - I had to look up how hot 29C was haha. Nice week. Hopefully you can race well.

Xenon - I hope you feel better soon!

LakeRunner- congrats on the race, and glad you are able to put the result into perspective given your recent training. Enjoy your well deserved break before your next marathon cycle.

CMM268- That's not a bad week at all, didn't seem like you had any "home run" sessions but you got in the work.

Out of curiosity, when you say "10 minute planks", do you break it up into sets? Or is it a straight 10-minute hold? I have been doing some core lately and the longest I can hold for is about 2:30.

Slartzio- It's easier said than done, but "rest training" is just as important as everything else, and it seems like you did a good job of that this past week.

Forcerunner- Looks like you are doing a great job at chipping away at your PR recently. Congrats on yet another one!

NP1112- Ah, to be young again. To go from being forced to miss a run cuz of achilles/heel issues midweek to ripping off a decent workout 1-2 days later.

Nop200- That Saturday race sounds brutal. It seems like you have a special talent for that type of even though.

Bonham- Great to see you continue to make progress on your injury and get back into the swing of things.

Stone Cutter- I love how you are embracing the goal for your base period and really seem to be getting in quality runs at the appropriate/right intensity levels.

Bajada master- Nice job getting in the miles. Any big (or small?) races coming up?

KBXC- Nice week as usual. I am slightly confused, are you taking a shot at your sub4:40/16:00 goals in the next couple of weeks? Or are they more long-term goals for summer/XC now?

Piano_Man87- Good week and it sounds like you fixed your hip/leg issues before it even became a major issue so that's pretty huge too.

xenonscreams- Kudos on getting through what sounded like a pretty tough week and getting in some sort of aerobic activity to maintain your fitness. It should hopefully only get easier from this point on.