Road Racing and Training Thread - Week Ending 6/15

Reed- I think you did a solid job balancing maintaining your fitness with what's probably more important in your life last week (finals). Hopefully you are done with exams and can get back into it this week.

NP1112- Nice workouts, looks like you should be ready for a huge PR in the 5K in the next couple of weeks.

Emlda- Thanks, I have sort of been using a "make it up" as I go plan. Although to be more serious (and detailed), I basically sit down at the beginning of each training cycle and look at what I have done in the past and what I think worked well, and then add in a couple of things from formal training plans (Jack Daniels, Hanson's, Hudson, other stuff I found on the internet) that I like to try, then write out a rough schedule of what I want to do. That schedule then gets tweaked a little bit as I go along depending on what I think I need and what I have going on in my life at the moment.

It sounds like you ran a very solid progression and worked down to goal half marathon pace (or even faster) for a few miles at the end. I don't know if you've done your tempo already, but I would suggest starting at 4 miles and then work yourself up to about 6 in the next 3-4 weeks. Or you can try some standard Daniels workouts like 2x3, 3x2, or even a 3-2-1 (all at tempo pace) to keep things interesting.

The midweek interval session should serve you well by working your VO2max system up, just don't overdo it since that system is secondary to your lactate threshold system in HM training.

Hello all,

Lots of good training going on for everybody it seems.

So have not posted here in a few weeks.

Ran a week of 81.3 miles, then 84 miles.

Last week:

Sunday 6/8 12.4 miles total (5k race in Garden of the Gods 16:16 and a treadmill tempo later that night 17:08 for 3.1)

Monday 6/9 13.1 miles 75:30. Good run, legs were not great from the Garden.

Tuesday 6/10 15.5 miles total, nothing crazy around 6:30 pace.

Wednesday 6/11 12 miles 77 minutes.

Thursday 6/12 7 miles easy.

Friday 6/13 6 miles easy

Saturday 6/14 14.2 miles total (10k Race 32:27)

80 miles for the week. Overall a good week. Finally was not tired going into a race. More races this week and possibly next week as well.

@Np1112 Very long recovery, 200m walking and 400 jogging slowly, it takes between 3 and 4 minutes.

The Stone Cutter Smart to take a down week when you aren't feeling it. You've probably mentioned this before, but are you following any set training plan?

Netwerk Errer Welcome to the thread -- will be interesting to see how you progress with what seems like a lot of upside.

Nop200 Mountain running championships sound fun. I'll be racing out that way on the 6th, too -- let's hope it's not too hot.

xenonscreams like other people said in your thread, short hill sprints a la Canova are great for functional power. I've also found that I don't lose speed in base phase when I'm doing them regularly.

TheGarbageDisposal Real solid week, especially considering how close your race is.

I'm planning on getting in an 18 miler this week, then scaling back a bit and hoping general fitness carries me through. I'm looking to do a half this fall, so this is more of a diversion/BQ attempt than anything.

Np1112 Really solid workouts this week. Are you shooting for sub-15?

I moved to training in flats because I got sick of motion control shoes that made me roll ankles all the time (I've got flat feet, and neutral/big heel shoes give me IT problems). They're pretty good once you're used to them, but I do have to be careful to retire them at 500 miles sharp.

Switf23r Geez that's a tough Sunday-Monday you've got there.

Stone Cutter - Smart to take a week back when your body was telling you to.

Slartzio - Hope you enjoyed your easy week. I can't really comment on not having a goal though because for the last 6-7 years I have been running I've always had a goal race to train for, but being in a club that has competitive xc/track teams makes it pretty easy.

Netwerk Error - Impressive times for any runner, especially because you are new to running.

tadpole - Consistency, I like it. What distance is the xc race?

Nop200 - Good saturday run. I remember that the first day of summer cross country practice my coach always made us put away the high jump, pole vault and hurdles.

Lakeview Runner - Nice workout, 12x400 @ goal 5k pace is good for this far out from your goal race.

Ghola - Nice job with your long run.

xenonscreams - Good to see you hitting all sides of the running fun spectrum, from a middle distance track double to an unstructured long trail run the next day.

TheGarbageDisposal - Good luck with your half this coming week. The sub 16 5k is almost as impressive as aqua jogging for an hour (how do you manage the boredom?).

cmm268 - Nice job getting in 80 miles while traveling. From your experiences with the 10k would you recommend wine then as more of a recovery drink as opposed to a pre race drink?

Hereford - Best of luck to you. Also if I'm posting a 10 mile week then you can certainly post a 50 mile week.

reed - A 60 mile week plus finals is very impressive.

Np1112 - I like the structure of your ladder, up down and then throw on some 400s.

emlda - Solid progression run on Wednesday. I've never trained for a half but I would think you would want workout volume to be 5-7 miles so something like 10x1000 or 6x1 mile. People who know how to train for a half feel free to chime in.

swift23r - Great 10k race. Keep it up. Just curious, how many 80+ mile weeks have you run in a row?

uh-oh, looks like my name has some competition!!!

Anyhow, the last 3 weeks were nothing special. Averaged about 56-60 miles a week in 7-8 runs, averaging 7:20 per mile on my runs over the whole period.

Just finished up school, looking to get back up into the 70s and 80s mileage-wise to build up for Chicago this year.

Happy trails!!!

Pewow,

I had to look at my log. So I went back to when I started running 80+ miles weeks (Week starting July 28th 2013).

Total weeks since then 46

Weeks at 80 or more 41 (5 above 90 in that 41).

The down weeks were 69.2, 64.6, 74.1, 79 and 76.

From then to now I have taken 7 days off.

Year to date for 2014 1932.75 miles.

Netwerk Errer, tadpole - welcome! Look forward to your training.

TheGarbageDisposal - take no prisoners this weekend! You've already had yourself quite the 2014 and we aren't even halfway through the year. :)

cmm268 - super impressed with your 10k time in light of your travels/running schedule. Your 5k PR is such an anomaly - I think when you finally break 17:00, you'll run like 16:25. Keep up the good work.

Np1112 - the medicated pads have salicylic acid in them, which helps "soften" the callus so it can heal. They are very thin clear, circular disks which you place on the callus, and then there is a more traditional "band aid" that goes over top of the disk to help hold it in place and provide additional cushioning for walking/running. I have never used these before, so I was pleasantly surprised how effective they are, even after only a couple days.

Ghola - my base phase is kind of a hodge-podge of easy running and very light workouts. I usually rotate form 200s and quarter mile hill repeats with fartleks and longer intervals (1mi on, 1mi off) or progressive medium long runs. When I get to the actual marathon cycle, I will follow a largely Hansons-inspired plan with some version of their "Speed," "Strength," and "Tempo" workouts.

Reed: That makes sense.

Garbage: hopefully for the both of us. This weekend will probably be a rust buster with the temps that are expected.

Swift: congrats on the 10k win. And your not so great Monday run is faster than my PR. At altitude! Haha

Ghola: good to know you can get that kind of mileage out of these shoes. About what do you weight? I am around 170. So my shoes typically don't last as long. I still need to break 16 first haha. This is my first 5k cycle so it's been interesting.

Lake runner: I figured you just changed your name again! Haha

Stone: I may look into those for a couple spots I have. Thanks for the info.

Goals:

sub 16 5k

4:35 mile

Mon- 4 at 6:44

Tue- off (flying home)

Wed- 3.25 at 6:40 w/2 strides + core

Thur- 6 at 6:43 w/2 strides + core

Fri- 6 at 6:54

Sat- 5 at 6:45 w/2 strides

Sun- 6 at 7:02 w/2 strides + core

Total: 30.35 miles in 6 days

Overall this was a solid first week of summer training. The school I go to is in the northeast so being back in Texas has been a bit of a shock to my body. these past couple of runs have been tougher than usual, as my body is still adapting to the heat. Also, my pace was a little quick the first couple of days, but I am finally running at a more reasonable pace. Finally, I have adjusted my running route by creating a 1.5 mile loop that allows me to get water to hydrate/pour on myself more often. This week will serve as a good launching point to build up to 40-45 mpw with a 10-12 mile long run.

Hi all,

I've been reading this thread for awhile, but this is my first time posting. I am training for the Twin Cities Marathon this October, and figure that posting in this thread will help keep me motivated.

Goal: sub-2:45 at TCM, 10/5

M: 6.2 easy (7:04)

T: 8.0 (6:55)

W: 12.6 (6:52)

T: 5.4 easy (7:15)

F: 11.0 easy (7:00)

S: off

S: 16.0 (6:57)

Weekly total: 59.2

I completed a half marathon on 6/7 - time was 77:55 in windy, rainy conditions on a hilly course. I definitely had some left in the tank at the end. Spent this past week recovering a bit and am going to be jumping into week 3 of Pfitz's 70-85 mpw plan this week.

swift23r- Nice week and very nice race again. Also thanks for (inadvertently?) pacing me for the first 2 miles of our race before the 10K split off.

Ghola- Sounds like a solid plan over the next couple of weeks. I think your approach to this marathon is exactly what I would do in your shoes, you're fit but just doesn't have a lot of marathon-specific training, so no need to overdo it at this point. Just gotta be conservative in the next 2 weeks as well as in the race itself, and you should be able to hit your goal comfortably. (or at least as comfortable as 26.2 can be)

Pewow- The good thing about aqua-jogging is you can go as hard as you want and not beat your legs up as much. So I just did a "workout" in there. 15-min warmup with some "hard" segments, then I did 20x(75s on, 45 off). It's easy to zone in when your goal during the "on" segments is to not drown.

Lakerunner- Glad to hear you're doing well and enjoying some down time with easy miles. Hope to see you posting regularly again.

Stone Cutter / NP1112- Yep, it's been a fun first 6 months for sure! I am definitely excited and ready to roll.

KBXC- Enjoy your summer training man. Sounds like you've already settled in and are getting into a nice routine.

Souper- Welcome. Good to see another new face and hope we can provide you with the motivation you need over the next few months. (if not more).

Hey guys I haven't had time to comment yet, very busy week with work, but I'll try to get to it at some point! Meanwhile I appreciate all of your comments!

Goal: Sub 2:30 @ Seattle (11/30)

M - a.m. 6 miles @ 7:24 pace

M - p.m. 5 miles @ 7:20 pace + core

T - a.m. 4 miles @ 7:39 pace

T - p.m. 10 miles @ 6:39 pace + 10 x 100m strides + core

W - p.m. 13 miles @ 6:49 pace (technical trails)

R - a.m. 6 miles @ 7:19 pace

R - p.m. 5 miles @ 7:10 pace

F - p.m. 12 miles @ 7:23 pace

S - a.m. 6 miles @ 7:26 pace + core

S - a.m. 17 miles @ 6:27 pace (last 8 miles in 49:02 on rolling hills)

Total - 84 miles

GarbageDisposal-That's amazing man--now that you mention it I do remember similar buildups for your last races. Good luck this weekend, I'll be looking for your results:)

reed-not a bad week given you had finals. Hopefully they are behind you now and you can run...

np1112-I looked at the 90 number and thought to myself, slacker. Just kidding:) You've done the same ladder workout pretty much every week since Boston right? Is that intentional? You are going to crush some 5ks in the upcoming weeks with the workouts you've been having week after week. No 5k for me this weekend but probably next weekend and then back to back 5 mile races on July 4th and week after.

emida-Nice progression and working it down to to low 5s

swift23r-welcome back--looks like you have gotten in some quality work, especially that 5k!

pewow-wine is definitely a recovery drink but when it's being offered for free on a 9 hour flight it's hard to turn down when you consider the 10k the next day more or less a workout with no expectations:)

Thanks StoneCutter I'll get there I guess

souper-I ran 2:45:XX at Twin Cities 2 years back. welcome to this group, you wont be short on motivation with reading the training logs of people in this thread:) Look forward to seeing you post throughout the summer.

Mojo_Sam-awesome week, especially that Sunday long run with your closing 8

Cmm: nice. So will your mileage drop to "peak" for any of those races? I have done that ladder workout 4 times now. Just what my coach had me doing. I really liked the workout. Now I will be doing some other stuff to get sharp for these races. Did a 3mi BP today. Gonna feel lazy not doing that much volume now.

A few new people have already tossed their hat in here so I figured I might as well too.

Goal: sub 17 5k

Side goal: sub 28 8k

M: AM: 3mi easy(8:16) PM: 6mi easy w/jogging stroller (7:58)

T: PM: 8x400 w/400 recovery (1:17/2:30avg)

W: PM: 3mi easy (7:34)

Th: PM: 6x1000 Cruise Intervals w/1min recovery (3:44 avg)

F: AM: 3mi easy PM: 6mi easy (7:14)

Sa: AM: 3mi easy (7:29)PM: blew it off for disc golf w/friends

Su: AM: 10mi w/hills (7:38)

Weekly total: 46 miles

YTD: 946 miles

I ran in high school and college (xc only) and then after my last xc race I said I was never running again. I held true to that for 9 years and in 2011 I started running again for my health and for my daughter. Since 2011, my PR have been:

5k 17:29

8k 28:54

10k 37:35

half 1:23:00

full 2:53:58

I ran boston this past year and blew up (over 30 minutes behind my qualifing time), but for it being my second marathon ever, i am just happy to have had the experience. I've also had some achilles issues that hit in March and I lost a significant amount of training.

I haven't raced since Boston and have a 10k this weekend. Just going to try and see where I am at and gauge the my training by how i do.

I do all of my training in the zoom streaks, they've been great for me. I prefer the 3's over the 4's but both are good. Not tried the 5's yet.

Not a huge amount of support in them obviously being racing flats but I've had no problems and they're nice and light and fairly responsive.

TheGarbageDisposal wrote:

Goal Race: Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon - 6/21

Goal: Sub-67:00

I couldn't wait until tomorrow so I looked up your result this morning - awesome job, man! We should all be so blessed to have the 2014 you are having.

You are a true model of hard work and consistency for the rest of us. Your positive attitude is also infectious - you are very deserving of your repeated successes this year.

Now it's time to live up to your nickname and put away those massive amounts of food you were talking about! :)

Enjoy!