Road Racing and Training Thread - Week Ending 9/28

My PRs (all during this cycle) are:

5k - 19:49, 10k - 42:10, 1/2 - 1:34:20

The 5k was July 5, but we had perfect weather. The 10k was early Sept and miserable weather, 70+ at the start with 68 dew point. The 1/2 was a week ago, good weather, kinda hilly, and I ran an extra 0.15 mile +/- due to a missed turn. Plus the loss of mental focus when I figured that I had to go back because of the missed turn.

I've been running low to mid 40 mpw average for the cycle. Prior to this July I was in the mid 30s for a couple of months. I had a couple of injuries in 2013 and I built up slowly, trying to prevent reoccurrence. I run most of my miles at 7:55 - 8:15. Other than racing, zero speed work. Pretty aggressive tempo runs through July and August.

I'm thinking best case scenario is 3:20. I think realistically I probably should go for 3:25 or 3:30. I do plan to go with a pace group to try to eliminate the going out too fast possibility.

Of course, 3:15 is BQ standard for my age.....my brain tells me that's out of reach this time, but it's "only" 5 or 10 minutes faster!

jwil wrote:

Following Bonham's post above, my biggest worry is how I am going to respond when I get to mile 20. Every marathon I have ran I have crashed hard. This prompted me to up the training miles considerably and go with Pfitzingers plan.

I set a goal a year ago to BQ (sub 3:10). This is the first marathon I feel confident going into that I absolutely should meet the goal. Still quite nervous though.

Once again, I appreciate everyone's support. Now it's time to kick some ass!

You ARE ready, man! Your training was impeccably consistent throughout the cycle, I have no doubt you will do well. It's okay to respect the distance, but give yourself respect, too. Check out your training log and the hard work you have put in. Trust it. Have faith. When you get to Mile 20 and you are feeling great this time, just think of how awesome it's going to feel when you hit that goal with all those family members there ready to celebrate with you! :)

Wow, what a great statement: "It's okay to respect the distance, but give yourself respect, too."

I look back to the half marathon where I was expecting no better than a 1:30, but cruised to a 1:27. It's crazy the blocks that we sometimes put on ourselves.

Just checked the training log: 920 miles in 16 weeks. 5 runs of 20+. Hit every single benchmark laid out by Pfitzinger. Going to read the detailed notes this week. Thanks!

jwil: Thanks for the kind thoughts! I've enjoyed tracking your progress too. To echo Stone, you've been super consistent. You're ready to rock.

cmm: Thanks dude. Another great week from you – I can never understand how you can get in all these 12 mile runs before work. And after crossing the pond! How much do you sleep?

Good luck Bonham and jwil, you've both had great training cycles so I'm pretty confident you should be having good races this weekend. Stick around when you're done as well as I enjoy reading both your training!

Goal: Amsterdam 10/19 (3:15)

Weekly: 68

YTD: 1601.25

Mon: 17 @ 9:15

Tues: 5 @ 9:31

Weds: AM Weights and core PM 10 with 4x1200(2min rests) @ 6:32 pace

Thurs: 10 @ 8:27

Fri: Rest

Sat: 6 with 5k in 20:17

Sun: 20 @ 8:57

So, I didn't post last week as I ran a fell race on the Saturday and my legs were shot to pieces until the following Saturday morning and there was no way I could have done my long run on Sunday so had to take the day off. This meant rather than having two weeks of roughly 50 miles I ended up with 31.5 last week and 68 this week as I did my longrun on Monday instead.

This has meant that this week is a weekly mileage record by 8 miles (although I'm never sure if weeks like this count where a long run rolls over). I've been struggling with heavy painful legs all week so a lot of my paces are down (Monday's run was torture) but happily it all came kind of good on Saturday when I ran my fastest 5k since the end of May, it's still a minute away from my PR but at least it seems I'm moving in the right direction.

Starting my taper now so the next 2 weeks should hopefully be nice and easy and then it's marathon time!

stone: Nice and consistent MP run. You future weeks look great and very structured. The week before the marathon looks a little intense to me. How many days out do you plan to do the 10MP? I did 14MP 10 days out from my last and never really felt 100% recovered after. I would still wait till you get further into the next more specific cycle to re think goals. You can re gauge your fitness every few weeks then.

Yup 2nd fastest. I was trying to get a small PR but was not going to be upset if it wasnt there. This was truly a tune up for the 50 miler.

hereford: week looks solid. good call on not forcing mileage when you dont feel up to it.

Matthias: massage can do wonderful things for the body! Just wish that I could get them after every hard day like the pros haha.

pikachu: nice looking comeback week. You are a fartlek guy, right? What do you build them up to during marathon training and what kind of paces (5k, 10k, half?) are you usually going for on the "on" segments?

distance fan: congrats on the overall great week. 20 miler feeling good and highest mileage has to have you feeling good!

runfix: glad to see you back. interested to see some OT marathon training

bonham: i think you will be fine come race day. you have done a lot of training to prepare yourself. i have stomach issues at almost every race too. i try to eat 3.5 hours before the race and then sneak a gel in 15 min before the start. hang out around the port a pots because i get nervous. a train actually stopped on the tracks at the marathon i did saturday. it messed up a lot of people.

The course was through a lot of the city and then into neighborhoods the 2nd half. Most of the time they wanted the runner on the outside or longer end of the turns/curves/tangents and traffic was coming at you on the other side.

reed: damn. hell of a week. bunch of prs! and to say those miles were easy. wow!

cmm: wow. another hell of a week! you are fit and ready!

I honestly have no clue what to do from now till the 50. Still have yet to schedule anything with my coach (who is not an ultra coach. but has coached a 2:16 guy). I am thinking I will get recovered for one more longer workout and then get a full 2 week taper. Maybe something like 75/80 - 100 - 80/85 - 50/55 (7 days before).

once: what is a "fell" race? I would still count that as a mileage high. Any 7 day stretch works for me haha

np1112 wrote:

pikachu: nice looking comeback week. You are a fartlek guy, right? What do you build them up to during marathon training and what kind of paces (5k, 10k, half?) are you usually going for on the "on" segments?

I like fartlek stuff because if I always gor for "x" distance I tend to force "y" time.

I like to have a fartlek once per week or once every two weeks. I like to do them towards the end of my long runs. I usually build them up to 30 minutes of 2' on/1' off at the end of an overdistance run at half marathon/medium pace. When I ran 2:17 I was able to do this at roughly sub 5 and sub 6 minute pace and still stay somewhat under control. So a typical week is Tuesday or Wednesday repeats, Friday tempo, Sunday long.

Hi all,

Been slacking off on posting here lately.. but I've been seeing some progress..

Mon - Rest

Tue - 2 w-up, 16x200m (in 36sish, last one in 33s) w/ 200m recoveries, 2 c-d

Wed - 5 easy (7:47)

Thu - 2.5 w-up, 3 tempo (6:21, 6:17, 6:14), 2.5 c-d

Fri - Rest

Sat - 8 easy (7:45)

Sun - 2 w-up, 6x800m(2:50-2:55) w/ 400m jogs, 2 c-d

Total: 37.

Next week 42.

Taking Iron = feeling wayyy better

Pikachu wrote:

I like fartlek stuff because if I always gor for "x" distance I tend to force "y" time.

I like to have a fartlek once per week or once every two weeks. I like to do them towards the end of my long runs. I usually build them up to 30 minutes of 2' on/1' off at the end of an overdistance run at half marathon/medium pace. When I ran 2:17 I was able to do this at roughly sub 5 and sub 6 minute pace and still stay somewhat under control. So a typical week is Tuesday or Wednesday repeats, Friday tempo, Sunday long.

Thanks! I may try to incorporate something similar in my next cycle.

Hey everyone!

Goal Race: Dublin Marathon

Goal Time: Sub 3

Mon: 8m easy

Tue: 8m easy

Wed: Rest

Thu: 6x1mile with 2 min rec (6:15)

Fri: 10m easy

Sat: 20m with last 5 @ 6:39

Sun: Rest

I was still a little tired after last weeks HM so I had a fairly easy start to this week and built myself slowly into the harder work towards the end. I had a little tightness in my tfl on the long run for the first time in nearly 8 months, it's nothing to worry about. Just coming from the slow pace and braking effect of the long run. I forgot to charge my garmin so my last 5 miles on Saturday were a little faster than MP. I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing but I felt strong.

I had a battle with my Thursday workout as I was a little stiff after a deep tissue massage the night before. To be expected I suppose.

Just a question to you guys. I have a racish effort coming up next week where I am scheduled for 18.5 miles at MP. There is a pacing group for that pace. It is 3 weeks out from the marathon and I was wondering what your thoughts are on a sustained effort at MP for this distance were so close to raceday?

Goal Race - Half Marathon (October)

Goal Time - Sub 1:30 (B: Sub 1:33 - DONE)

Other Goals (2014 or early 2015) - Sub 20min 5k, Sub 40min 10k

Plan - Daniel's Half Marathon Plan (3rd Edition)

Mon - 3 miles - very easy with girlfriend (9:49)

Tue - 9 miles - easy (8:14)

Wed - 6 miles - easy (8:11)

Thu - 6 miles - easy (8:13)

Fri - 4 miles - easy (8:05)

Sat - off (planned)

Sun - 13 miles - easy (8:36)

Total = 41 miles

Not too much to report this week, as it was a recovery week from the race last Sunday (21st). Still pleased with the HM result (1:31 PB), but looking forward to (hopefully) breaking 1:30 next month!

I kinda felt that a whole 7 days of nothing but easy running was a bit over the top, but I thought it would be prudent to stick to the advice in the book at this stage, rather than risk overdoing it a month out from my goal race. In many ways it was quite nice to have a week without needing to worry about pace too much.

Tuesday's run was one of those days where everything just felt easy and effortless. I only planned for 5/6 miles but ended up running 9, and finished feeling great.

Went away for the weekend, which meant taking the Saturday off running; but we did a lot of walking which made up for it a bit.

Finished the week with a very odd run last night. Didn't come back from our weekend away until early evening, and went out for a run feeling absolutely shattered. Was scheduled to do a 13 mile long run, but I was feeling so tired I'd pretty much 90% decided to just run an easy 4; but things felt pretty good and I started to wake up after the first couple of miles, and ended up completing the full 13 on a reasonably hilly route.

Back on to training 'proper' this week, in to phase 4 of the plan now. I have 4 weeks at this phase, although the last week and a half are going to be lower intensity.

Got a 5k race coming up on Tuesday, which will be my first over that distance (previous PB is 20:25 in training). Hoping to be under the 20min barrier without too much trouble; hopefully closer to 19min than 20min!

Looks like everyone had good weeks!!

Stonecutter- Your confidence seems very high. I'm impressed that you were pretty much able to get right back into training after Philly last Sunday. If you're feeling fresh then these next weeks leading up to the marathon should go well. Hope for the best.

Pewow- Sounds like the course was pretty tough along with the weather. Bad races happen. I definitely one to know. I one couldn't even hold goal half marathon pace for 5k then 3 weeks later I crushed my half. Just forget about and get the next one.

Xenonscreams- That does look like a tough first week back but I'm sure your coach knows what he's doing. Definitely focus on the xc season even though I like the marathon idea.

Pikachu- Getting back into is tough. You seem to be getting there fast though. I'm very interested in what your workouts are going to look like these next weeks coming up.

Np1112- Nice marathon! I would get frustrated too with the course being like it was. Also, I'm sure once the taper gets here you'll be feeling fresh. I always go with 2.5 weeks but everyone is different.

Cmm268- Crazy week. Great that you're recovered from Philly as well. Very solid long run too. I definitely think your goal of 2:35 is achievable. Just by looking at your long run. One more week then it's taper time.

I'm back after an injury (plantar fasciitis) imposed hiatus! Quick summary of my progress:

Week ending 8/24: 4 miles. Waited a week to run, not enough rest.

Week ending 8/31: 0 miles. Took another week off

Week ending 9/7: 14 miles running every other day

Week ending 9/14: 15 miles running every other day

Week ending 9/21: 18 miles, ran 5 days

Week ending 9/28: 19 miles, ran 6 days

A lot of low mileage in there, between 2-5 miles at the most. Doing a lot of stretching, golf ball work, and some hip and low leg strengthening exercises.

Add me to the returnees!

After the passage of time and occasional light running my right Achilles is doing pretty well. If my calf gets especially sore it can feel a bit tight and uncomfortable, but otherwise it feels great. So I guess this means I'll be doing what I can to avoid that calf getting too sore! Probably will be hard to avoid when it comes to racing in spikes, but I doubt I'll feel the need to do that more than twice.

Goals are basically to stay injury free, enjoy this cross country season, and get back near my competition weight. Good performances would be nice, but I'd like to at least establish health for several months before those start coming more to the forefront.

Goal races are NIRCA nationals and USATF club nationals (conveniently held an hour and a half away from me this year). Longer term would be USATF club nationals in track, but track season is still a long way off.

Anyways, this week was pretty good. Still pretty early and I'm not yet on top of supplemental stuff:

M - 64 minutes ungodly early (friend visiting from Europe, still on European time)

Tu- 56 minutes, strides, half an hour biking

W - 70 minutes, somewhat fast

Th- 66 minutes, strides

F - ~80 minutes with intervals.

Sa- 64 minutes, 6 x 6s hill sprints. Very hot and sunny for this time of year, died horribly.

Su- 94 minutes relatively easy. Longest run in quite a while, but felt pretty good.

Total: 494 minutes

The Friday workout I was with some other people who were doing a more structured workout while I popped in and out. Wanted something that would get my legs used to running faster without being stressful overall. Did mostly 400s and a couple of 800s for a total distance of close to 5000 meters while averaging around 82s/400.

Anyways, I'm glad to be back, and I look forward to keeping up with your progress these coming weeks. Also, congratulations to TheGarbageDisposal for his marathon win last week!

jwil wrote:

Wow, what a great statement: "It's okay to respect the distance, but give yourself respect, too."

I look back to the half marathon where I was expecting no better than a 1:30, but cruised to a 1:27. It's crazy the blocks that we sometimes put on ourselves.

Just checked the training log: 920 miles in 16 weeks. 5 runs of 20+. Hit every single benchmark laid out by Pfitzinger. Going to read the detailed notes this week. Thanks!

Dude, if you ran 1:27 recently, then you could probably go sub 3 at St George. I love the area and love the race. It's crazy fast course, especially the second half.

Hey RunnersFix, yeah, it's hard. But I have plenty of time to biuld back up. I want to PR in spring. I will try this time to keep it fun. To not train too hard like I did in this year. We'll see how that goes :-) All my good wihses for your biuld-up :-)

quick post:

Goal race: BAA Half 10/12

Next race: 5k next weekend

M: Rest

T: 9 steady, including 4x200 w/200 jog (38,34,33,31) (63')

W: 10; 3 mile warmup; 5.8 mile tempo (32:55/5:40 per mile); 1 cooldown

Th: 10 easy

F: 6 easy

Sa: 14 total. 3 mile shakeout; 3 mile warmup; 8k XC race; 3 mile cooldown

Su: 5 easy

Total: 54 miles

Horrible race on Saturday. The race started around noon, and by that time it was in the 80s and very sunny. I took out the first mile in 5:04, then fell off HARD. 28:30 final time, with probably all my sub-6 miles coming in the first 2. Ouch.

np1112 wrote:

stone: Nice and consistent MP run. You future weeks look great and very structured. The week before the marathon looks a little intense to me. How many days out do you plan to do the 10MP? I did 14MP 10 days out from my last and never really felt 100% recovered after. I would still wait till you get further into the next more specific cycle to re think goals. You can re gauge your fitness every few weeks then.

I like to do that last longer MP effort 10 days before the race. Although looking at my last marathon cycle, I abbreviated it to 7mi at 5-10secs/mi faster than MP, so I may go that route instead depending on how I am feeling. Another option is to turn it into something like 2x4mi at MP with 5:00-10:00 recovery jog.

Thanks for your input on your own experiences. I will definitely keep your advice in mind. :)

Hey everyone. Week one of the taper for chicago. Nothing noteworthy.

Monday - 5 mi easy ~8 per mile

Tues - 5 mi easy ~8 per mile

Weds- 5 mi easy ~8 per mile

Thurs 5 mi easy ~8 per mile

Fri 5 mi easy ~8 per mile

Sat 5 mi easy ~8 per mile

Sun 15 mi @ 7:27 per mile. Felt smooth and comfortable the whole time, even though I forgot my gels like a big dummy.

Feeling good about my chances of finally breaking 3 this year ---- My plan is to run with the 3 hour pace group until 22 miles and then see what I can get back over the back 4.2 miles.

After having a good 3-sunday run of a 17:40 5k, a 7:20/mile 22 miler, and a super comfortable 7:27/mile 15 miler, I feel very comfortable about my fitness - much better than I felt last year peaking at 85, which is strange considering I ran only 62 in my peak week this year.... Hopefully the high-quality durden plan will pay off.