Road Racing and Training Thread Week Ending 12/14

Goal Race- Houston Race

Mon- 16 miles. 2m, 5m, 2m with 5 min rest. 10:16 (5:10, 5:06), 26:05 (5:13, 5:13, 5:13, 5:14, 5:11), 9:53 (5:07, 4:46).

Tue- 14 miles at 7:03 / 4 miles at 7:01. Light weights.

Wed- 18 miles at 6:00 avg. Miles 14-17 at 5:36, 5:28, 5:23, 5:11.

Thur- 14 miles at 7:01 / 4 miles at 7:03. Weights.

Fri- 14 miles at 7:01 / 6 miles at 6:56. Strides.

Sat- 16 miles. 7 mile alt tempo. 5:08 avg. (5:22, 4:54, 5:21, 4:52, 5:27, 4:49, 5:12).

Sun- 14 miles at 7:00 / 4 miles at 7:00. Weights.

Total- 124 miles

Good week! Mileage is pretty much at it's peak. I'll stay here for 2-3 more weeks then I'll be starting slight taper. For Mondays workout the plan was 5:0x pace for the 2 mile reps and goal pace for 5 mile rep, I was allowed to finish fast if I was feeling good. Pretty much felt like it should. On Wednesdays long run with only one day recovery between sessions I decided not to do a full 20 miles. Just kept it consistent until the 4 mile progression at the end. Wasn't too difficult at all. For Saturdays alt tempo I wasn't sure how it would go since I'm unfamiliar with this type of workout. Just tried to stick around 5:20/4:55 but felt good on the fast reps. I'm pretty happy with the week overall. Nothing to complain about lol. Hope everyone's training went great as well. Ill comment this week.

Runnersfix that is a serious week, not sure what your PR is but I know we are shooting for similar times and I just don't see how you won't get under 2:18, what is your current PR (If you don't mind answering)?

My week was good, I can't get my turnover going, I need to do a few more strides and maybe some faster stuff a bit, but overall this was a good week:

M: 12 /

For last week: Forcerunner: I like to do the hill sprints the day before my Friday tempo because I usually do Wednesday easy, so I'm not taking risks when sprinting and it sets me up well in terms of „pop“ in my legs for the tempo. I really need to work on my stride/speed all the time because I don't have crazy max. speed (really don't know if I could crack 26'' for 200 right now).

Matthias: Nice week, I like how you're just running and then hop into the 400s without stretching, strides, etc... I wish I could do this but it makes me feel tight most of the times I do that :D I wouldn't worry about your easy pace. But you can experiment with it because it really is individual. Just make sure you don't dig yourself in a hole when you feel tired and try to hit „x“ pace although you're not feeling it.

RunnersFix: Great week. I am really impressed how you manage to go 14+ miles for your primary run day-in/day-out. And closing in 4:46 really stands out for me!

My week went ok, too. This was kind of a down week to recover a bit fom three high week in a row. Being patient. Doubled only on race day to make me feel awake.

M - PM 9.5 + strength

T - PM 10 x 1k in 3:08' (15.8)

W - PM 15.8 + strength

T - PM 10 x 300 in 52.4'' (9.3)

F - AM 9.3 / PM strength

S - AM 2 / PM 10k race (win / 30:45') (12)

S - AM 13.1

total: 87.

Tuesday and Thursday were very controlled. Tuesday was more of a threshold workout and Thursday just some 300s to get the legs going without going hard at all. Saturday should have been a tempo run right around goal MP (so 31:30 – 32:00-ish). The course is really hilly so the effort would have been harder anyways. But life had some crazy surprise 4 me: The European vice champion in mountain running lined up. We went out (slightly downhill) in 2:43 for the first k. It was brutal. In the last hill at around 7.5k I just thought I'll try my best and win or completely blow up. Really hammered away from there and won by 29 seconds (the last 2k were insane). But this for sure wasn't a „tempo“. It was an all out race and if the course would have been flat I bet we both would have had a shot at cracking 30. Legs today are ok but I took it very easy on my medium long run. Upside of this unforeseen hard race: That was a HUGE confidence builder.

Hope your weeks went well, too!

Pikachu

I'll try this again, not sure why it posted already:

Runnersfix that is a serious week, not sure what your PR is but I know we are shooting for similar times and I just don't see how you won't get under 2:18, what is your current PR (If you don't mind answering)?

My week was good, I can't get my turnover going, I need to do a few more strides and maybe some faster stuff a bit, but overall this was a good week:

M: 12 / 5

Tu: 3 / 12

W: 5 / 8 with a short workout (6X800 w 1:45 active rest): 2:25, 2:25, 2:24, 2:21, 2:23, 2:22 felt kind of hard which was sad but I'm far away from being sharp

Th: 12

Fr: 5 / 9

Sa: 16 w/ 4X2 mi w/ 1.25 mi floating recovery. goal was GMP. Paces were 5:15 GMP and 5:50-55 for floating recovery

2 mi: 10:29

1.25: 7:18

2: 10:28

1.25: 7:18

2: 10:22

1.25: 7:22

2: 10:30

1.25: 7:25

So 13 miles at ~5:27 ish.

Su: 20 mi

Total: 107

Matthias - Great 400 workout!

RunnersFix - Love the alternating tempo workout.

Back Into It - I find that adding in strides regularly help me get that turnover feeling natural again. It's the little things that build!

Pikachu - Understandable with the sprints! That first 1k of the race sounds like a killer. Congrats on your win.

Here is my week:

M - 9 with Hill Sprints / 3

T - AM: 4 warm up, 16 x 250m Hill, 4.2 cool down. / 3.5

W - 11.5 / 5

R - 4 / 8

F - 4/ 8.5

S - AM: 18.7 with the middle 8 @ 5:30 avg. PM: 3 slow.

S - 4 / 8

Total: 105

Not a lot of intensity this week, rather higher volume. Added two reps from the last time I ran the hill workout and closed in 41.xx which is two seconds faster than I had previously. Easy Medium Long Run on Wednesday. Saturday was the real focus of the week. Ran with two training partners so that made it a lot easier. Splits for the middle 8 were 5:43/39/39/27/32/17/19/25. Longest run by a few miles for me and it felt good! I think I've decided my racing for the spring as well. Going to do the Cap City Half Marathon in Columbus with a goal of 68:00. If I run that or quicker I'm really toying with the idea of running the full next fall at the Columbus Marathon... Workouts like Saturday really reinforce the idea that I can grind out a pace and have it feel comfortable. We'll see I guess! I hope everyone has a great week.

runnersfix - super week! i'm guessing you get coached if you say 'allowed to finish fast if i feel good' or is that just your way of approaching things? but seriously, keep up your level of volume and quality and you'll kill your marathon! :)

pikachu - a solid 10K time on a seemingly hilly course! nice job :) as for the repetitions, i actually don't jump straight into it... i do a bit of walking (about 3 minutes) and some speed drills in between there. thanks for your advice on the pace of my runs :)

back into it - i'm really impressed with your Saturday workout! you do have good speed over the shorter distance but the strides and maybe some short hill sprints (i normally do around 60m ones) will help a bunch :)

forcerunner - 100+! was wondering when it would come after a bunch of 90s :P but a really strong week again. you seem to be handling the strength workouts pretty well :) what pace are you running at for your easy days if you don't mind me asking?

Indoor Track (Week 4/13)

Next Race: 1 mile Jan 12

M: 8.5 w/ strength

T: 6.5 w/ core

W: 6.5

Th: 5.5 w/ strength

F: 3

S: 10 mi progression run avg 6:45 ( 1st 3 mi avg 7:05, 3-8 avg 6:19, 8-10 avg 7:10)

Total - 40

Short version: 8 weeks ago I ran a 10 mi progression avg 7:30. This week 6:45!!

Really happy with saturdays run. The original plan was to take my final saturday morning, go for a run and then pig out with a burger and shake but I ended up taking the final, eating the burger and shake and then running so mark that one down as another questionable RRTT nutritional practice.

Stomach dragging only a couple of steps behind I started the run feeling really good as the 1st three miles were already ~30-40 sec faster per mile than my normal runs. I then ended up running way faster than I expected I could but don't have a GPS watch and didn't realize it until I mapped the run later.

Somewhere between 7 & 8 miles I felt like someone had jumped on my back and started having to force things to keep the pace up. I managed to talk my competitive self out of trying to forge on and made the right decision to call it a day. Stopped the progression and just ran back home easy.

Matthias-Nice week, crazy amount of 400s when you look at it in Garmin! I wouldnt worry at all about your times during base building--in fact I would say your a touch fast in some of your runs but if you feel good without pressing then that's where you should be for the majority of running.

RunnersFix-Amazing week to say the least! You are shooting for trials qualifier right in the marathon?

Pikachu-Congrats on the 10k win, the course sounds brutal!

back into it-are you also running Houston? Looking very good based on your Saturday run, nailed your paces.

Forcerunner-Looks to me like you're ready to do very well at a full marathon after Saturdays run:) Solid week.

Goal: Spring Marathon TBD

Weekly: 103.2

YTD: 4,786.1

Mon: 10 E AM,5 E PM

Tues: 9.5 total with Intervals via 6 x hill repeats (~90 second hill to run), 5 E treadmill & legs and core at gym

Weds: 10 E AM @ 7:32, 4 E PM @ 7:44 -

Thurs: 5 E AM @ 7:41, 8 E PM @ 7:35 -

Fri: 10 am with 3x2k Cruise Intervals (7:06,7:20,6:59). 5 progression PM 38:10 (7:54,7:24,6:48,6:18,5:49) - 10 minute planks

Sat: 12 E AM @ 7:29, 5 recovery @ 7:56 PM with 5 hill sprints -- standard core routine 2 sets

Sun: 14 progression AM with last 4 miles just working down into low 6s

Not much to report this week, just a nice week of base running more or less. My legs definitely feel a bit heavy so hopefully another week or two gets my body used to the 100mpw workload again. I've been fighting off a sore knee but think I've hopefully turned the corner.

Matthias Nice solid week. Like the short hill sprints. I have added them into my plan but just once a week. Mine are only about 30-40 yards. How far or long is your short?

RunnersFix another great looking week. Like that wave/ in & out tempo. I think you asked on last weeks thread what Hoka's I am trying. Got a pair of Bondi 3 for $65 on Black Friday so thought I would give them a shot.

Pikachu wow nice 10k even if it meant getting a little carried away with the original plan. I did that myself this week. Sometimes you just gotta say what the F and go with it

back into it that Sat workout is something similar to what I did way back that last time I raced. I did 3 x 2mi. My float recovery was 1/2mi but a little slower (% wise) than what you do yours in.

Force Strong looking triple digits

CMM Also a big triple digit week. What type of rest do you take on that cruise interval workout?

Goal: Half Marathon - March 2015

Time: TBD

Mon 4mi (7:26)

Tue 5.4mi (7:54) Included 6 x short hill sprints

Wed 6mi (7:20)

Thu 5mi (7:22)

Fri 4mi (7:10) included 10 x 15sec accelrations 45sec easy

Sat 3mi (7:45)

Sun 9.15mi (6:44)

Same week as last except I added 2 short hill spints and also 2 x 15sec accelerations over last week.

Sun longer run for me got a little eager/out of hand. I was just going slow and repeatedly telling myself to keep it slow. Eventually at 4mi I was like screw this. It has been a year since I ran anything fast so I just said what the hell. Did last 5mi in 6:37, 6:08, 6:07, 5:58, 5:58.

First 3 felt sort of controlled but the last 2mi at sub 6 had me starting to hurt. I guess 7 weeks back running after a year off I should not be surprised.

Goal: TBD

Light week for me after last Sunday's 26.2. I clearly didn't run hard enough in the race because I had no soreness or abnormal fatigue this week. Still, I took advantage of the recovery week and got a little extra sleep and ate like a slob.

M - Off

T - Off

W - Off

T - 4 easy

F - 6 easy, strength/core

S - 8 easy, strength/core

S - 10 easy, strides, strength/core

28 total. The next few weeks I plan to do mostly easy stuff and work on cadence and form. I noticed a low cadence /lazy stride in my prior cycle. I think it inhibited my faster sessions and perhaps contributed to my calf issues.

Matthias - great base week with some good turnover mixed in.

RunnersFix - monster volume this week! You're killing it. What's your goal MP - 5:15-5:20? Good luck with the taper.

Pikachu - excellent race for the win! Have you narrowed down your options for the spring marathon?

Back into it - very nice volume this week with some great MP work yesterday.

Forcerunner - just a matter of time before you broke the seal on 100mpw this cycle. You've built to it very steadily and consistently. Nicely done. Will you peak at that volume or are you pushing it higher?

Pewow - that's an interesting fueling strategy. Glad you were able to hang on for a decent run.

Cmm - solid base week. Any shorter races on your calendar before the spring marathon?

Here was my training

Monday: am- 30 min elliptical

Pm- 1 mile warm up, 5 mile tempo run, 1 mile cooldown.

Tuesday: 40 minute easy run, 5x100m strides

Wednesday: 1 mile warm up, 5x 1600, 1 mile cooldown. Then an 1800yd swim.

Thursday: 40 min easy run then 20 min on elliptical right after.

Friday: off

Saturday: am- 40 minutes of 3 min hard, 2 min easy with a warm up

Pm- 30 min elliptical

Sunday- 40 min run and 5x100m strides

Yeah i cross train a lot

Goal Race: Half Marathon – Maybe in March or April

Next Race: Pioneer 5 Miler (12/20)

Stats: 40/m, 6’2+, ~165 lbs post-Thanksgiving

M: 3.6 easy with 7 strides (8:17)

T: 7.5 easy (8:15)

W: 6.3 easy (8:20)

T: 7.00 – tempo, (20 minutes at 6:44 followed by 10 min at 7:24 – no break) (7:22/average)

F: Off

S: 12 (8:00)

S: 5.6 easy (8:16)

Total for week: ~42.1

I changed my half marathon target date (again) due to family and work. Most likely it will be an April race. I will have to do some hunting to figure out which one to gear up for. I also talked briefly to the coach of a high finisher at NXN this morning and he may help me out with some coaching. That will be pretty interesting to see how he adjusts from teenagers to a master runner.

I think I had a decent week for having no specific target. I followed the general advice of Pikachu & TheGarbageDisposal and got some strides in there on Monday, even though I was really dragging that morning and I got a fair tempo in on Thursday on the treadmill. I am probably going to continue in the low-40 MPW range through New Year’s and hopefully really pick a goal for the spring. There are several races I plan to run, but they are not what I consider goal races.

CMM - thanks for the comments. My plan is actually to run Tokyo, although we'll see how the jet lag works out with that one.

Comments on everyone else's weeks at the bottom.

For me:

Goals: 2015:

5K: A - Sub-16:30, B - Sub-17:00.

10K: A - Sub 34:30, B - Sub 35:30

I'm not sure if these are realistic goals or not, can anyone comment? For 2014 I averaged 35 mpw, peaking at 45 mpw. I'm hoping to average 45-55 mpw in 2015. I was able to do 18:00 for the 5K in March, and probably haven't improved or reduced my fitness since then. I'd appreciate it :)

This week:

Mon - 4 recovery

Tue - 8 easy

Wed - 4 easy

Thu - 2 w-up, 4 tempo at 6:13/mile avg, 2 c-d

Fri - core & strength

Sat - 8 easy, 7:27 pace

Sun - 13 easy, 7:31 pace

Total - 45

I had too many drinks Friday night, and was 'til 2AM. Then up at 8 and ran. I really paid for that with today's long run.. I'll have to be more careful next week, as I attempt my first 50 mile week.

Matthias - Looks like a solid week. Is this quite a bit slower than your usual easy pace?

RunnersFix - Incredible week. That's an interesting idea of the alt tempo. I guess it's a good thing to mix up tempo's from time to time so that that pace doesn't become too overly familiar.

Pikachu - Congrats on the W! I like how late in the race you decided to go for it. Inspiring!

back into it - I'm having the same issue with turnover. I think I'll book some 200's in for this week.

Forcerunner - why can't you do the half in the spring and the full in the fall? Anyway, solid work-out Saturday, and great week.

pewow - nice week. What's your goal for the mile race? I hope you get a GPS watch.. you'll wonder how you ever survived without one.

cmm268 - Hope your knee holds together! Great week.

qrkid - I think that's pretty good for taking a year off. You'll get there.

Hereford - After a marathon I've always felt kind of the same.. but there's this deeper lingering soreness that takes a few weeks to go away. But I think you're more experienced than I, so take that with a grain of salt :T

Winter trainer girl - Get off that elliptical and get into those miles!

This week was a good one:

M: 8mi tempo @5:30 pace, 11.3 total

T 4/8 with leg weights and circuits

W 14 long @ 6:40

Th 4/8 with circuits

F 5mi of 3on/3off, 11total

Sa 10.5 hilly @6:40

Su Off or easy 3, still deciding

Total of 71.X miles

Haven't posted my goals yet:

Goals this year are to break 15 in the 5k on the roads (I may be there now) and dip well into the 14's. I also want to become accustomed with racing the 10k and get under 31. I will probably do a mix of track and road races. Lastly set PR's in 400 - 10000, all of which should come easy enough.

Good week; the tempo felt great, cut down from 5:35 for the first 3, 5:30 for next 2.5, and about 5:25 for the last 2.5. Within the fartlek I ran just under 1k for each bout, but I wasn't focusing on speed/distance covered. Didn't post last week but did 64 with weights and no workouts because of hamstring/calf tightness. I also max benched this week with one of my buddies and hit 115, a bit disappointing because my circuits are upper body focused.

Another solid looking week for everyone:

Matthias - i'm digging all the short speed you're doing

RunnersFix - impressive and interesting tempo

back into it - I also need to do some strides, but don't worry too much

Pikachu - nice race, always cool when you have to throw down at a moment's notice

pewow - Nice job keeping it down during the 10miler

winter training girl - that's a lot of cross training, is that out of caution or just for variety?

Distance fan - cool that you got to talk to a good coach, good luck with the 5miler

PianoMan87 - If you are in 18flat shape right now I have no doubt that you can go under in 2015, the question is just how low...

Goal race: WSU Shocker Pre-State. 1600m, 3200m. ( A goal: Make the elite cut) (B goal: Place top 3 in 1A-3A division)

Mon- 8.5 (7:14) first 7.5 easy last mile in 5:31

Tues- 9.5 easy (7:07) + 8 strides

Wed- am 3 (7:44) pm 3 easy. 4 tempo. 23:24. 1 easy

Thurs- 8.5 easy (6:59) + 8 strides

Fri- 6 easy/moderate (6:47) + 8 strides

Sat- 12 long run (6:58)

Sun- 3 easy. 4x0.75 on the roads (4:05, 4:08, 4:08, 4:02) 90 seconds recovery. 1 easy

Total: 62.5 miles

Great week for me. New mileage high lol.

Monday I felt really good at the end so I sped up to approx. 5k pace, felt pretty decent.

Wednesday my shins were pretty sore after the morning run. But I warmed up and massaged them for a couple minutes and started my tempo. Rough splits were (5:58, 5:53, 5:47, 5:40) First 2 on grass, last 2 on dirt roads.

Saturday was good, kind of a misty rain the whole time. Fortunately not cold just wet.

Today it was raining pretty hard during the run and it's pretty windy. But again fortunately it's not cold. Felt pretty decent overall, my shoulder cramped on the second and first half of the third repeat. That wasn't really fun but I was able to pick up the last one to finish strong.

Anyways looks like solid weeks all around. Congrats to Pikachu on a great race, That's a crazy fast first 1k. I'll try to do comments tonight

Goal: take it easy (SoM), build mileage re-gain some sprint speed, strengthen core

Decided to take 4 days off after the HM on 11/30 partly due to sickness and also a need to take an easy off-season for a while before getting back into it. I've run 22 races since January 25, solid improvement throughout, but I can't keep that up forever. That said I did run a 2-mile race on Saturday only because I couldn't turn down a cheap race series.

M: 5 mi easy

Tu: 5 mi with 6 x 150m very fast (held back to 90% because of tight quad)

W: 5 mi easy

Th: 5 mi with 4 x ~25" uphill accelerations (felt much better)

F: 4 mi easy + strides

Sa: 1.5 mi warm-up + 2 mi race + 3.5 mi cooldown

Su: off

Total 31 mi

Ran 11:29 for 13th, in about 40th after 1/2 mile. I thought I would go faster but no big deal, my goal will be to see how much under 11:00 I go by the end of the series in January/February which will set me up to break 17:00.

Will comment in a bit