Road Racing and Training Thread - Week Ending 8/9

Goal: Sub 17:30 5k XC, top 30 at State

Incoming sophomore, male, 15,

Track PRs-10:59 and 5:07

M: 5 easy

T: 7 Easy

W: 7 easy + 4x100m strides

T: 4 slow, planned a tempo workout but ran into some bad food and had, uh, GI distress to say the least.

F: None, had to be on a day trip all day, but it's no big deal because I was do for a day of total rest.

S:6 easy

S 7 easy

36.25 total

So I was on vacation all week, and the running situation isn't good. It's at a resort in the Dominican Republic and my parents won't let me leave the property, because they think I'll get abducted. So I have to run on the treadmill, which has a 30 minute time limit. I tried to get around that but there is a monitor in the gym and he will let you run longer if there are no people waiting, but there always are. So I have to run for 30 minutes and then go outside and finish running in loops around 0.5 miles on marble tiles that hare hard as diamonds. I couldn't get any quality this week. I don't mind too much because I'm about to get into racing season and won't have a lot of down weeks from now on. I might have to miss my long run next week, but other than that I shouldn't have any problems with training. Sorry I couldn't post comments for last week but you guys all did well. Sorry for the mouthful of a post.

Goals: Do well in the championship/post season

Incoming Junior

Mon- planned off

Tue- 7 at 6:40

Wed- 7 at 6:49 + weights // 4 at 7:06 + 4x:08 hill sprints

Thur- 7 at 6:47

Fri- 6 at 6:48

Sat- 7 at 6:49 + 4 strides

Sun- 8 at 6:44 + 4 strides

Total: 46 miles

After 4 weeks averaging 62 miles a week, I had a much deserved recovery week. I felt a bit stiff early in the week (I actually felt worse during Tue-Thur than I did during the heavier training), but I know it takes time for the body to catch up and recover so that I can get stronger. Also, the combination of a day off/just easy running probably threw off my muscle tension a bit due to the change in routine, but I knew the the strides/sprints/weights would put some pop back in my legs. My hunch was right, and I felt amazing/effortless on my runs by Saturday. Now I’m fresh and ready to get back to heavier training again!

My school starts pretty late this year, and I don't have my first duel meet until mid September, so at least I have a lot of time to keep building a solid base. When the season starts, we race once a week, which is quite a bit. My coach is really good at working with me though, and we are making Wednesdays and meet days my workout days. Since our duel meets are pretty small, I can just tempo those races and even run an extra mile after I finish. The focus is on the championship season/post season, so we are gearing my training towards that.

I hope everyone else had a great week!

5'7, Incoming Junior, Been running for 5 years now.

Prs- 10k- 37:47, 5k- 17:25, 3200- 10:37, 1600- 4:56

Monday:

AM- 5.05 miles easy (7:29)

PM- 5.25 miles easy (7:03)

Tuesday:

PM- 10x400m w/ 200m jog recovery (78.4 average) + 2.1 mile warm up, 2.1 mile cool down, and 4x100m strides

Wednesday:

AM- 4.15 miles easy (7:14)

PM- 6.20 miles easy (7:04)

Thursday:

PM- 5k tempo run (6:01) + 2.05 mile warm up, and 2.05 mile cool down

Friday:

AM- 4.05 miles easy (7:18)

PM- 5.15 miles easy (6:48) *Fastest easy run ever*

Saturday:

PM- 6.1 mile recovery run (7:28)

Sunday:

PM- 9.00 mile long run @ recovery pace (7:31)

Total= 60.35 miles

Overall, this was a very consistent week and may be my most consistent week ever. It was my last week of my summer training, and my goal all summer was to run 60 miles at least for one week, and I'm happy that I got that under my belt. This was my highest mileage week ever, and I had my fastest easy run ever too. It was a great week overall.

Monday- Felt really smooth, and consistent on both runs.

Tuesday- I felt terrible, the plan was to run these at 3200 race pace (78-79), but I thought they would feel a lot easier. It just wasn't my day, I'm not sure why.

Wednesday- Another great double, woke up really early for my morning run on accident, so I was running on about 5 hours of sleep, but I took a long nap after the AM run.

Thursday- The goal was 6:00-6:05 pace, and I wanted to just hit as close to 18:40 as possible, I ended up running 18:40.0. Ran well, happy w/ it.

Friday- Felt very relaxed in the morning, and at night I just ran by feel and ended up running 7:48 pace w/ a 6:34 mile in there.

Saturday- Decided to do a night run, felt really terrible for some reason. Where my hip and IT band meet was giving me some trouble, and nothing was going right for me.

Sunday- My hip/IT band were still giving me some trouble, so I decided before my run that I was gonna run very slow. One mile was a 7:08, and I was really trying to hold back.

Now I have a recovery week, and my season also starts this Wednesday. I am running 4 or 5 days for my easy week, and I will do about 6 runs I think. I also have a race next week so that is awesome too.

niceguy - solid week. 14 @ MP seems tough but you handled it well.

back into it - really impressive 1200s session Saturday.

runnersfix - nice week & good 3-2-1 session.

running again - solid return to training. lots of speed drills too!

stone cutter - still a good week even if you didn't feel it. i'm sure you will adjust into the sessions as time comes along

thataveragerunner - really good week. i'm very impressed with the track session monday, you have good speed!

kaizn - look forward to following your training towards your goal!

slo-twitch - very nice long run. imo i wouldn't go anymore than 6 miles @ HMP. I feel that 6 is the ideal amount.

working harder - nice mileage this week

incoming freshman - looks like you handled the large amounts of fast running well this week

forcerunner - bossed it once again! 26.5 miles on Tuesday... wow.

abu seyame - good stuff this week. nice close to your long run.

perkunas - nice bit of speed this week. a 5:32 mile is flying!

jwil - solid off road 5K!

bdotadot5 - welcome. what are your upcoming goals?

oklahomaguy - sorry to hear about the disruptions this week. Dominican Republic sounds nice though!

kbxc - nice recovery week

tdodd22 - good speedwork this week

My week:

Goal: 10K on September 6th

Mon: 3 miles (7:18)

Tue: 8.08 miles with 5.2 mile race in 27:59 (5:22/mile). This was the final race of our Summer League. Needed to take part in this race to qualify for an end-of-season prize (you have to race a minimum of 4 out of 5 to qualify). Went out in a lead group of 4 including one of my team-mates and we ended up pulling away from the other 2 after a mile-ish. We stayed on each others heels until about half a mile to go when he pulled away. 7 seconds behind 1st and 59 seconds ahead of 3rd. Also earned 2nd Senior Male for the season! A pleasing end to a good summer :)

Wed: rest day

Thu: 6 miles (7:12)

Fri: 4.65 miles (7:20)

Sat: 8.93 miles with 3 sets of (1K, 600m, 400m) on grass track. Recoveries were 2min after the Ks, 90sec after the 600s and 2min after the 400s. Splits were 3:09,1:48,68 - 3:08,1:49,69 - 3:10,1:50,68; 3.1 miles (8:21)

Sun: 12.4 miles (7:30)

Week Total: 46.16 miles

Hi everyone!

Mon: 11k/10k easy

Tue: 9k/9k easy

Wed: 14k - 4x1.6k moderate

Thu: 11k/7k easy

Fri: 14k - 8x400m hard

Sat: 12k/9k easy

Sun: 25k easy

Total: 130k

YTD: 2880k (MAT: 4550k)

Had to cut both Wednesday's and Friday's workout short due to heat. On Wednesday I wanted to do about 5-6x1.6k at moderate pace, but after 4 averaging in 5:30 I was done.

On Friday, planned were 12x400m in 69/70 with 400m recovery jogs. I managed to do them at the right pace, but noticed right away that the recovery would be too short and therefore increased it. Still, during the 8th 400m, I noticed that I had to concentrate to go in a straight line, which strikes me as a bad sign - so I called it a day.

The heat is really affecting my workouts, but I always suffer when it's even moderately warm, so I'll try to just forget about it. In fact, I'll claim that considering the temperatures, I'm pretty happy with those workouts.

Looks like everyone else had great weeks, hope I'll comment later.

slo-twitch wrote:

Stonecutter- I'm interested to check out the Canova workouts that you incorporate.

Well, it's a rare Monday off work for me, so aside from getting a bunch of painting done in my oldest daughter's room, I compiled the series of Canova-inspired workouts that I plan on incorporating during my buildup. I don't write my weekly schedules in advance, but I do organize my key workouts for the cycle in advance in order to make a proper progression over the last 12 weeks before the race.

As of now, here's what I am thinking:

Note: goal race pace = 6:13/mile

1) 11 miles, with 10 x 800m w 1:30 jog @ 110-112% of MP (5:28-:36/mile) (i.e., 2:43-:47/800m)

2) 22 miles easy run @ 80-85% of MP (7:09-7:27/mile)

3) 11 miles, with 6 x 1 mile w 2 min jog @ 108-109% of MP (5:40-:43/mile)

4) 13 miles, with 4 x 2 mile w 3 min jog @ 105-106% of MP (5:51-:54/mile)

5) 18 miles, incorporating 10 x 800m @ 103% of MP w 800m jog (6:02/mile) (i.e., 3:00/800m)

6) 14 miles, with 3 x 3 mile w 4 min jog @ 103-104% of MP (5:58-6:02/mile)

7) 20 miles progression run @ 85-100% of MP (7:09->6:13/mile)

8) 10 miles, with 6 mile continuous run @ 104-105% of MP (5:54-:58/mile)

9) 17 miles, with 12-13 miles simulation run @ 100% of MP (6:13/mile)

10) 13 miles, with 2 x 4 mile w 4:30 jog @ 102-103% of MP (6:02-:06/mile)

11) 20 miles progression run @ 85-100% of MP (7:09->6:13/mile)

12) 11 miles, with 7 mile progression run @ 100-106% of MP (6:13->5:51/mile)

13) 25 miles total for the day: 6 miles @ 85% (7:09/mile) + 6 miles @ 100% of MP (6:13/mile) in AM; 6 miles @ 90% (6:50/mile) + 6 x 1 mile @ 102% of MP (6:06/mile) w :75 jogs in PM

14) 18 miles steady run @ 90-95% of MP (6:32-:50/mile)

15) 14 miles, with 2 x 5 mile w 5 min jog @ 101-102% of MP (6:06-:09/mile)

I plan on taking 4-5 days easy in between each session, occasionally throwing in some shorter fartleks (10-15 x 1:00 on/1:00 off) to stay sharp. Might even take up to 6-7 days easy after #13 and #14, we'll see, haha. I'll try to do #15 ten days out from the race and then taper. #14 might also get moved up as there is a nearby 18 mile race exactly six weeks before the marathon that I might jump into and use as a long workout.

None of this, of course, is set in stone. But I figured you might be interested in the sneak peek. :)

Haha, I knew I would screw something up doing all that cutting and pasting. #11 above should be "20 miles - last 5-10 miles @ 100% of MP (6:13/mile)."

Stone Cutter - thanks for that list! Did you pick up Canova's book and if so, where? I saw an old thread about having to mail off somewhere for it?

Cheers!

working harder wrote:

Stone Cutter - thanks for that list! Did you pick up Canova's book and if so, where? I saw an old thread about having to mail off somewhere for it?

Cheers!

No book, just some information I have gleaned from various sources (Running Times, LRC, etc.) over the years.

In a nutshell, here is my understanding of Canova:

Pace is of primary importance above all else. Everything stems from goal race pace. Practice extending the duration for which you can hold goal pace, starting out with intervals faster and shorter than race pace and easy-moderate long runs slower than race pace. The closer you get to the marathon, the two paces converge and most of your workouts are at or very near race pace. Paces closer to race pace are more important than those farther away. Long slow easy runs alone will only take you so far (I guess unless you are Ed Whitlock!).

Great workouts Stonecutter- #4&6 sound tough with the 4x2mile and 3x3mile at close to hmp! Serious special block in there too. I'm going to try a special block very similar to #13 in a few weeks. #11 & 9 look particularly boss too.

Are you thinking of also incorporating any of the alternating tempo stuff... The 1k or 2k/1k alternations? Are you going to race a half beforehand? I've been on the fence about it. Will probably end up racing one 4 weeks out.

Your training plan looks great, and you are smart to allow for those good recoveries after the key workouts

slo-twitch wrote:

Are you thinking of also incorporating any of the alternating tempo stuff... The 1k or 2k/1k alternations? Are you going to race a half beforehand?

Alas, there are only so many weeks and workouts that I can fit in before the marathon. I really like the alterations-style workout, but will save that type of work for a half-marathon specific cycle since it focuses more on your ability to clear lactate and would probably be most useful for 15K-HM training. I would like to jump in a half-marathon, but with the Philly Rock N Roll HM being moved from mid-late September to October 31st this year to accommodate the Pope's visit to the city, it really takes away my best HM option. There aren't many other great local options in the right time frame.

If I don't get to race beforehand, I think the workouts will be enough of indicator of how I am doing. You are right, that 3 x 3mi one looks really tough on paper and if I can do that workout at that point in the cycle at those paces, I would think that is indicative of a HM performance and tell me whether or not 2:43 is realistic. Right now the marathon goal is a bit of a stretch for me, but my plan is to race Philly with a female training partner who is targeting the B standard for the trials. She has run 2:46 before, so she's close - it would mean a lot to my running club if she can make it. I figured I would go all in and try to make it into the race as far as possible (hopefully the finish line!) to make it happen. We'll see in another 14 weeks I guess. :)

I think you can do it, especially with someone to work with throughout the race- that's huge.

Incoming highschool Junior

Sorry if I'm a bit late. I just got back from a five day XC camp. It was awesome, Robby Andrews and Alan Webb were among the counselors, and it was really fun to run with some other guys after running alone for so long.

5k PR - 18:57

Mile PR - 4:57

11th week of training.

Previous weeks - 38, 50, 63.8, 63.1, 70.97

Goal - 70 miles, have fun at XC camp

Monday - 13.25 miles at 7:27 pace. Super chill long run. Decided to do it on Monday because I didn't know if we would do a long run or not at camp. It was a bit windy, but I kept relaxed and it felt good.

Tuesday - 13.48 miles total

AM - 5.01 miles at 7:01 pace, easy. Broke in some new shoes. Had some stomach issues at the end, but it wasn't too bad.

PM - 8.47 miles total. 5.37 miles of warmup and cooldown, didn't record pace. 5k at 6:20 pace, used as a light tempo.

Wednesday - 9.19 miles at 8:02 pace. My coach wanted me told me he wanted me fresh for preseason (in a week and a half), so he told me I could either not run at all on Wednesday, or take it really really slow. I opted for the later.

Thursday - 12.11 miles total

AM - 7.09 miles at 7:13 pace, easy. Broke in another pair of shoes.

PM - 5.02 miles at 7:00 pace. Felt nice and easy. Got hit in the face with a branch, which wasn't too fun, but on the bright side, my toe blister popped at some point during the run.

Friday - 12.07 miles total

AM - 7.07 miles at 7:09 pace. Easy, but windy.

PM - 5 miles at 6:57 pace. Last run before camp.

Saturday - 4.42 miles total, 7:08 pace. First day of camp. They took us out on some trail near campus. A few kids tried to push the pace, but it was pretty easy overall.

Sunday - 11.94 miles total

AM - 11.44 miles at 7:17 pace. Nice and easy at sunrise on some trails. Grass was a bit damp, but otherwise it was great.

PM - 0.50 miles. The "PM run" they had scheduled turned out to be a two lap shakeout. Not really worth getting into running clothes if you ask me, but couldn't really argue.

Total - 76.5 miles

Overall, I'm fairly happy with this week. At the beginning of it, I decided I'd take it a bit easier in case camp was really tough or something, but camp is pretty easy. I'm not totally happy with the way camp is set up in terms of mileage, but I can't really do anything about it, I kinda just got to go with the flow. Still, it's a lot of fun. Preseason starts next Saturday for me, so I'm looking forward to that.