My goal is to make it to the 2020 Olympic Trials in the Steeple and I will do everything I can to achieve this goal

Update #51

Replies:

@hounddogharrier

Have not done any races. Have done a few solo time trials. I’m struggling to understand why this means I should adjust my goals

@TarahumaraLight

Thanks- will do! If you’re still hungry for faster PRs, then go for it. You can rest when you’re in your 30s

Week:

S: Off - 50mi Bike

M: [AM-30min, 3.37mi, 8:54avg.] [PM-45min, 6.19mi, 7:16 avg.]

T: [AM-30min, 3.56mi, 8:26avg.] [PM-40min, 5.04mi, 7:56 avg.]

W: [AM-30min, 3.38mi, 8:53avg.] [PM-57min, 8.13mi, 7:01 avg.]

R: [AM-30min, 3.39mi, 8:51avg.] [PM-40min, 5.1mi, 7:51 avg.]

F: [AM-30min, 3.43mi, 8:45avg.] [PM-67min, 9.47mi, 7:04 avg.]

S: [AM-30min, 3.33mi, 9:01avg.] [PM-40min, 4.87mi, 8:13 avg.]

Total (week): 469min, 59.3mi

Comments:

Part of this being a "Down" week for me was not doing a long run: my brother needed someone to take him on a 50mi bike ride (cycling merit badge) so I did that instead. Took forever. Don't miss cycling yet, lol.

Good week; morning runs were tough though. Finally figured out a way (I think) to figure out how much distance I would cover in my workouts. Basically, it’s just going to be “time spent running at that intensity”.

Monday:

Going to be 10min of running at mile/1500m pace. Since this was a “down” week, I only did about 5min.

WKT: 8 x 200 @ mile pace w/ 2x rest. Goal: 37.5, Rest: 75s.

Results: [35.4, 35.2, 34.6, 36.1, 35.5, 33.9, 39.1]

Comments: I felt so awkward doing my warmup strides and running this fast. Got mad at myself for not hitting my splits and got mad at myself for getting mad at myself about being too fast. The 39 at the end was especially frustrating - I tried to hit my time for the last one and ended up slow. In a word, F#ck.

Wednesday:

Going to be 25min of 10k pace running. Only did 75% of that, though, because “down” week.

WKT: 12 x 400 @ 10k pace w/ ½ rest. Goal: 85s, Rest: 42.5s.

Results: [83.4, 82.6, 86.4, 84.5, 84.9, 85.1, 85.1, 85.1, 85.1, 85.1, 84.2, 85.1]

Comments: WAAY better workout. Did this one around the varsity BB field; the grass was just mown and it felt fantastic. Got in a rhythm and just kept going, alternating directions with each 400.

Friday:

Going to be 30min of LT-3 Tempo pace (85% of vVO2max). Only did 75%, though, because “down” week.

WKT: 9 x ½ mile with ¼ rest. Goal: 3:00min, Rest: 45s

Results: [2:59, 3:04, 3:04, 3:03, 3:00, 3:00, 2:58, 3:02, 3:02]

Comments: Overall, good. Went out to a limestone trail and went back and forth; using the GPS watch wasn’t all it cracked up to be. Plus, ankles started to get sore towards the end (used flats). In future, just going to do this around the varsity BB field, which also has the added benefit of being measured with a wheel. GPS setup also didn’t let me see pace very well, so this was mostly done off of feel.

Final word:

Good week. Will just increase all workout distances to full 100% for next week and go from there. Probably also do a lot more of my running around the baseball field; the grass is soft and it’s great @ 5:30- 6:00pm. Also good from an efficiency standpoint; it’s right next door when I finish with the boys’ practice.

Update #52

Replies

@runnerintraining832

Well, you were right, lol.

Week:

S: 100min, 12.6mi, 7:56 avg.

M: [AM-30min, 3.43mi, 8:45avg.] [PM-50min, 7.11mi, 7:02 avg.]

T: [AM-30min, 3.34mi, 8:59avg.] [PM-40min, 4.97mi, 8:03 avg.]

W: [AM-30min, 3.41mi, 8:48avg.] [PM-65min, 8.95mi, 7:16 avg.]

R: [AM-30min, 3.49mi, 8:36avg.] [PM-40min, 4.92mi, 8:08 avg.]

F: [AM-30min, 3.26mi, 9:12avg.] [PM-70min, 9.87mi, 7:06 avg.]

S: [AM-30min, 3.29mi, 9:07avg.] [PM-40min, 4.67mi, 8:34 avg.]

Total (week): 585min, 73.3mi

Comments:

Monday – 16 x 200 @ mile pace. Effort = 37.5s Rest = 75s. Went very well, but 2 mi may be a bit much volume for these workouts. Shortening it to 2400m of work in future. All reps on pace or a second faster, except two that were slower.

Wednesday – 16 x 400 @ 10k pace. Effort = 90s Rest = 45s. Went well, never really got into a rhythm though. All intervals were on pace, or 1-2 seconds fast, save 2 that were slower.

Friday – 5 x mile at 80% vvo2max. Effort = 6:43/mi Rest = 1:41. Hip was really bugging me but adjusted my form to be more upright (no forward lean, using more glutes instead of quad) and was able to get through it. on grass around varsity baseball field 6:41, 6:43, 6:40, 6:42, 6:42.

..

First off, got the goal times wrong for last week’s 10k and Tempo sessions; did those about 20s/mile too fast. So, that’s the first error. Second error is… I tried running my “perfect” week and found out it’s not going to be very sustainable. Hip Flexor and quadriceps flared up and although it now feels under control, it didn’t feel like it was something I should keep pushing.

Lots of things coming to a head this morning (Sunday morning, technically next week’s post but w/e). I guess the short version is that I wasn’t getting enough rest in between workouts and ended up the week getting fried. Was talking about this a little with my head coach at the meet yesterday, after we’d finished having a conversation with one of our top runners about knowing when to take a day off – my head coach ended up saying, “sounds like YOU need a day off”.

The irony of a coach not being able to take his own advice didn’t hit me until 9 min into my long run today, when I called it quits and went back to my car.

Part of me thinks that this all happening is a good thing, because it has made me take a hard look at my current training plan and really make a good case for every workout. I’ll save you all the angst I went through on the drive home; bottom line is that I’ve decided to adjust my volume down a bit.

-Long run will just be 80min (for now). And now that I think about it, I never did longer than 90min for a long run in college; mostly hovering around 70-80. I chalked that up to running them too hard, but maybe there’s something more to that.

-Doubles will only be run on workout days.

-Instead of 30min in the morning and 40min at night for easy days, I will just do 50-60min with no morning run.

This amounts to about 10-12 miles less per week. Having actually done a 70+ mile week with workouts I think I now know I’m not ready for it at the moment. I just can’t fit it all in, in addition to all the time I have to spend working and coaching. Sleep is a big issue (7.5 hours on average) and . I think this new plan is a good step in the direction of finding the middle ground between consistency and bigger miles. I'd rather do 2 60mi weeks then 1 70mi week and 1 50mi week.

Long post is long.

What level are you at right now, for 5k say, what could you do?

Have you thought about cutting down just a bit to 60-65 mpw and doing just two workouts per week? Maybe going through a 2-week cycle of something like:

Week 1:

-Workout 1: Tempo run (3-6 miles, depending on effort), plus faster 100s and/or 200s to finish

-Workout 2: 3k- or 5k-pace intervals (2-4 miles total)

Week 2:

-Cruise Intervals/Tempo intervals (4-5 miles, depending on effort), plus faster 200s and/or 400s to finish

-Mile-paced intervals (1600m-2400m total)

If you're feeling good on top of that you could do a cutdown at the end of your long run no more than once every other week. Do 2 cycles of this (maybe replacing 1 of the 5k- or mile-paced workouts with a race in the second cycle), then figure out what goal race you want to point to later this fall, change the stimulus a little bit for another 2-4 weeks of solid training, then taper and go blast one!

If you get through that, you can build back up to 600+ minutes in your next cycle. And if you included just a little bit of quicker running--some hills, some marathon-paced runs or cutdowns, maybe even a few light fartleks without a ton of volume done at 3k-10k effort--during that build-up, adding workouts on top of 70+ miles per week (or closer too it), should be less of a shock to the system.

This is all more-specific than it needs to be, though. You know the principles, and more than anything you need to listen to people like your head coach who can keep you from being your own worst enemy. A long-term approach with the goal of becoming a well-rounded runner (and being one at all times!) is how you get where you want to be . . . in the long-term.

Let's be honest - brutally honest . You will have to run faster than 8:40 in the steeple to qualify for the Olympic Trials. It's the equivalent of a 13:32 5k. You are doing your 200s in 35, 400s in 85, and 800s in 3:00. My bet is you would go about 17:10 in a 5000. I don't see it happening. Get in a 5k and race and assess where you are.

hounddogharrier wrote:

Let's be honest - brutally honest . You will have to run faster than 8:40 in the steeple to qualify for the Olympic Trials. It's the equivalent of a 13:32 5k. You are doing your 200s in 35, 400s in 85, and 800s in 3:00. My bet is you would go about 17:10 in a 5000. I don't see it happening. Get in a 5k and race and assess where you are.

Hes only been running for a year. With uninterrupted trainin, he can dtill improve at a rate of like 1 vdot a month to 6 weeks. The odds are very far against him, but i bet he gets closer than youd guess

Jimmy21 wrote:

hounddogharrier wrote:

Let's be honest - brutally honest . You will have to run faster than 8:40 in the steeple to qualify for the Olympic Trials. It's the equivalent of a 13:32 5k. You are doing your 200s in 35, 400s in 85, and 800s in 3:00. My bet is you would go about 17:10 in a 5000. I don't see it happening. Get in a 5k and race and assess where you are.

Hes only been running for a year. With uninterrupted trainin, he can dtill improve at a rate of like 1 vdot a month to 6 weeks. The odds are very far against him, but i bet he gets closer than youd guess

He also said at the start of the thread that he knew it was unlikely, but he decided to give it a few years anyway.

Jimmy21 wrote:

hounddogharrier wrote:

Let's be honest - brutally honest . You will have to run faster than 8:40 in the steeple to qualify for the Olympic Trials. It's the equivalent of a 13:32 5k. You are doing your 200s in 35, 400s in 85, and 800s in 3:00. My bet is you would go about 17:10 in a 5000. I don't see it happening. Get in a 5k and race and assess where you are.

Hes only been running for a year. With uninterrupted trainin, he can dtill improve at a rate of like 1 vdot a month to 6 weeks. The odds are very far against him, but i bet he gets closer than youd guess

He ran in high school and college, so he is not a newbie . One year, one race. It tells me he isn't getting close.

It was only 3 years ago, he says, that he ran 4:20 mile and 8:40 3k and now he is struggling to run 5x mile in 6:40s a year into his comeback after saying that his goal is to make the Olympic Trials?? This just doesn't add up. Did he gain forty pounds?

hemfaulk wrote:

It was only 3 years ago, he says, that he ran 4:20 mile and 8:40 3k and now he is struggling to run 5x mile in 6:40s a year into his comeback after saying that his goal is to make the Olympic Trials?? This just doesn't add up. Did he gain forty pounds?

yeah i think it is a troll that duped alot of people. 10/10 for keeping it going this long

any updates? loving this thread, rooting for you my man

update wrote:

any updates? loving this thread, rooting for you my man

More and more likely a troll. The lack of any races is a give away.

Any updates? I have been following this thread for a while. I hope that the OP has not given up.

Hounddogharrier wrote:

update wrote:

any updates? loving this thread, rooting for you my man

More and more likely a troll. The lack of any races is a give away.

This would be an awful lot of detail just to waste some people's time. He likely spent as much time as everybody else combined on this thread, so the joke would be on him if it is a troll. Points to him not being a troll IMO.

Plus, his times in workouts are very reasonable. If he was a troll I would expect a lot faster times or dramatic improvements or injuries involved.

Also, his overall reporting style is polite and to the point, as contrasted with somebody obnoxious like Island, Coach JS, Rossi (if Rossi posted here), etc.

hey Coebra

congrats on the 1 year anniversary. I confess i haven't read the whole thread but it looks like you might be on the bubble of injury much of the time so maybe some prehab work would help this. also, is this why you aren't doing any plyometrics and hurdle specific training. I don't see it in your logs.

Good luck. this is a fun thread.

moanswers wrote:

hey Coebra

congrats on the 1 year anniversary. I confess i haven't read the whole thread but it looks like you might be on the bubble of injury much of the time so maybe some prehab work would help this. also, is this why you aren't doing any plyometrics and hurdle specific training. I don't see it in your logs.

Good luck. this is a fun thread.

On the other hand I haven't seen "low" periods. Have you considered of doing just easy running for a longer period of time, like a month?

Or instead of intervals and repeats perhaps Fartlek

Ha ha. Uh this from the guy who has trained for over a year and has run one 5k in 18 minutes ? Only way you are making the Olympic trials are if you transplant your brain in Evan Jaeger's body . And like I said your "PRs" are total BS.

Update #54

Week:

Monday: Rehab

Tuesday: off

Wednesday: 35min Rowing – good effort, HR in lower aerobic range

Thursday: 20min running 2.25mi

Friday: Rehab

Saturday: Swim 1400yds mixed strokes

Sunday: 25min running 2.84mi

Comments:

Just getting back in the swing of things. Leg feels fine bone-wise; just have a strong weakness in my right hip flexor area.

My attitude to running is if I feel okay the next day (no pain from running) I can run again. Rehab has been pretty rough but it’s improved my strength very quickly. If it feels iffy, I just do a cross training day. Swimming is my best option but I can only do that on weekends.

Both runs have been great; minimal ache after each. Just doing these on the track until I get more fitness under me.

Glad to see you are still at it! Hold on to the dream, your year has not been in vain. Remember that the value of each days workout is measured partly by what training it allows you to do the following day! Heal up and keep training, and adding together day after day of injury free running! Wish you the best!