Road Racing and Training Thread- Week Ending August 13, 2017

Darko - Thanks for the feedback. I think you will be more prepared than you think for your 15k. There is a lot of quality in your training, and plus a 15k is only like 9.something miles, and so it is not like you will be that far out of your zone.

All the best to you...

Some responses:

@Outside: Thank you! I’m getting there. Hammering long runs always helps. I’m thankful to have so much time – 13 weeks – on my side. Glad your hammy is loosening up and have a strong week.

@Darko – Being sick this week didn’t help which also led to me hammering my long run when I was finally feeling better. Very solid week yourself. What do you have planned for this fall aside from the 15K?

@hantph96: Incredible race given the conditions. I think you’re capable of much faster than 16:30 in 10 days’ time.

@Paleale: Thank you! It’s not going to be pretty but it’ll be nice to dust off the cobwebs. PRs for shorter distances include 27:51 5M, 56:49 10M and 1:16:20 half. Modest at best. I have run 2:42 twice, though, so I feel I’m knocking on the door of sub 2:40. I also know Philly well, having run there three times previously and getting a PR each time.

Chunky V - Correct me if I am wrong, but I think you have 14 weeks left until Philly. My race, Richmond, is the weekend prior, and I believe I have 13 weeks left.

Seems like your 5mi PR is quite a bit slower than everything else. Either way you've got plenty of time to get stronger and that long run last week bodes well.

outsiderunner wrote:

... I had a solid run this morning...went 17.13 miles in 2:03:31 (7:12.6 overall pace), with a string 7:10 or better splits in the last 11...7:08, 7:07, 7:06, 7:04, 7:10, 7:01, 7:04, 6:49, 7:07, 7:03, 7:02. I feel really good about this.

Yeah, long runs like that are great confidence boosters. Nice! Any racing plans in the near future? I am looking forward to seeing what sorts of times you can post!

Last week I shared a couple examples of my tapering strategy for mid-cycle races. This week I crunched some numbers to see what percentage of my training has been at various paces.

These are the percentage of mileage at each pace range during the 10 weeks leading to the August 6th 15K. Race day pace was 6:26/mile. Weekly mileage was about 45.

6:00-6:29 -- 1.8%

6:30-6:59 -- 7.8%

7:00-7:29 -- 18.0%

7:30-7:59 -- 16.0%

8:00-8:59 -- 38.1%

9:00:9:59 -- 13.3%

10:00-12:00 -- 5.0%

There was no targeted VO2max training during the 10 weeks. I've based my schedule on the Pfitzinger marathon plan, which doesn't introduce VO2max work until week 8 which is about where I am now. That's the opposite of Daniels, who includes it early, but not later.

During the 10 weeks, I was figuring 6:35 was Lactate Threshold pace. My 4- and 5-mile LT runs were at 6:40. LT intervals were 6:25-6:35 per mile. Most recent 5K race pace was 6:06.

Estimating LT pace as "maximum pace for one hour," of course gives me an exact 6:26/mile, as the 15K race was 59:59. Interestingly, I ran a total of only 2 miles at that pace or faster during the 10 weeks, not counting a few "90 seconds at 5K pace" as part of my one-week taper. "Race day magic," yes, but it demonstrates that slow aerobic miles, along with limited efforts approaching LT pace, is a workable formula (the 15K was an age-graded PR).

Next stop: October 1 marathon. Happy trails to you!

First time poster here! Hoping to join in on all the good training progress that is happening on these threads.

Age:18, Male, ran in high school, than got burnt out and took about a year and a half off, now I'm trying to get back to my former fitness.

My week:

M 2 up 4 x (200, 200, 400) with 1 min rest after each 200 and 2 after each 400. 200s were in 41-45 and 400s were 86-88. 1 down for 5 total.

T 4 @ 8:23 avg

W 6 @ 8:30 avg

T 4 @ 8:26 avg

F 1.25 up 6x1k @ 4:21-4:27 with 1 min rest. 1 down for 6 total

S Off

S 4 @ 8:23 avg

Total: 29 miles

2 solid workouts this week, with some speed on Monday and some tempo on Friday. I'm going to do 1 more week at ~30 miles than a down week than I'll jump up to 36-38.

Used to post here, haven't since about last November. I've still followed the thread, although those who post have changed drastically.

16, incoming senior

PB's-1500 (4:16), 3000 (9:00-indoor), 5000-track (15:59), 6K XC (20:00)

M-off

T-5 easy

W-5 easy

T-5 easy

F-5 easy

S-5 (1 easy to warm-up, 4 moderate at 6:27 avg.)

S- 8 "long" (7:23 avg)

This was the first week of cross-country base after an almost 2 week break following a long track season. Just building up mileage for a few weeks ago with some moderate running thrown to ease the transition into workouts eventually. During outdoor track I felt like I was lacking some strength that I had during the indoor season when I was running more and doing more tempos and workouts on short rest, so I'll be working on addressing that this season with more tempos and hills, as well as building up mileage.

Will probably start doing some hill sprints and/or strides this week

Great stuff guys, slo's 30k really stood out to me, likewise the 'Shrimp Dinner' session, something I intend on copying. Without the shrimp.

Found out I've been put in the 16:30 race and the sub-34 race for my next two tracks races (5k 23rd Aug, 10k 10th Sept), which are both PBs races so really hoping they go well before Chicago. Both big meets in London, both have pacers, crowds up to Lane 3 and beer tents down the back straight, so should be fun at least.

M - 8.5 @ 6:45

T - 7 x 800m off 200m jog at 2:34 avg.

W - My mother put a nail though two pipes, so I spent the evening with her and plumber, no running....

T - 13.5m with 5m spent @ 5:55 pace - the one killed me and I have no idea why.

F - Scheduled off

S - 8.6 @ 7:02

Su - 15 @ 7:13

Total 52m

Bit of a shocker taken on its own but considering the last few months, me considering it a shocker is a great sign on it's own.

More importantly however!! The LRC Prediction contest seems to have cut Bolt's medal and given Blake one in the 100m, taking me from joint 2nd to 4th and OUT OF THE PRIZES. I'm hoping the mistake is noticed. Otherwise, devastated.

Great weeks everyone, maybe comments tomorrow??

Currently getting ready for some road 5ks (plus 1 cross country race) this fall.

Next Race: 5k Aug 26??

M: 8 w/ 2x4x10" hill sprints, Hill sprints felt really good, but the rest of the run felt heavy. I'll take it. Got called in as a sub last minute for a playoff frisbee game. Only had 1 male sub so I played ~80% of the points. Lost 10-11.

T: 4

W: 8 w/ 2x4x10" hill sprints, Sore from frisbee on Monday and definitely didn't do 8 miles today #badgermiles, strength after (med ball throw, dumbbell high pull, front squat, circuit (pull up, 1L deadlift, push up, twist), rows, plank)

Th: 7 feeling pretty good.

F: Travel

S: hiking

S: hiking

Total - 27

I had this penned in as a lighter week with traveling. Dropped my planned fartlek after playing frisbee. Was super sore from running directions not straight, haha. Then got to go hiking in beautiful western North Carolina this weekend.

Chunky Vanilla wrote:

@Darko – Being sick this week didn’t help which also led to me hammering my long run when I was finally feeling better. Very solid week yourself. What do you have planned for this fall aside from the 15K?

I'm definitely doing:

October 15th -- 10k road

October 28th -- Cross Country (It's usually between 8 and 12km)

And looking at some other races as well, including a HM sometime maybe in December-March depending on how things go.

I've hit on this before, but I'm so jealous of the running scene there. The only real chance that I ever get to race on the track is an occasional collegiate meet where they allow open runners. No festival style races like you've described.

Agreed. I would love to run a track race sometime. There are zero around here for us ..

Hey, Allen...

Thanks for the feedback. Yes, those long runs are great for a runner's psyche.

With regard to a race, I have been itching to do one. The hamstring messed that up a bit. Got a massage last week, and it helped. Got another massage this evening, and it helped even more. Right now, it feels pretty good.

So, in the past few days, I have been scanning the Intenet, looking for a race within a reasonable distance. The thing is, though, that it is still summer, and so that affects things. If my leg is okay, I think I can put up a good time, but how good, I am not sure, as conditions always affect the outcome. I have to do more checking on 10k races, but I have found a possible half marathon, which is coming up soon. I think another poster here mentioned that his upcoming race would be "hilly and hot," and that would seem to apply to this half marathon I have in mind. Not terribly hilly, but rolling for sure. I am on the fence about it because if I did not PR, it would probably bug me. Then again, it would probably serve a good purpose for training, whether I PR or not.

What do you think? Actually, I would be willing to hear other opinions, too.

All the best to you, my friend!

paleale - appreciate the encouragement. I would like to think that things are gonna come together soon also, but I feel like I'm a little behind after not doing much for 2+ weeks 'cause of my foot and calf. We will see though...

Living in third world countries for the past 7 years has had its ups and downs as far as running. Kosovo where I am now, has very little running culture and only one real race a year-the Pristina Half Marathon (incidentally it was won by a Kenyan, with Michael Wardian showing up and coming in top 5). I have never seen a track here rarely see locals running.

Zambia had a pretty decent running scene with several local races during the year of various distances. Also some decent rag-tag running clubs of locals and internationals. It also had a great climate and landscape for running.

Congo had an awful running climate and terrible traffic, crime, etc. (a prostitute once attacked me while running-trust me-less fun than it sounds), but tons of expats running.

I am originally from NJ and it seems like every town has a 5 K or 4 -5 miler road run, not to mention lots of larger more organized races of varied distances. Also, there are tracks everywhere. My twin brother is always doing races in NYC and NJ. That being said, when I lived in NJ, several hours of my day were spent commuting, so my running was spotty at best. For the past 7 years as a diplomat, I have enjoyed commutes under 10 minutes which has allowed me to run, but with few races to train for! I guess you can't have it all!

Martalus - was this a female hooker? Was she fast from smoking crack?

Had a R workout today at the track 8x400 (400jog) 2x200 (200 walk jog) kept the paces about the same as last week but averagedfaster speeds on the Jogs. I really despise track work, hope the juice is worth the squeeze!

As far as I could tell, she was female. I was with a group of dudes doing our Saturday afternoon run and she started cat calling at me. Then she got off the corner and made like she was going spank me. It was all fun and games up until that point, but instead of spanking she got her hand way up in the there which was less funny.

So no one's going to question the claim that "some say" detraining occurs in 48 hours so it is a surprise to feel good after 2 days rest? The only thing I've found is blood volume might go down 5% in 48 hours. This does not seem like it would correlate directly to a measurable loss in fitness compared to all the repair work your muscles get done in that time? Or am I missing something?

Allen, what marathon are you running again? Have you settled on a goal time? I feel like it's fluctuated a bit and I couldn't keep track. I'll be pulling for you...you've been working towards this for a long time now.

I think I must have missed the detraining comment.