Road Racing and Training Thread Ending 9/3/17

You guys are killing it:

51 yo male

Goal race : Richmond Marathon- 4 hours

Monday : 14 easy ( last 3 brutal in humidity)

Tuesday: 4 very easy

Wednesday: off

Thursday : 5 easy

Friday : 2 mi w/u, 6x400m at just faster than 5k pace, 2mi c/d

Saturday: 4 easy

Today: 12 mile progression: 6 easy, 3 medium, 1 MP, 1 tempo , 1 easy

Total: 46; feeling good 10 weeks from goal race.

41 yo male, hitting "peak month" before taking awhile off from racing to help with a new baby coming in late October. Race day tomorrow, 8-miler that I ran in peak shape in 2000 in 50:16 and I'm hoping for a better time tomorrow. There's a 1.5 mile hill, climbs about 350 feet from mile 3 to 4.5 and after that its rolling to the finish. Figured I could average 6:00 and get 7:15 on the hill and still have room to PR tomorrow.

Coming off a bad cold this week and traveled yesterday so only got some shake out. Nervous about being fatigued from being sick plus it's gonna be warm but overall confident in myself putting together a solid performance.

M - off

T - 7

W - 8

T - off

F - 3x1 T w 2 min jog

S - 1

S - 2

Happiest update of the week!

Runn3rgirl wrote:

Sunday- 6 miles

Monday- off

Tuesday- 5 miles

Wednesday- 15-30-45-60-75-2:00 and back down w/ equal rest , 1 mile warm up and cool down.

Thursday- 6 miles

Friday- 4 mile warm up, 5x3min hard/2 easy, 4x35sec hard/ 1 min easy

Saturday- 6 miles

Team1 - Good luck! We have been putting in the work. You will break 50..

decided I am gonna go 36 or bust.

Runn3rgirl - agree w smoove. Glad back running. Hope you are feeling well?!

Glad to see that you are back, Runn3rGirl.

RRR and team 1 - I am rooting for you guys. Best of success to both of you! You have put in the miles, and so be confident. In regard to BR, indeed, his bread and butter was lots and lots of road miles. Love his story. It brought a tear to my eye here and there. Just a "regular guy" with extraoridnary devotion and a great passion for running.

team 1 - That sounds like a tough, hilly course. I think I know which race it is. In any case, breaking 50 at age 41 would be outstanding. You can do it. Just think of it as a training run. That is how I have been running my races, and it helps. Your race plan sounds perfect.

Feeling good. I think I just over did it. We have lower humidity now which is nice. 😄

First time poster on this thread--

Male, 19. PR's of 9:31 for 2m and 15:55 for 5k (2014-2015)

Goal: Get back into reasonable shape by the end of 2017.

Next Race(s): 11/4 - 5k road and 12/9 - 15km road

Was in best shape of my life until I got a stress fracture almost exactly 12 months ago. Been a long, long road back. Took some time running through pain before I realized what it was. Then, took some time off...rushed back too soon... new nagging stuff came as a result. Long story short, I have been jogging most of the summer now, but have gained 15-20pounds since last year and am fighting pretty hard to get back into shape. Nevertheless, I feel like I am turning a corner. Trying to be patient. No real goals for the rest of the year except to continue to make training a habit, and run a couple races for the first time in what will be 18months.Hope to build back up to 55-60mpw which was the norm for me.

Mon - 4.5m easy + 4x strides

Tue - 1min/2min/3min/2min/1min Fartlek - avg 5:55 overall + WU/CD (6)

Wed - 5.5m easy

Thu - 5m easy

Fri - 8xhill repeats (250ish meters) + WU/CD (6)

Sat - 5m easy

Sun - 7.25 steady

Total; 39miles

Looking forward to seeing everyone's progress, hope all is well.

Although the two prior weeks weekly average was only 30mpw due to food poisoning taking me down for 4 days two weeks ago, I had been averaging mid 30s to low 40s for a few months so my jump to 50 is built on a good buildup. Am on vacation now in Mozambique for two weeks, so I am enjoying taking a nap everyday! Also it's flat here, so yesterday's 19 miler felt super easy compared to my previous 16 and 17 milers in super hilly Kosovo! Am feeling chipper for my 4 miler shake out this morning compared to usual, thanks to the flat stuff here! 8 weeks out now from the frankfurt marathon. Just gotta get through the next few tough weeks!

Great week all! I see a lot of folks mention being sick or getting sick. For me, I fear getting sick as much as getting injured. Seems like getting fatigued can dampen the immune system and leave one open to illness. Besides sleeping well, any other dietary things you guys do to stay healthy?

Moose327 - Welcome! I am familiar with the stress fracture business - got one April 2016, and wasn't back in PR shape until almost a year later. Just be consistent with doing what got you into really good shape and you can get back there. Nice week by the way.

Not sure if this will help, but try slowing down the pace on easy runs. That's probably the biggest change I've made since then, and I feel like I recovered a lot better than before.

Runn3rGirl - WB!

Moose - Welcome, I'm coming back from a stress fracture myself (3 months off from 1st March) and one of my good friends here in London was diagnosed with one in her foot 5 days ago, just before trying for a 2:50 in Berlin. It'll come.

M - 7 easy

T - 8x2mins off 60secs - this felt terrible, still can't pace solo workouts for the life of me but couldn't run with the group since I had a tattoo on my stomach in the afternoon

W - off

Th - 9.5m steady

Fr - 10m steady with 5:35 9th mile - wanted this to be easy but work stress meant that I had to just let rip a little

Sa - Off

Su - 10k track race - 34:50

Total - 41

34:50 is a PB but it's a distance I haven't run for over a year so it was super weak. Extremely disappointed since I thought 34-flat was easily on the cards. Ran with the pace group through 4400m then my stomach cratered out completely. Spent 4 laps desperately trying not to DNF then found a pace to run it home. Ended up with 16:55/17:55 splits, so you can see how it went!! Good news is that my legs feel great this morning for a much bigger week. Need to figure out why my body flipped though.

Got a road league 5k match on Thursday so that'll be fun.

Quick race recap. It got hoooot I started overhearing at about 3.2 miles so I coasted it in. Saving it for Saturday. 37:44 for fifth. Everyone died I didn't catch or lost to anyone after mile 1.

Quick recap of the 8-miler. I had hoped to break 40:16 and worked out the pace as 6:00 after accounting for a long hill at mile 3, which would drop my pace to the mid-7s (I thought). The race is usually won in 41-45 minutes and 50:16 is usually 8th-16tg place so I was slightly surprised to be out in 2nd after the first 200. A couple people passed me going up some hills in Mile 1 including one guy who has beaten me consistently in the recent past and last year ran 49:xx. I would pass him on the down hill and he would pass me on the up. Splits looked like 5:47, 547, 6:03 with the first two mikes downhill and then a flat one. By Mile 3, I was almost caught up to 2nd and 3rd, with the 1st place guy was out of sight. That was the beginning of the long hill and I slogged up, dropped ng back and getting passed again and the being caught by the #1 woman. By the top of the 1.5 mile hill I was 5th man, and 6th overall. Splits were like 6:46 and 7:44. Probably would need 6:00 the rest of the way to get close to 50:16. After that it's rolling all the way to the end. I was a bit tired and tried to relax on the downhills and open up, bringing the guy in front of me closer. Work the hill but lose some distance, and then suddenly it was a long downhill and I was past him, in 4th male, and closing on the next guy, who had just been past by first woman. I wasn't pushin al out but I was working. Same thing, just cruising the flats and opening up on the downhills and I was past him, solidly in 4th. Splits came 6:17, 6:12. At this point I knew the 50:16 goal was unlikely But I could see #2 man now as #1 woman was eating him up, passing him, and even in my gassed state I could see the distance between us shrinking. When I hit within 20 yards I took a couple steps to bank some energy and then opened up, flying by. That hurt, and after a gap of 20 yards, settled back I but there was only 3/4 mile left and #1 woman was still within sight. Roads were still winding and rolling by but not a lot of elevation gained or lost, and I started dropping the hammer, was able to catch and pass her, and power home to the finish in2nd place in about 50:35. Final split 5:56. Huge surprise with the placing since the same time last year would have been 12th. Winner was 47:xx whereas last year there were 5 faster than that. I think Some of the bigger names stayed out this year perhaps because they capped the number of registrants for the first time. Still fun to fight for and get that second place (1st place loser). There's a small part of me that's bummed I didn't get the 50:16 but that is outweighed by the fact that I faced demons late in the race and vanquished them. Honestly those demons usually convince me to just mail it in, cruising to the finish, but this time I fought and laid down my best at the end. Feels good. Next year we'll go for sub-50:00.

There was a buzz among the locals... "who is that woman who won the women's race?" She made a joking mean face at me at the finish after I passed her in the last half mile. That was Heather Jackson, training for Kona Ironman where last year she got 3rd. Kind of wish I had talked with her more. Amazing athlete.

RRR - Sometimes runner x beats runner y, and sometimes it is the opposite, but no one beats the heat. Don't sweat it.

team 1 - Nice job in facing the demons, and congrats on being second. Nothing wrong with that. When looking at the elevation profile, I was thinking that sub-50 would be tough. It looks like a super race. Would love to run it one day. The hills would be difficult, but I like that type of terrain (saw a couple of photos). Looks like finely crushed gravel. How was the weather? It seems you got out pretty early, too (6:25).

I miss the Dry West.

All the best...

Team1- amazing race report. I would do the same but I have had a looooooot of beer.

OR - I am. Happy w my race. I went out to plan didn't feel it and mailed it in but maintained my position. At 1.3 miles I was 5th and I finished 5th. I was in no mans land hell. Buddy of mine who broke 35 last year on this course and is in similar shape ran 36:30. Was just a suffer fest.. luckily for the 5k Saturday it's gonna be 53 degrees ..

Also the kid who beat me 55 seconds in 5k August 5th only got me by 22 seconds today in 10k so I knew I am getting fit... no worries I'm happy.

Oh and I forgot. A 71 yr old dude went sub 42 in the 10k today. Was seriously impressive. Ran first mile w me at 6:11

Sounds like you had a great day, regardless of the time. We all tech the time where we consider cutting deals with ourselves. You reached that time and rejected all deals. That's pretty much the epitome of a win the way I see it.

Runrincerepeat wrote:

Oh and I forgot. A 71 yr old dude went sub 42 in the 10k today. Was seriously impressive. Ran first mile w me at 6:11

Whoa!!! Now that is impressive!