Road Racing and Training Thread, Week Ending 12/31/17

OR - Isn't packed snow the loveliest surface to run on. Always puts a smile on my face as well

Hantph - Bummer about the foot but congrats on some fantastic running in 2017

Smoove - another solid week, I'm sure you'll have some more pep in your step on the race course

RRR - Keeping it up with the doubles and nice 6x1mi

Pappy - I hope your back running soon

AJ - Setting PRs from 1 mi to 13.1 sounds like you had a bad case of being in tip-top shape. Any chance it's contagious? haha

Diet - Some solid efforts and volume this week. Keep it up

Oh Please - Welcome to the thread!

Training for an indoor track meet in late January

M: off

T: 9 w/ 2x1200, 2x800 (5:30=>5:10 pace, maybe 5k=>3k effort), was going to do another 800 or two but I had a nasty indoor track blister developing. Running indoors felt really weird. strength after (Med ball stuff, 1 arm DB snatch, front squat, circuit (pull ups, 1L deadlift))

W: 40 min cross training (rower, indoor bike, circuit (rows, push ups, core))

Th: 9 w/ (5x10" flat sprints), (3x10", 30" hill sprint), 5degF and snowing so these were a little bit short of actually sprinting

F: 9 w/ 2x(400, 4x100/150 stride/cruise) w/ ~500m jog, (300,200,2x150) w/ ~300m jog, 400s (65,67), fartlek 5:50 pace, cut down (50,33,24,24). This was an under control effort, legs were heavy but I felt like I had a nice stride. strength after (jumping, DB clean & jerk, lunges, DB press, pull ups/1L squat, row/core)

S: 40' nordic skiing (1 degF, but there were ~15 people out skiing so it was just nice to see other people outside exercising.)

S: 9.5 3 degF, had company from a new friend so it wasn't bad, actually took off my windbreaker for the last few miles

Cold so I moved my workouts indoors this week. The long stuff indoors sucks, but Friday was what indoor track is all about, running fast, weird blisters and not caring about what my knees think

pewow - Yes, packed snow is a nice running surface...easy on the body. Should I go for a half or full this spring?

Oh Please - Welcome! and I echo RRR’s comments wholeheartedly. You have a new year and a fresh slate—take advantage and love every minute of it.

outsiderunner wrote:

Pappy - I left some comments for you (and Smoove) over in last week’s thread.

I think you have it the wrong way, my friend—I get a ton of inspiration from YOU, and I am sure others here do as well.

Smoove -I like your Wednesday run, and I am not just saying that. You got six in a row (no rest breaks) at sub-7, which I am sure is cake for you. Expand that gradually to 10 or 12 (or more), and it will put a smile on my face (and, in my view, help you as a runner). I guess I am suggesting that you be “outsiderunner” one day per week...which would mean that I would have to be Smoove one day per week?

But notice how he jumps from 6:31 pace to 5:42 pace. For a runner at his current fitness level he should be running more miles in the 6:00-6:20 range and then maybe hammering the last one or two if feeling good.

The rest of the holiday weekend will be devoted to my beautiful bride -- an accomplished runner herself back in the day -- so I just wanted to take a moment now to wish you all a blessed, happy and healthy 2018.

After a three month break from training, I will be easing back into it in January, and posting again on the 50+ thread.

OR -- thanks for the kind words on last week's thread. I added some thoughts there regarding fartlek running.

Oh Please, I have appreciated your insights on various threads, and look forward to following your training here.

Smoove and everyone heading to Houston, run tough and enjoy!

Happy New Year!

Yeah...a bunch of miles for Smoove at 6:00-6:20 and then hammering the last two, if feeeling good, would be a true “outsiderunner” type of run. That type of run is eminently enjoyable and worthwhile. I know you have supported my running style (thanks), but did not realize that you like my approach that much (i.e. the steady state/progression and then hammer it if you can style run). What a blast it is—a true joy, especially when I know I have 5k pace in me and am heading home, winding it up in the last two miles or so!

pewow wrote:

AJ - Setting PRs from 1 mi to 13.1 sounds like you had a bad case of being in tip-top shape. Any chance it's contagious? haha

Thanks pewow. I know you are joking, but in a sense being in good shape is contagious. I’ve been very lucky this year to have a good group to run with for most easy days and a lot of the hard days. That has helped a lot.

AJ - I feel like if I had someone of a similar speed to do tempos with that would help a ton for me anyways. I do like the loneliness of running tho.

Pewow - another solid week. Stay warm my friend. And you would be proud I did a fartlek on Saturday w short bursts of top end running (sprinting?) Even hit 4:15ish pace a few times, which for me is really moving haha.

First post on Letsrun, but I've been following the forum (and this thread series) for a while as I go through my running journey.

I am a 44 year old and on a "comeback" of sorts. I was a high jumper / multi-eventer in college. I had decent distance times for a multi-event guy, but that's not saying much. I joined the Marine Corps after college and trained "hard" (4 miles a day and weekly 400m repeats) for the 3 mile physical fitness test at OCS. I managed a 16:33. That was 1997. Then, I got married and out of shape. Then we started having kids and I got more out of shape. Then my career and business took off and it got even worse.

At about age 38 I decided I needed to do something as I was not healthy. I was doing well in my career, but I was worried about my health. I was not fat, but my joints hurt so much I could not even sit on the floor with my kids. I could barely walk up a flight of stairs without getting winded. I decided to get back in shape and do masters track meets.

The dream of masters track meets stopped fast when I realized I'd never come anywhere near what I was doing in college. My one and only masters meet threw me into a depression when I no heighted in the high jump. It really sucks to get old. In the process I was doing weights. I decided to take weightlifting seriously for the first time and leave my track memories in the past. I lifted seriously for about two years. I got my dead lift up to 450 pounds, bench up to 250 and below parallel squat up to about 330. I also ballooned up to about 225+ pounds. I did not like that even though at 6' 1+" I was not too fat.

In the summer of 2014 I did a bit of jogging and it was horribly painful to go even one mile around my neighborhood. I was shocked how much it hurt. I messed around with jogging a bit that summer but never went more than two miles.

The summer of 2015 I was determined to lose the fat and get back into shape. I ran a 4.75 mile bike path near my house four or five times every week. It hurt bad. I managed about 50 minutes each run.

The summer of 2016 I decided I'd do the same thing, but I was surprised at how quickly it started feeling better. I added about a mile to my "long run" each week until I ran 10 miles one day. I then decided I could do a half marathon. I kept adding a mile a week to my long run and decided I might possibly be able to do a full marathon.

I started reading about running and decided to do the most basic marathon plan I could find. I did 35-40 mpw on 5 days a week for a couple months. I ran a half marathon in 1 hr 49+ min. I was hooked. I registered for my local fall 2016 marathon. I bumped my mileage up to 40-45 with three 50 mile weeks that included three 20 milers. I tried to run with the 3:50 pacer and made it until about mile 23. I then shuffled it in at 3:57+.

I then decided to take a Whitlock approach to things, buy a treadmill and run nice and easy on through the winter while watching Netflix. I decided that I would run 10+ hours a week and I did not care how slow it had to be to get it done. I was able to use my second language (Spanish) while running so I felt like I was being doubly productive. I consistently ran 10 hours a week at 11+ min/mile pace targeting a spring marathon and got to know all the Mexican telenovela stars very well. No speed, just nice and easy.

In April of 2017, two weeks before my target marathon I ran a 5k in 21:11 to get an idea of my fitness. I am stupid and did not realize that marathons have size limits so I could not register for the marathon. I did the half instead and managed a 1:36:32 (7:22 pace). This course was fast, net downhill and there was a very strong tailwind the entire way so I don't consider that my PR.

I then took it easy for a couple months. During the down period I ran a couple halfs at about 1:44 on hot/bad days and I ran a 11:42 3000m.

I then went back to my Whitlock approach and got back to running 10 hours a week. I increased the speed a bit to just under 10 min/mile and I added a bit of marathon pace work. I put in about 3+ months and did a fall half in my marathon build up with no taper in 1:38:16 (7:30 pace) and felt amazing. I ran the first 11 on pace for a 1:40 (target marathon pace) and then smoked the last 2 miles. I then ran the marathon in October of 2017 thinking I could run a 3:20. I went through the half in 1:41+ and felt great. I stayed on the same pace until 16 miles and then completely blew up. I am too embarrassed to say how much I blew up.

I took it easy for about four weeks after the marathon and now I'm working back up again. For the past five weeks I've been running 10+ hours a week with some marathon-ish tempo runs. I am targeting a half marathon near the end of March and then a 5k series in the summer.

So, finally, here is what I did this past week:

Monday: 1hr 56 min easy on treadmill

Tuesday AM: 1 hr 20 min easy on treadmill

Tuesday PM: 50 min easy on treadmill

Wednesday: 50 min @ 7.4 mph on treadmill (a couple notches slower than MP)

Thursday: 1 hr 24 min easy on treadmill

Friday: 1 hr 16 min easy on treadmill

Saturday: 2 hr 30 min easy on treadmill

Sunday: 1 hr 2 min easy outside w/ some strides.

Weekly total: 11 hr 8 min.

outsiderunner wrote:

AJ - Strong week! I guess I am a born again runner (in my sixth year), or a little engine that never was. :-)

You had a fine 2017. All the best in 2018, and I will add this...I am picking ‘Bama to beat Clemson.

Thanks OR. Roll tide. If i were you I’d go snag PRs in the mile and 5k then gear up for a spring full. You only get a couple shots per year at the full and we’re not getting any younger.

First-time poster on this thread.

This was an alright week considering the weather was super poor.

M-2.7 (tried running but no one shoveled their sidewalks)

T-12 Easy

W-2 up, 6x1 mile with 1 min rest, 2 down (5:19, 5:16, 5:24, 5:20, 5:26, 5:22) Tough workout but better than I thought it was going to go.

Th-10 Easy

F-13 Easy

Sat-2 up, 7 mile tempo in 39:39, 2 down Brutal headwind for this one.

Sun-17.4 easy long run

Total:76

Phone post so hopefully comments later

M- off for Christmas

T- 10 easy

W- 5 easy + 7 strides

T- 7 w/ messed up track tempo

F- off

S- 7 moderate at 8k feet

S- 14 mixed. First three climbing trail, next 6 moderate, last five at 6:15.

Total- 43

Crap week overall. Felt dead coming into the week and with family commitments on the 25th I decided to just take it off. This sickness has been hanging around and I think finally really caught up to me.

Finally felt ok enough Thursday to run something tempo ish and planned on some miles on the track. Figured I'd run 5-6 x mile around 6:05-6:10. Did not take into account that the first few lanes were covered with tables and tarps for soccer practice and then there were people doing plyos in the next few lanes. So I hopped in lane 8 to stay clear of everything but not thinking was targeting 400 splits for a 6:05 lap. Yeah, that didn't work considering I ended up huffing 5k pace First mile (4 laps) ok but a bit taxing, minute rest, next 4 laps were really taxing. Figured it was the sickness causing the struggle so bagged it. Yep, it was the long laps at 5k pace rather than tempo. Oh well.

Friday off because I felt really terrible with stomach issues. At that point decided I may as well just take it easier through the remainder of the week and call it a rest week. Went up to Flagstaff on Saturday and ran some miles around Buffalo Park.

Long run Sunday I finally felt good, mini taper for the win. Decided to just roll with it and took a bit of progression starting in some clinging trail the first few miles then hitting the flats after. Started pushing the pace halfway through and was able to keep picking it up with not much issue. Strong finish the last five miles.

Happy New Year!

AJ - That is good advice. Have never given much thought to the mile, but these fast miles lately have sparked some interest. The Shamrock full is on Mar. 18, and so I might have enough time in between for a mile and 5k PR (might be tight). I have never run a mile race. Yes, we are certainly not getting any younger.

mctwist - Welcome to the gang. You’re fast!

OR,

I missed a long thread about your training. Yes, it is strange, but I like to look at things positively. I think my PRs are faster than yours, and I couldn't run that hard everyday. That tells me you have some pretty significant talent waiting to manifest itself in faster times. Or, for the simple enjoyment of running.

I ran 67.5 miles this week with two workouts.

Tuesday: 5 mile run in 2800. about 3.5 of it was at 10k pace, the other 1.5 was at 615ish pace. It was supposed to be a LT run, but given the temps (teens), and poor footing, I let the day change the workout on the fly.

Sunday (today): 3.5 up, 3x(800,400,200,200). 200 meter jog rest after the 4s and 2s, 400 meter jog rest after the 800s and between sets.

220, 217, and 219 for the 800s

68, 68, 67, for the 400s, and

32,32,33,32,32,31 for the 200s

I ran with guys aiming to run 820 /1430 for the 3k, so I was a little (ok, a lot) out of my league. I was pleased to finish the workout as strongly as I did.

The rest of the week was 7xx aerobic miles.

My year started out strong, fizzled, then redeemed itself a bit.

Early january 5k: 1540 (certified, but perfect course condiditon

Shamrock Shuffle Chicago: 2537 (outkicked Kim Conley!)

Hilly certified 10k: 3330

Then things went down hill. I was training to run a 71-72 half, but ended up running 7458 in May

June 10k: 3420. Warm day, felt like trash from the get go.

August road mile: 433. Big PR, felt some mojo return

October 5k: 1554. Great run. certified course, 5/10 day. I competed/raced better than ever

Turkey Trot 5k: 1613. Great conditions, good competition for 1.5 miles.

Just over 3100 miles for 2017. For 2018 I want to PR in a standard distance. At 37 this is getting tougher, but this thread sure helps!

I'd also like to go for a 20 mile run sometime, and get out of my comfort zone training.

Bdubs - Thank you so much. Talent is a beautiful thing, and I never thought I had any. Faster times and enjoying running—what could be better? Had a huge smile and a deep feeling of joy when crossing the line at Richmond. I want to experience that again.

Nice work in out-kicking Kim Conley!

Happy New Year everybody!! I had a pretty productive week.

(I will run a 3000m indoor in february 3rd.)

? Week 9 ?

? Monday: Merry Christmas!

? Tuesday:

am: 8km easy + 8*60m

pm: 12km also easy

? Wednesday: 5km easy + 5km tempo (16.19)* + 5km easy

*On road, but very cold outside

? Thursday:

am: 15km easy + 8*60m

pm: 8km easy

? Friday: 500, 1k, 2k, 1k, 500 indoor

500s @ 1.26, 1.23; with 1.30 rest after

1ks @ 2.57, 2.56; with 2.10

2k @ 5.58; with 2.40

? Saturday: 18km

? Sunday:

am: 18km including 10k of hilly fartlek (37.12)

pm: 7km easy

? Week total: 114 kms (71miles)

Happy New Year Everybody,

@DietBacon I just started posting here 2 weeks ago and this is quickly becoming my favorite thread, away from all the bullshit that goes around here

@Emanuel Solid week, I noticed you always do 60m are those strides or full on sprints?

December was the highest mileage ever for me, 411km (255 miles), this is the first time I jumped over 400, with the highest being 390 in summer. The year went pretty good, only injury I had was in February and it was pretty bad, had to take around 6 weeks off (ran too much on snow and too hard). After spring races I decided to go from 6 days of running to 7 because I felt like the off day just made me extra tight the next day so I started jogging 2-3 miles on the rest day, it gradually built up to a full run. Longest streak was 80 days in summer. I've been taking a complete day off only occasionally since May and it's odd but I feel much better and besides some niggles I had no injuries so far. I'll tone it down once snow hits since I run mostly on roads so the uneven terrain all of a sudden probably injured me winter.

3630 km for 2017 (1990 for 2016), Went from 19:30/41:25/1:31:57 to 18:30/39:45/1:27 in 1 year, I could probably run much faster if I didn't weigh 83kg (183lbs) but with all the food from Christmas and New Year I probably gained 1 or 2 extra now. Anyway, here's my week

Monday: 8.6 km easy with 6x70 uphill sprints

Tuesday: 14km, 4x(5x300), 30 seconds rest between 300, 4:30 between sets. Really interesting session, working of speed endurance without straining too much, averaged 63-65s, with the last set progressive finishing in 58. The 30 second rest was just enough, next time I go for 4x400

Wednesday: 8.9k easy + 8.1k very easy and drills

Thursday: 12.7k, 60 min with 50 at average 4:25/km. Very windy in the first half made second half a bit too hard

Friday: 9.2k easy + 6.6k very easy

Saturday: 9.8k very easy with friends

Sunday: 22k at 5:00/km

Total: 100 km (and 400 meters :) )

I had a few weeks in summer at 100k but usually they left me drained and were peak weeks, now it kinda felt easy to go for 2 in a row without even aiming a certain mileage

@Adrian: i usually do 6*60m pretty fast but not all out. Let.s say around 9-9.5s or around 10.5s when i run them easy uphill. After 8-9 weeks of those (~2 times a week) I switch it to 4*80m at same speed as the 60s.

That was cold, darn cold. A hilly 11.13 @ 6:41 overall. The wind cut right through me. Glad to be indoors, with ND and LSU on the tube.

Currently 53 and light rain at he Citrus Bowl. I feel bad for those who made the trek from South Bend to escape the winter weather. This is certainly an improvement, but not the weather they were hoping for, I'm sure.