Road Racing and Training Thread, Week Ending 1/28/18

Not at all inappropriate to question - I put it out there. That's a pretty decent scaling back of beers for me, although the timing was poor (social duty - a friend made partner at my firm). Fair feedback and I will scale back even more.

Stat - Nice job in the 3k. Good report.

I would say the fartlek served its purpose of reintroducing a bit of quality without being too taxing and without producing a depressing tangible result. In that sense it was just what the doctor ordered.

On the other hand, i don’t know that I could ever get the same quality from an unstructured workout as I can with a measurable set of intervals. As a math and science guy, I think my personality needs a tangible/measurable goal that allows me to judge each rep (and maybe each lap) in order to really push myself to the limit. I feel like fartleking is more for the squishy english/history majors of the world. With that said I will fartlek again when the mood is right - I’m just probably won’t make them the meat and potatoes of my marathon buildup (at least not yet).

Allen - Thank you very much for the feedback and kind words. To tell you the truth, I do not know where these runs have been coming from, as my new job has been stressful and challenging. I feel blessed and I am so glad that I can run well and feel a sense of accomplishment after virtually every run. It is keeping a smile on my face, just as your post has.

All the best to you and I am glad to hear that you are back to running.

I will admit. For some reason it bothers me that people call 1min on and off or 2mins on and off etc... a fartlek! Fartlek are by definition undefined distance and pace and all by feel.

runrincerepeat wrote:

I will admit. For some reason it bothers me that people call 1min on and off or 2mins on and off etc... a fartlek! Fartlek are by definition undefined distance and pace and all by feel.

Our college coach used to call them "on-offs," but that doesn't have the same je ne sais quoi as "fartlek." I've also never encountered anyone who did true unstructured fartlek runs.

That said, I do think time-based intervals serve a slightly different purpose than distance-based ones. Seems easier to go by feel when it's just "moderately hard for 6 minutes" rather than "a mile in 6 minutes."

Yeah it's just a personality thing I reckon. Some people wake up and count all their teeth. And some thrive on more unstructured things.

I personally dislike the terms threshold, tempo and marathon pace more than people misusing the word fartlek. Maybe it's because I skipped the last 2.5 decades.

Hey DB, I know you're skiing this week, but is this flooding in Paris going to affect you? You seem to spend quite a bit of time on the banks of the Seine.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5321469/Paris-remains-high-alert-river-continues-rise.html

@Smoove: very consistent week, many consecutive 12mile+ days.

@pewow: congrats on the mile!

@DB: nice workout and tempo. be careful on the slope - some friends got injured while skiing :(

@AdrianChr: congrats for Gerar! ps: it wasn.t so much snow on monday morning :)

@statfanatic: congrats for the race! i hope to run around 8.26-27, an 8.25 like yours would be great for me :) your finish was awesome! when will you be running 3k again?

my week (last week before the 3k indoor race):

? Week 13 ?

----------------------------------------------------

? Monday: 14km + drills

? Tuesday: 5*200, 5*400, 5*200, 5*400, 5*200; 2'-2'30 between sets

200s @ 33-34; 32-33; 30-31 and 400s @ 67; (spikes on) 67, 64,64, 62,62

? Wednesday: rest

? Thursday: 16km with 7km of progressive tempo

? Friday: 16kms

? Saturday: 3*1k + 500m indoor in 2.53; 2.49; 2.44; 1.18

With 2'20 between the ks and 3' before the 500m

? Sunday: 13kms + lite drills and strides

? Week total: 82kms (51miles)

Thanks Allen, glad to hear you're up and running again was hoping to meet you at the 10 miler. Take your time on your come back, but you already knew that.

I have always used LSD training maybe that's why I have been lucky to stay consistent over the years.

After speaking with Smoove I have been trying to mix in some speed work in my running but running at 5 AM in the cold mornings it's hard to get the bones moving. Most of my week day runs are 8:01 pace to 8:59. All by how I feel.

Thanks for the compliment, this will be my 19th consecutive.

Had a good week. Only got in 1 quality session and a long run, as my schedule didn't allow for my second quality session (track workout). Hopefully, this week will actually go as planned. We'll see. At this time in my life, I find that any miles over 48 or so are difficult for me to fit in. With a wife, 3 kids, and the usual full time job, something always finds a way to cancel a run (or two). I'm sure there are many here who have a more full schedule than me and they manage to get the miles in, but for me, it's difficult. In any case, here's my week:

M - 6.3 miles easy

T - AM: 6.6 miles easy PM: 6.2 miles easy

W - 5.9 easy

TR - 6 miles: 4 mile tempo @ Goal Half Marathon Pace (1 mile warm up, 1 mile cool down)

F - 5.5 miles easy

S - 12.2 miles

Su - 5.4 miles

Total: 54.2 miles

19th consecutive!

I'm turning 50 in April and it's guys like you that I aspire to emulate. I'll be in Boston in 2019... to toast your 20th? Beer and pretzels!

DevinChaulk wrote:

With a wife, 3 kids, and the usual full time job, something always finds a way to cancel a run (or two). I'm sure there are many here who have a more full schedule than me and they manage to get the miles in, but for me, it's difficult.

Devin, it sounds like you've got your priorities exactly right... 50 miles per week in addition to all that is "above and beyond!" Life is good. Enjoy all of it!

Comments first:

Pappy - nice volume, stay cautious!

Smoove - nice week with a lot of miles. As I myself did not have a single cramp in my entire life, I cannot help you finding the root for your problem. Still, the beer theory might make sense.

angryj - funny, I do dips and pull-ups as well after 1 or 2 of my very easy runs (at a street "gym"). Nice long run

WorkingHarder - those 1200s are looking good - 17:30?

pewow - congrats on the mile result, 4:36 is a very nice effort.

OR - it is hard to comment on your training week after week, it all looks the same. Thus, as always: nice volume, solid pace. Looking foward to your next marathon

600m - stay patient, just my 2 cents. Everything else will head towards injury

DietB - very strong 1ks considering the 10k race two days prior. Stay safe on the slopes and don't worry too much about running. Enjoy.

jewbacca - strong long run!

statfanatic - nice workout on Tuesday and congrats on the race. Very fast time from where I am standing :)

slo-twitch - looking forward to follow your build. I like your week, lots of variety.

Coach Jeff ROC - looks like a tough long run. Nice volume overall!

My week:

M - 8.4k

T - 23.2k long run on a treadmill in Frankfurt airport

W - 15k on the very same treadmill

Th - 7.3k, again on a treadmill

F - 20.3k w/ 18k@4:01/k

S - off

S - 22.2k w/ 2x5k (18:44; 18:17)

T - 96.7k

The treadmill runs have been tough, both mentally and physically. I sweated a lot. Plus, the long run was done in he evening from 7-9, and the 15k at 6am the next morning.

Friday's 18k felt nice and smooth. Sunday, I was supposed to run a xc race, but family got in the way. Decided to run something similar, thus the 2x5k. It was very windy, the first 5k were straight into the wind, and the second one 50/50.

Philip

Pretzel Man wrote:

I have always used LSD training maybe that's why I have been lucky to stay consistent over the years.

After speaking with Smoove I have been trying to mix in some speed work in my running but running at 5 AM in the cold mornings it's hard to get the bones moving. Most of my week day runs are 8:01 pace to 8:59. All by how I feel.

I made great progress last year by including vo2max- and LT-paced workouts, but ended up painfully training through injuries for six months. Now I am going to emulate your training for a while, looking to get/stay healthy.

The only race (tentatively) on my schedule is a 15K in August, hoping to defend my M55-59 title. Dunno if I can reasonably expect to improve from my current 10-minute miles to the 6:20s I will need on race day!

Smoove- Finally got a chance to run on those hills yesterday. Really awesome. As for the cramps, I think I like what Coach Jeff had said. I have never really gotten cramps during training but races, I always seem to (I've cramped up at every single half I've done~ 3). I'm leaning towards muscles not being used to that effort for that length. Additionally have you tried calcium and magnesium? I read somewhere that they work.

pewow- 4:36 mile! nice

As for me- A lot of aerobic running, some hills, a tempo run, did a couple long runs- totaled about 67 miles (highest mileage in months for me). My legs feel really good and fresh.

Jeremy, I will be out there pretty much every weekend between now and Boston. Shoot me a message if you want to meet up out there for some portion of one of my long runs.

bill@brooklynbornrunning.com

Pappy - Concerning your Vivoactive HR, make sure that it is snug and that the sensoris kept against the skin. If loose, your watch might ride up on the bony prominence on your wrist and lose contact with your skin. Having a HRM built into a watch is convenient, but I think the wrist is an awkward location for an optical heart rate monitor. That is especially true if you have small wrists. As far as the accuracy of the heart rate monitor on your treadmill, all I know is that the one on the elliptical I have at home does not work that well and is not that accurate. I use an optical HRM that I wear on my arm and not my wrist and have found it to work quite well.

I have the Vivoactive (non HR) and here is what I have noticed for treadmill runs... I have not entered a custom stride length and I am reasonably certain that it is using the stride length from my last outdoor run to calculate the estimated distance. If I run at that same pace as my outdoor run and not too much incline, my watch and the treadmill are usually pretty darn close. If I increase the incline or pace, the watch and treadmill distance will start to drift apart. Grabbing the heart rate monitor bar on the treadmill will cause your watch to stop counting steps/cadence for the duration you are holding onto the HRM. No steps = no distance measured. Keep your watch arm free if you want your watch to count those steps.

All that being said, I'll echo what the others are saying. I think you are going by the right approach and not getting caught up in mileage. Just ease into things. If something does not feel right, back off or take some rest. Lastly, that was a solid week. 7 days and nothing less than 60 mins.

More later...

This has been a bit of an odd week. An unpredictable schedule at work forced me to squeeze in some time to use the treadmill at work. I guess I am fortunate that we have a gym where I work. Cold symptoms kick in on Wed. but I am fortunate that it seems to be a mild cold and it does not seem to be causing much of a problem for my training. Wednesday's workout got shifted to Thurs. so I could get on the track with a local running club. I was a little concerned about this workout because I almost never run this fast and not much time to recover before my long run. I trimmed it from 5x1k down to 4x1k. Sure enough, my legs are still feeling that workout today. I may skip this week's mid week workout.

Mon. 3.9 Easy. Cut short due to GI upset. Last mile was 1min faster with the stride of urgency. Positive confirmation on lactose intolerance.

Tues. AM 6.5 Easy (treadmill), PM 4 Easy (treadmill) Double to make up for Mon.

Wed. 5 Easy (treadmill)

Thurs. Q Run 2.7 up + 4x1k(~3:55/1k) 3min jog + 4x400(~90 sec) 400m jog + 1 down

Fri. 5 Easy

Sat. 15 Easy

Sun. Core/Hip strength and flexibility

Total 49.3mi.

sounds good, but you'd probably be too fast for me.

I also bought a used treadmill this weekend since my wife is going back to work next week, and I'm still determined to make this running work.