Road Racing and Training Thread, Week Ending 3/18/2018

37M, first marathon on 4/29

M, 4.3 easy (usually take M off, but was considering a 7 day training week)

T, 10 easy

W, 12.5 w/ 8 x 3/1 mins, the 3's were around 6 min pace and the 1's were around mid 7's.

Th, 6 very easy on dirt

F, 7 very easy on dirt w/ 5 short, steep hill strides

Sa, off

Su, 20, rolling gravel hills with 1-4 minute surges (HMP to MP) every mile after the 5th one. Also no calories this morning or on the run, 7:33 avg.

60 total

This was a pretty good week overall. I did Wednesday's session too hard, and I could feel it in my calves (particularly the left that is connected to my old achilles injury). I backed things way off after that. I was planning this to be another bigger week for me (mid to high 60s, maybe 70?), but I cut it short in the end. Lots of calf stretching, rolling, and massaging.

The 20 miler was good overall, and it was my second one. I think my body did great with no fuel. Never felt weak or bonky at any point. But man, it is hard to fathom doing another 10k on top of that and hoping to do it all quite a bit faster. 6 weeks to go to see what I can make happen. Next week will be something of a down week. Maybe 2 days off, and probably a shorter long run. Allen1959 suggested this week should have been a down one, maybe you were right on that one!

OR - Congrats! Very well run. That must have been another level or physical/mental tiredness into that wind at the end.

Coach Jeff - Congrats to you also!

Jewbacca - Solid week. Great to see how those 1k sessions have improved. Do they feel the same effort-wise?

Smoove - Love the coolness you show when these niggles show up - experience right there! Hope it clears up soon for you.

Stone Cutter - Great week; great 5k - well done!

Allen - Road and elliptical combined, that looks like a pretty big week!

AJ - Nice! How did you find the final 3T at the end of the long run? Those Tuesday mile repeats are solidly paced - was this on the track? What's your 5k PR?

M34; Goal - Marathon 22 April; Target - 2.30-2.35

My week:

M - AM 2 / PM 11

T - AM 4 w/8x Hill Sprints / PM 11

W - AM 2 / PM 17 (6 easy, 1 min surge to 10k pace at start of miles 7-14, mile 15 'hard' (~5.24 into headwind), 2 down)

T - AM 3 / PM 9 / Weights @ gym

F - AM 5 / PM 8

S - AM 10 + 8x strides / PM 4

S - PM 17 (2 up, 5 x (2M@MP/800 steady), 2.5 down)

Total: 103

Fairly happy with the week overall. 3 weeks after this until taper, so really feeling the need to make every key session count. Sunday was originally going to be 4-3-2-1 @MP in a HM race, but this was cancelled Friday due to forecast snow (along with every other road race this side of the pond!). Swapped in the 5x2 which went (5.48/5.52)(5.46/5.50)(5.44/5.48)(5.42/5.43)(5.40/5.43) with the 800s between at ~6.10-6.30 pace; approx 1hr13 for the 12.5M effort, and 1hr45 for the whole 17.

Good to get back into the gym for the first time in a few weeks - despite the DOMS on Fri/Sat, definitely felt the benefit in the legs.

Consistency - Because of work and family commitments during the week I like to get in about 40-50 Miles on the weekend during my high mileage weeks. Sundays are rough.

Bobo - my 5k Pr is 16:39 set a couple years ago. Haven’t really focused on the 5k ever and it’s been a while since I raced one in decent conditions. Tempo Tuesday was at the track. My buddy was doing 2ks at the same pace. We took turns pacing and were checking splits every 200m.

angryjohnny wrote:

Consistency - Because of work and family commitments during the week I like to get in about 40-50 Miles on the weekend during my high mileage weeks. Sundays are rough.

Bobo - my 5k Pr is 16:39 set a couple years ago. Haven’t really focused on the 5k ever and it’s been a while since I raced one in decent conditions. Tempo Tuesday was at the track. My buddy was doing 2ks at the same pace. We took turns pacing and were checking splits every 200m.

Bobo - The 3T at the end of a daniels TLT is where you see God, and I almost never get all the way down to T. If I can get to HMP that’s a win.

Congrats OR and COACH! Great runs! Everyone else is looking strong going into race season. Love it. My week was decent. I didn't plan it well though so it's lower volume is bugging me but the efforts were nice.

M-5

Wed-treadmill 9. 2x2miles(6:27/m)2min rest + 6 200s (5:33/m) 200 jog. Pm gym.

Thu-treadmill 8

Sat-4

Sun- 10ish with 5mile race(30:32)

Felt great Wednesday and almost did another rep but decided not to so I was more fresh for today. Looking back I should've done 5 on Tuesday to keep me over 40 miles but I guess it's not big deal. PF had been good until now so will see how it goes from here. I felt pretty good in today's race but not strong or confident and am not as thrilled with the result as much as I should be even though last week I was thinking I'd be thrilled with under 31. Splits were 6:12,6:12,6:10,6:00,6:00. Course may have been a tad short. 6 weeks til hm and hoping these storms are done( one coming Mon or Tues) and am ready for short sleeve weather. Hope all have a great week

Outside runner - way to dial in the focused when you had built in excuses to give up at any time that it got hard. No one here would've blamed you had that happened. Yet you powered through the challenges and adversity that come with any marathon and with life generally. A metaphor for your current season on life and a good omen.

consistency wrote:

Still Improving, solid workouts this week. Those paces are looking like you're on track for a big PR in May. Curious to see the 10 miler next week. Have you raced one before? Have a previous PR?

I raced my first and last 10 miler in 2015 with a time of 1:17:xx. I hope to PR by around 10min. This will serve as a fitness check for my goal race.

Forgot to metnion that today run was a full minute faster than my turkey day run.

Bobo

I see you like doing most of your harder workouts in the evening. Not that this is at all uncommon, but do you find that sleep is impaired at all? Asking because I feel that my nervous system is overactive at night and I will wake up in the middle of the night. I’m not a fan of very very early morning runs.

Smoove wrote:

Outside runner - way to dial in the focused when you had built in excuses to give up at any time that it got hard. No one here would've blamed you had that happened. Yet you powered through the challenges and adversity that come with any marathon and with life generally. A metaphor for your current season on life and a good omen.

From the bottom of my heat—thanks, Smoove.

And thanks to everyone else here. All of you have inspired me, and I thought about you during the race. We have a great group here.

It looks like they are straightening out the results. Not sure if they are official yet, but it looks like I won the masters! Very happy about this. Overall, they have me in 10th place.

Will let this sink in and then get to a race report.

OR - I'm glad you did it, and you did it in style. congrats!

Coach - congrats on the course PR, looking forward to your race report.

jewbacca, AJ, Bobo: here I am, trying to run 100km, while you guys run 100miles... impressive!

------

M30

PRs: 17:45 (2018), 1:27:00 (2017), 2:58:30 (2017)

Goal Race: Newport (RI) marathon on 4/14

Goal: new PR; get close to or under 2:55 if possible

Four weeks out from the marathon, this was probably my peak week. Workouts went well overall, but it was a lot of quality and I was really tired today. Wanted to complete 100km at least once, didn't run far enough today. Well, I might have been overdoing it yesterday, but I just could not accept failing the key workout :)

M - 15km MP @6:29/mile , total 12 miles: felt good, went a bit below MP (6:40)

Tu - off

W - 3x3km w 2km easy, in 11:28 11:15 11:02 (avg 6:02), total 12 miles: brutal workout, started at T pace, last rep corresponds to 10k pace (in theory per JD), was redlining in the end

Th - off

F - 6 easy

Sa - 22 long run, easy, last 15km (9.3m) @MP 6:38: was again brutal. Halfway through the MP segment it became quite difficult to sustain MP. I managed to hold pace, but certainly not at a reasonable effort level. would have been happier if holding pace hadn't been that difficult. it was a bit windy, but I thought it was mostly cross-wind, so not sure whether that had anything to do with my struggles. in any case, I treated myself to a big fat steak afterwards!

Su - 7 easy

Total: 59 miles (95km...)

Tall dark roast wrote:

Bobo

I see you like doing most of your harder workouts in the evening. Not that this is at all uncommon, but do you find that sleep is impaired at all? Asking because I feel that my nervous system is overactive at night and I will wake up in the middle of the night. I’m not a fan of very very early morning runs.

I'm not a fan of very very early morning full stop! Definitely not a morning person. If I want to feel good on a morning run I need to be up at least an hour before, make some coffee, move the legs, sort my guts out. And that's just for an easy run. I also feel time pressured during the week, knowing that I need to get it all done in a specific time before work. For me, heading out after work is, 90% of the time, far less stressful, gives more flexibility with timeframes, and I can be fully awake and fuelled. The only times this isn't the case is if work is particularly busy, lots of meetings etc, in which case I feel pretty mentally drained.

Building mileage over time I feel like I've taught myself to be able to run in the am, and can do it when needed, but it's not my natural inclination. (Although, the feeling of getting to the office having already done some quality running is a good one).

I sleep well, certainly haven't noticed any issues. Something I've come to realise is that sleep is an investment - one that pays dividends over time if you can be reasonably disciplined.

Can't quite tell from your comment how you structure your sessions at the moment. Do you do them in the am currently?

So sorry that I have neglected to say...Big congrats, Coach! We will always have March 18!

CoachJeff - Congrats on the PR!

OR - Same for you man. That was some tough running today, which is what this sport is all about.

Tall Dark - Always nice to run with other people

Still Improving - Really solid long run

jewbacca - Also a stellar long run workout

Smoove - Smart choices and some good perspective as well. A down week might help you more than hurt you come Boston

StoneCutter - That 5k is moving for 31 degF

Allen - Is that your biggest week yet for this comeback?

AJ - Tough 5x1mi workout

run2death - You're an animal

stat - I like that 1k, 600 workout. Might have to borrow it

consistency - Good long run

Bobo - Big week for you with two 17 milers

R4F - Quality comes before quantity so don't sweat it. Nice 5 mile race.

Joe - Great week and looking strong for your marathon

23 yo. M, 6', 150#

Goal: 800-3k track in June/July

Next Race: 10mi April 7? (slo: I'm as curious as you what I can do in a longer race right now)

M: 9 w/ (3x10", 2x25") (2x10", 2x25") hill sprints

T: 10 w/ 6x4.5'/1.5' on/off @ 10k effort, 3x1/1 on/off @ 5k-3k effort, strength after (med ball throw/crawling, power snatch, back squat, pull up/lunge/dip, rows/core)

W: 10' row, 10' bike, 10' row

Th: 6 w/ 6x5" hill accels, 5x10" hill sprints

F: 9 w/ 2x100m, 10' tempo, 2x100m, 10' tempo, 2x100m, 5' tempo, 2x100m. 30" jog between everything. 100s were at 800 effort. Covered 8.5ish km in 32-33 minutes. strength after (jumps/crawling, power clean & jerk, deadlift, pull ups/squat/DB press, rows/core)

S: 9 easy

S: 2 hours hiking

Decided not to race this weekend. Busy week and weather forecast was questionable (although it turned out to be a beautiful day)

Congratulations to outsiderunner! So psyched to see the result! I'm looking forward to the details.

I'm not quite up to writing my details yet...I just got up and I have some things to do, but the reports of a PR are exaggerated... it was a course PR for me for this race that I have now run 4 times. Looking forward to reading about everyone's progress and results!

Congrats OR, Coach, and StoneCutter! Blazing times!

Great weeks and races all!

33, M, HM goal race today

M: Real flat and slow 9. Felt great Sunday and this was a complete 180.

T: Off. Shoveled 12-18” of snow for 90 minutes

W: 6x0.75 at HM goal pace. This was supposed to be Tuesdays WO. Felt okay except sore and tight back from shoveling.

Th: Sluggish 7

Fr: Easy 4.5 with strides/pickups

Sat: Slow 4.5 no strides

Sun: Race day! Legs felt normal. Taper worked. Minimal warmup 15 min with 2 pickups as I felt loose enough. Finally broke 70/ran 69 min in the half in fairly windy and cold conditions. About a 1.5 min PR.

The longer workouts seem to have paid off. I was able to grind through 11 or 12 miles relying on muscle memory. I’ll take a few down days and then gradually build on this through a few more road races this spring.

Another big breakthrough...nice work, BobbyTea[\b]!

Sub-70 is seriously moving. I am hoping the longer workout payoff also... :)

Bobo_UK wrote:

Smoove - Love the coolness you show when these niggles show up - experience right there! Hope it clears up soon for you.

Oh, I'm terrified.