Road Racing and Training Thread - Week Ending 10-28-18

M59 -- 5'11" 162 lbs

Open PRs -- 16:04, 2:40:30

M55-59 PRs -- 18:58, 3:07:23

Goals:

1:25:00 half marathon May 2019

3:00:00 marathon Oct 2019

Oct 22-28, 2018

Off

LR -- 16.6 miles @ 7:25/mi

Off (knee)

MLR - 12.2 miles @ 7:05/mi

Off (knee)

Easy - 13.0 miles @ 7:46/mi

Easy - 8.2 miles @ 9:19/mi

WEEK TOTAL: 50.0 MILES

Tuesday Long Run - First mile was 8:27, last mile was 6:34. With two miles to go, I fell hard onto my right knee. I lost a couple training days as a result.

Thursday Medium-Long Run - I was happy with the 7:05/mile average -- close to my current estimated marathon pace.

This week I continued pushing my LR and MLR paces relatively hard. With no workouts, I just want to maintain some quality, and ... with no workouts, I can run harder on long-run days.

I may jump into a 5K before the season ends. After that I plan to relax the long runs, keep the medium-long runs as progressions, and reintroduce weekly strides.

More comments later in the week. Shoutout to th3bt for finishing strong in brutal weather conditions.

39 year old, 5ft 7in, 173 lbs

PR's in 2018: Half - 1:28:xx; Marathon - 3:06:xx

Long term goal: Sub 3 in 2019

Short term goal: Sub 3:10 in 7 weeks

Monday -

AM: 6.1 miles @ 7:47

PM: 5.3 miles @ 7:52

Tuesday -

AM: 6.1 miles @ 7:49

PM: 5.8 miles @ 7:53

Wednesday -

AM: 9.3 miles @ 7:26 with 10x1K at HM - 5K pace with 2 minute recovery

PM: 3.7miles @ 8:19

Thursday -

AM: 6.7 miles @ 7:42

PM: 3.4 miles @ 7:48

Friday -

AM: 8 miles @ 7:54 with 10x1on/1off

PM: 3.1 miles @ 8:11

Saturday -

AM: 2.3 miles @ 8:04 + 2 hours of tennis

PM: Did not go out at I was sore from tennis

Sunday - 19.4 miles with Half Marathon @ 7:38. Opportunity to pace a local half marathon for 1:40. Came in at 1:39:59 this time.

Weekly total: 79.4 miles (Highest weekly mileage ever!!)

YTD: 1884.6 miles

Goal Race: CIM / Dec 2nd

Goal Time: Undecided

M- 15 miles at 6:54 pace AM. 4 miles at 7:20 pace plus strides PM.

T- 13 miles with 5 x mile with quarter mile rest. 5:01 avg. Coach wouldn’t let me go faster. I can usually go about 15-20 seconds per mile faster. AM. 6 miles at 6:52 pace PM.

W- 14 miles at 7:06 pace AM. 4 miles at 7:05 pace plus strength/gym work PM.

T- 18 miles at 6:43 pace AM.

F- 14 miles at 6:54 pace AM. 4 miles at 6:53 pace PM plus strides.

S- 20 miles with 5 x 2 miles with half mile rest. 5:02 avg. (5:05, 5:03), (5:04, 5:04), (5:01, 5:00), (5:01, 5:02), (4:59, 5:02) AM.

S- 14 miles at 7:15 pace AM. 4 miles at 7:08 pace PM.

Total- 130 miles

Overall, it was a good week. I feel like I didn’t get much out of the repeats on Tuesday but Saturday’s session went great. Mileage will stay where it’s at for another week or two. Next week I have a big marathon paced simulator. Really hoping that goes well. Hope everyone’s training went well.

43 y/o male

PR Marathon 2:52 (2017 Chicago)

Half Marathon 1:16 (4 weeks before NYC)

10K 34:52 (4 months before NYC)

5K XC 17:05 (3 months before NYC)

Goal: Sub-2:45 @ NYC Marathon

Mon: 5 miles Easy@7:10

Tue: Treadmill 6x1 @5:05-5:19 400 Rec 1 mile WU, 1 mile CD

Wed: Treadmill 7 miles@7:16 NYCM Hill Simulation

Thu: Treadmill 8 miles@6:53, 4x1 at 5% incline at grade-adjusted GMP

Fri: 10 miles Rolling Hills Tempo @ 6:07, 1 mile WU, 1 mile CD

Sat: 6 miles @ 7:01 Easy with 2 uphill tempos

Sun: 13.6 miles @ 6:51 overall with 2x3 @ GMP (5:55/6:01/6:07, 6:10/6:20:6:03)

61 miles total.. race next Sunday

43, M, 5'8, 130s

Old PRs (fifteen years ago): 16:30s/34:20s/2:44

Goal: get fit, have fun, get back into racing (looking to start the New Year with a local 10k, maybe something before then)

M 37 very easy. Feeling very stressed, run helped to relax some.

T 59 with 4 x park loop steady in 35:24 plus 4 x strides coming home / 21 shuffle

Cool, calm, not feeling 100% but tried to work into a rhythm, finished just slightly stronger

W 57 with 4 x 1k/1k alternation (4:35/4:05, 4:37/4:05, 4:26/3:58, 4:21/3:54) plus 4 x strides / 21 shuffle

Pleasant but windy, started out feeling pretty out of sorts but better as I got into the workout

Th 1:05 Robert’s Hill trails easy with 8 x sledding hill / 21 shuffle

Nice fall day, legs a little heavy but not too bad, hills went fine

F 21 very easy. Crazy day.

Sat 1:12 with trolley track plus park loop steady in 48:25, finishing pretty strong. 4 x strides coming home. / 21 shuffle to loosen up rather sore legs. Cold, rainy, and windy – great running weather! Followed up with a marathon jack-o'-lantern carving session with my daughter.

Sun 2:19 Sawmill Hills trails easy. Beautifully dreary in the way of a New England fall day. Legs felt good, sturdy the whole way - very happy with the way they bounced back from yesterday.

8:54 for the week

Logistically challenging week for me but got some good running in. Brought back the "shuffle" this week and it really seems to be helping with recovery. And taping experiment seems to have helped the PF pretty markedly as well.

Have a great week everybody!

KT/Rock Tape will help PF extremely well. It is one application that is Legit. People to stubborn to try it (Smoove) are making a huge mistake.

Be sure and bow string it super tight down the plantar to the heel.

Male, 27, 159 lbs, father to two, grad student

Goals:

sub 40 10k on 12/1

sub 4:55/5:15 1500/mile on 12/8

Monday: 6 miles at 9:36 average @ 2% incline. Started at 9:50 and gradually sped up the treadmill. I felt totally fine and in control. Finished with 8 x 15 sec strides on the indoor 9 to a mile track, worked down from 5:35 to 4:40 pace according to my watch.

Tuesday: Off. Got busy and the day got away from me.

Wednesday: Off. Ended up eating pizza with the missus instead of working out. But I call that a win.

Thursday: 3 x 1 mile @ 7:14 (T pace). This was supposed to be 4 x 1, but I couldn’t hack another one. I barely made it through the third without stopping. I was originally upset because this all but seemed to confirm my suspicion that my goals aren’t going to happen. However, it turned out the treadmill was set to 2%, which I didn’t know about. So I felt less annoyed but still bummed. With warm up and cool down it was 8 for the day.

Friday & Saturday: Off. Out of town

Sunday: 13.1 miles in 1:47:36. It wasn’t a proper race, just a training run. Working out some frustrations. It was broken up as 1 E, 5 M (8:00 pace), 1 E, 5 T (7:25 pace), 1.1 E

Total: 27.1

For some context, here are the last few weeks highlights that I didn’t post about:

The week of 9/24 I ran 16 miles due to getting a knee injury from an interval workout.

The week of 10/1 I ran 6. My knee felt fine, ran an easy 6 and my knee hurt the rest of the week. Took it off. I meant to cross train on the elliptical, but I didn’t because I’m a moran.

The week of 10/8 I ran 31.2 miles. I ran a 10k in 46:36, which is an 8 second PR but I should have run around 43 flat. I was on track at the 6k mark, but someone mismarked which fork to take and I got lost which totally killed my momentum. Plus I hit some annoying uphill bits and died.

The week of 10/15 I ran 15 miles. The highlight was a 6 x 3 minute session where I averaged 6:26 for the intervals, which is my 10k goal pace. I wanted to average 6 flat, but what can you do. However, the rest of the week sucked as I fell well short of my mileage goal.

So the last couple weeks have sucked. And I’m starting to give up on my goal races. I still have just under 5 weeks, but the last few weeks have been so abysmal that I’ve probably pissed away my chances. I did get a bit screwed due to the injury, but I was lousy at cross training. Plus it doesn’t help that grad school is back in session and the workload in addition to less sleep and more stress is crushing me. So my ability and willingness to run has taken a major dive. I have a time trial 5k next Saturday to check where I’m at. I figure if I can’t run it in about 20, then I’m probably not hitting the sub 40 four weeks later. Stay tuned people, because things are kinda falling apart for JtA. Any advice on how to speed bake some fitness between now and then would be great

Also, I know I should be running outside more but two things are holding it up. The first is that I often don’t have the time to run until 10 at night or so and I don’t want to buy a headlamp to run with so I can go outside. The second is that I don’t have much rainproof gear and it’s starting to get consistently rainy again in the PNW. So I’d rather stay dry indoors than get completely soaked outside.

Thanks for the tip, RRR - sounds like a good suggestion. What I've been doing is using old-fashioned athletic tape to make a kind of stirrup under the forward part of the heel, then pulling it back so that it runs under the bump of the ankle and toward/around the achilles. Takes a little finagling to make it tight enough but not too tight. I have no idea why that would work, or whether it would work for anyone else, but it seems to be doing the trick for me. PF went from something that was getting to be a big problem to something that's starting to seem like no big deal in a matter of a few days. (Famous last words...)

R3 – Congrats on crushing the 5k! How long have you been running? Your 0 to 75 with no real workouts your first year is pretty interesting. Enjoying your constant progress.

RunnerSam – Congrats on last week’s 5k win. You mentioned the Art Fair in Kzoo. Unfortunately, I missed it.

OR – Way to get through the final LR. Enjoy the taper. Your fast finishes are ridiculous. Looking forward to the Richmond result.

Stone Cutter – solid week to close out the base. You said something to Coach Jeff in last week’s thread that I had to write down: The limits we put on ourselves are of our own construct. You are actually in training right now to run sub 3. You are just ending a “cycle” with the goal of being halfway there, that’s all. But your process has started. Just keep stretching it out...your workouts, your goals, your dreams. That’s brilliant, man. I’m really looking forward to following your specific phase.

Teddy – figuring out that pacing is the hardest part. You’ll get there. In my experience, better to go out too easy rather than too fast.

TDR – Congrats on the 5k W! And you’re putting the rest of us to shame with those 345am mornings.

Coach Jeff - great workout Thursday. You're ready for next weekend. Looking forward to the report.

JB – get healthy, amigo

Coyote – nice job on the AG win!

Th3bt – way to stick with it in less than ideal conditions, and thanks for sharing. Enjoy the beers with your better half. Cheers, friend!

Kid B – congrats on hitting 70! Common place on Letsrun, but say that to someone tomorrow and they'll think you're from a different planet.

Smoove – just a casual 27:41. Looking forward to whatever’s next for you. The 200's - do you continue to do workouts like that to stay sharp in the "off-season?"

Sub 6 – glad you’re starting to cautiously crank it back up.

Pewow – moving!

Stratmos – welcome to the club! Tell us about your running history. Any particular reason you split up the T, TH, F runs into 2 separate 20 minutes instead of one run at 40 min?

AJ – nice mileage. I believe you mentioned you did a brief VO2 phase (maybe 6 or 8 weeks?) after your Boston recovery, followed by 1 or 2 weeks basically off for vacation, before hitting a solid 12-13 weeks for Chicago. If I’m not imagining this, what did the VO2 phase look like vs. the final 12 weeks? As it happens, I’ve got 2 weeks out of country next late June into July, returning 13 weeks from Chicago.

Allen – solid progressions. Jump in the 5k and have some fun!

Cocoon – well played!

RunnersFix – nice mileage. Those Tuesday and Saturday runs are impressive.

Bruin – You’re ready for the sub 2:45. Get it!

GFMAH – Nearly 9 hours, very nice!

JTA – glad to see you back and postin’! Your self-talk game seems so negative. Be kind to yourself, man. You’re a working father of two trying to better yourself. Not cross training doesn’t make you, or anyone, anything but a busy guy who decided to do something other than the elliptical. Decide you’ll get the workout in next time and you will.

My week:

M – Fr: 0. Biked 13 on Tuesday. Ate enough pizza to make up for the past three months. Will have to go for deep dish this week. Started doing some mobility and strength work. Got a Kindle copy of Running Rewired, hat tip to Gordon on the suggestion, there’s a ton of good stuff in there.

Sa – 4.5 + squats, lunges and core. Hate to admit it, but having put squats aside the past four plus months, and about 75 of them had me sore this morning. Will keep it at the next couple weeks before adding any weight. About to do some more mobility stuff.

Received my acceptance email for Chicago (10/13/19) this afternoon. Looking to build a big base this winter and sprinkle in a couple half’s, likely with a reduced specific phase.

Onward and upward!

RGM - Jan/Feb 2016 I started. Kind of had a 5 year plan in my head and the first year was just gonna be about getting the miles in and getting lean (started around 210-215).

2016 - 2000ish miles

2017- 2700

2018 - at around 2600 (injurious summer)

5k progression was

Fall 2016 19:12 and 18:12

Fall 2017 17:56 to 17:12

Fall 2018 17:4x (off injury) to 16:44 (so far)

Happy with the progression. Never satisfied! Always hungry nom nom nom

Looks like a good rest week. Congrats on the Chicago acceptance.

Male 50 5'8" 134lbs

PRs

Marathon 3:02:58 May 2018

10mi. 1:06:45 March 2018

5k 19:00 June 2018

Goal Sub 3 Marathon, CIM Dec. 2

Mon. 7.6mi Easy 8:06avg

Tues. Off (unplanned) + Travel

Wed. 14.6mi as 3Up+4x2T+2E (6:38, 6:33, 6:42, 6:30, 6:20, 6:59, 6:43, 6:24)

Thurs. 8mi Easy 8:17avg

Fri. 8mi Easy 8:00avg

Sat. Off semi-planned + Travel

Sun. AM 17mi. as 6E + 2T + 6E + 2T + 1E (6:20, 6:14, 6:39, 6:26 Grade Adjusted Paces) PM core and hip work if I don't get lazy

Total 55mi

I had to travel from the DC area to SF this week for work and for the most part worked with the time I had. I planned to get out and run early in the AM on Tues before work and an afternoon but woke up not feeling it, got lazy, and did not run. Wednesday I almost did not do the workout and was about to push it to Thursday but I came to my senses and decided the workout was on before completing the first half mile of the run. Sunday's LR workout started off really bad. The first 6 easy miles were rough as I was having a fair amount of pain in my lower legs mostly on the outside of the shins. It was like my calves refused to loosen up. I tried several times during the first three miles to remedy the problem and after along break at mile 3 I got some partial relief as I kept telling myself that this will pass and I will be able to finish the run as planned. I took a brief pause just prior to starting the first tempo and then just hit ran the first tempo a bit harder than usual. After that the run went fairly well. Overall the week went well with the total at 55mi with the two days off. This week I plan to try to get the mileage back to 70 for the week and keep it there for a couple of weeks before heading into the taper. I'm hoping that I have hit the last of the bumps in the road for this marathon build.

Coyote: Really a great year!

th3bt: Sounds like a brutal day out there. Crappy weather is that one potentially devastating variable that is truly out of our control. And getting slightly injured...AND still gutting it out! That IS the thread mojo.

gofamianho: Ha! That's a lot of pop! Much appreciated!

slo-twitch: My guess was that Philadelphia weather at this time of year would be really cold, but then I look back and it seems like perfect weather and temps for several years in a row on race day. Good luck bringing everything together over the next few weeks.

OR: Another strong week! Looking at your splits... it's really mind boggling (and body boggling) to me when I consider that your everyday runs are at equal to or faster than my 5k PR pace. Try not to go crazy during the taper; maybe don't think too much!

Kid B: We have similar goals. What are the recoveries on that Monday workout? Just curious!

Smoove: Glad to see you're feeling good. As for a weird HR day: I have them too, sometimes, but rarely more than once every few months. I'd like to say those days coincide with something identifiable, but nope. Nothing to worry about unless it becomes a trend.

sub-6:00: Glad the knee is feeling better. My long run also took me near a race course yesterday, with me running in the opposite direction of the competitors. I did my best to entertain them, cuz they were looking mighty grim. I kept telling them to smile, to be happy, to enjoy the great weather, to enjoy being out there. Our paths diverged after about 1k, just in time to encourage the balloon-festooned 2:30 pace group. Half-marathon pace group.

pewow: Wicked solid racing!

statfanatic: Game 3 began for me at 8am on Saturday morning. I wanted to watch the Sox, run, then teach an evening class. I ended up running during the 14-15 innings with the game on my earphones, but got back in time for the last 3 innings and made it to class on time, though it was close! 1 hour before Game 5 right now.

stratmos: Welcome back to running!

I'll browse page 2 later...

Taper week...

RGM - Thanks...yes, I am glad I got through that last LR.

Coach Jeff - That is exactly what I will try to do: not think too much. I really need to let my mind go blank...and then line up and race. Right now, though, my co-worker is on my mind...looks like something catastrophic happened to her at MCM, and she is a fine runner. Cannot find a result for her, and all I saw when I was tracking her (before I went to work this morning) was 1:30:xx at the half split...way off for her. No splits after that.

35, Male, 145lbs

PR: 17:35 5k (2018)... anything before doesn't matter

Goal: Sub 17... one day...

Goal: Strong Turkey Trot maybe a PR?

My week was a pretty solid one in my opinion. Felt really great most of the week, hit the track on Tuesday, felt a little sore in my hamstring, but hasn't really bothered me since.

M: 7 miles at 7:15

T: am - 4.2 miles easy at 7:30; pm 1 mi WU, 5x1200 (4:14, 4:13, 4:11, 4:12, 4:07), 400 recovery at 8:00/mi, 1 mi CD

W: 6.5 @ 7:24

TH: 6.7 @ 7:28, 10 strides on the grass

F: 1 mi WU, 6 miles Thresholdy (6:20, 6:23, 6:17, 6:15, 6:12, 6:18), 1.5 CD

Sa: 5.5 @ 7:32 - windy, raining, just bleh

SU: 11 @7:30 with last two at 6:55, 6:20.

56.7 miles for the week.

Felt really strong most of the week. Feel like the distance on my long runs could be a bit longer, but time constraints limit it. Felt really strong at the track and on the threshold stuff this week. Starting to feel like i'm in some semblance of shape.

That's it for now, want to read some of the thread and comment later.

Coach Jeff ROC wrote:

Kid B: We have similar goals. What are the recoveries on that Monday workout? Just curious!

Good question! 60 second recovery jogging. I started w/ 90 sec recoveries, then cut 15 seconds off each week. Then the following 3 weeks I try to do each rep 1 sec faster than previous week. It makes a six week cycle, after which I either run a race and adjust the pace accordingly or add an additional rep. By the time training peaks I will be at 8 reps, but I might keep it at 7 if it feels like too much quality.

In terms of Long term goals, I’d like to have a sub 3 either this spring or next fall. I’m not sure I’m there year for the Houston marathon in January but I’m training as if I am.

Male, 25, 6’4”, 144 lbs

PRs: 4:54 (mile 2018), 16:56 (2018), 1:18:00 (2018), 28:01 (8k 2015)

Goal: Debut Marathon November 11 @ 2:45 (6:17s), B Goal: reclaim title at trail 100k 12/2/18

Mn - PM: 6 @ 6:50s

Tu - PM: 5x1600 + WU/WD = 13

Wd - PM: 12.5 @ 7:50s

Th - OFF

Fr - PM: 5000, 4x400, 2400 + WU/WD = 11.5

Sa - PM: 4 @ 8:45s (w/ gf)

Su - AM: 12 @ 8:10s, PM: 7 @ 7:40s

Total: ~66mi

Tu: 5:36 5:33 5:28 5:18 5:19 w/ 400rec. felt really good, probably my best mile repeat workout ever

Fr: 18:02 77 75 75 75 9:05 (600rec between 5k and 4s, 400 between 4s) solid workout

Su AM: last 5 at 8:10 8:15 8:18 8:38 8:20... felt pretty terrible in the AM, not sure why

General - lazy on Mn PM, Th, Fr AM, Sa PM, Su AM... total butchered my week for no reason, probably 8 hours less sleep than a normal week. oh well guess this will be a three week taper, 2 weeks to go. probably 70 next week (wanted 80-90 this week)

RGM - see below for the 5 week cycle slo-twitch wrote for me and that I followed this past summer, much to veggieboi’s chagrin. A lot of the paces were tough to hit in the summer but I gave honest efforts. The goal was to bust a big 5k in early July before starting to gear up for Chicago. I ended up running 16:40 on a swampy summer morning to basically equal my PR that was set in ideal conditions a couple years ago.

Coincidentally, during my 6x800 workout this week I was accompanied by my longtime training partner. It had been a while since we did anything as short as 800s. He commented after the workout that I looked noticeably smoother and more relaxed than ever before. I gave full credit to the Slo speed cycle for that nice compliment.

Without further ado...

Week 1

3 x (mile @ goal 5k pace, 90” jog, 300 @ mile pace). 4’ jog between sets

4 miles continuous alternating tempo. (1200m ~hmp/400m at 5k pace). (Actually maybe a little slower, (like 10s/mile)than hmp pace on the 1200s. Then 6 x 200m ~ mile pace, full recovery

Week 2

10 x 500m between 3k and goal 5k pace, 90”-2’ recovery

3 x (1200m @10s/mile faster than goal 5k pace, 90” jog, 400m ~mile pace). 4’ between sets

Week 3

Continuous alternations, aka deek’s quarters, 8 x (200m float (very slightly slower than mp), 400m brisk (slightly faster than goal 5k pace, i guess between 3k-5k).

2 x 1600, 2 x 1200, 2 x 1k. 3’rec after 1600s, 2:30 after 1200s, 2’ after 1k. I can never hit 5k pace on this. This is a Pfitz workout. Could add 30” to the recoveries if you like

Week 4

3 x (800m at ~15s/mile faster than goal 5k, 90” jog, 400 m ~ mile pace) 4’ between sets

3k time trial at goal 5k pace

Week 5 “taper”

Monday or Tuesday-

1600/1200/800/400 all around 3k pace with equal recovery time

OR shorten and make it 1200/1k/800/400 same paces

~Thursday- light strides

S/Su- hammer

Here’s a link to the original thread:

http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=8848061&page=1

42 M, 5'11, 161

goal race: downhill marathon (net -5000') Nov 3

M - 5

T - 4

W - 5

T - 3

F - 12 (last mile 5:10, felt so good)

S - 3

S - 2 with my 9-yo

It's taper week for me with an easy 12 long run and maybe a few too many short ones but not losing sleep over it. I'm starting a second job this week teaching 3 hrs a night, so maybe it's good to be distracted and not having enough time to go out and want to burn some fast miles. Historically I always fret that I didn't get enough long runs in or tapered too long, or this, or that. So hopefully I'll be too distracted for that garbage voice! Also I just realized yesterday that my 5-yo has a soccer game at the same time as the marathon so my family will probably not be at the finish. kinda bummed; but I don't want him/them to miss soccer either.

I'll try and come back and comment when I have a bit more energy. Just tossing this up for now and going to bed.

M, 41, 6'1", 165lbs

Goal - RnR AZ Jan 20

M - am 3.5, pm 3.5

T - 7.5 easy

W - 8.5 easy as 60' easy + 10x100 @ 95% w/ walk back recovery

T - am 6, pm 5.5

F - 9 moderate (7:40 avg)

S - am 5.5, pm 5,5

S - 26 as special block - AM 6 @80% (7:25), 6 @ MP (6:10) ; PM 14 as 6 @80%, 10x1k @105% (3:40) w/ 3' jog recovery

Total - 80 miles

Pretty solid week overall. Pretty much just a bunch of easy and moderate paced running through the week capped off with the special block today. The AM session was an absolute breeze and I felt really strong all the way through. First 6 of the evening run was a cake walk but by the third rep of Ks I was hurting. Things loosened up by the fourth and started feeling good but I was never happier in my life than when that 8th K was finally in the bag and I could call it a day. Lower mileage week coming up to promote recovery from the special block and then racing a 10k on Sunday. Should be interesting as I've only raced a couple 10Ks in my life and have no clue what to shoot for on this. Definitely training through it so I'm expecting something slow.