Road Racing and Training Thread Week Ending 2/24/2019

Doubling up on that being a brutal workout and wishing for a speedy recovery.

Here is from my training log over the summer. During a week of heavy training and solo, ~4:50 felt like mile pace while once tapered I ran 4:30.

Male 50 5'8" 134lbs

PRs

Marathon 2:57:06 Dec 2018

5k 19:00 June 2018

Upcoming Races

10 Mile March 3 (maybe)

Boston 2019 - Goal TBD

Mon. 8mi Easy

Tues. 9.5mi as 3up, 4x1k, 3down

Wed. No running due to weather and work. 20min bike trainer.

Thurs. 7.6mi Easy

Fri. 20.1mi Easy

Sat. No running. Trip to ski resort

Sun. 7mi Easy

Total 52.5mi

Weather(and work) was a bit of a problem this week as well as a planned weekend ski trip. Both the workout and long run got moved up a day plus I ended up only getting in 5 days of running this week. My LR this week started off great and I was feeling pretty good till mile 14 then my left calf started feeling tight which then started to aggravate my left PF and my right quad started to hurt some. I ended up rather sore after that LR. It seems that having Saturday off from running was a blessing in disguise because I felt pretty good today. Mainly the quad pain is gone, but I still have an issue with left calf and PF which I will get more serious about the rehab.

Not a bad week. Knees felt about the same. Lost a couple pounds. Figured after last week I'll go 30-45 minutes on the ATM machine at around 140 HR each time. Noticed going longer or faster just builds a little too much fatigue atm. I then eat more and don't lose weight.

3:15 on the AMT machine

1.5 or so shooting hoops

6 core workouts

3 lifting workouts

Male, 50 yo, 5’7”, 128 lbs

Goals: Executing a strong training plan

Upcoming Races: Gomach HM 3/3 (6 weeks out from...) Boston 2019

Sunday: Week 8 Q1

3km E + 3 km T + 60 min E + 3 km T + 4km E (by HR)

Felt very good today... even eager. My T segments were the fastest so far, with the 2nd one at 3:59/km... my 1st sub-4 T of the training cycle! Who knows what race day will ultimately bring, but I feel confident that I am (In the words of every ball player starting spring training these past few days) “in the best shape of my life.” A very positive indicator was how readily my HR dropped from T back into E; when that doesn’t happen, it’s usually a sign that I’m in some kind of physiological debt.

Wednesday: Week 8 Q2

*crickets*

I mentioned that I was hampered by a head cold that was predicting itself in a sore throat on Tuesday and announcing its arrival with loud sneezes and snot rockets on Wednesday. I planned to take the day off and make up the workout on Friday. On Friday morning, however, I was reminded about a prior commitment I had made and not only did not get in the workout, I didn’t even get in a run.

3 E days:

Total: 80 (candy ass) km

2Q Progress: No much “progress” to report this week. My Garmin gave me a new all-time high VO2 max after Sunday’s workout, a nice attaboy from the coach on the cuff. The head cold dissolved by Friday evening and Sunday’s 20 miler is already in the log book. Q2 is “optional” this week, so I’m going to tweak it. Next Sunday’s workout is 12 miles at M, but I’ll be racing 13.1, probably aiming for 10 at goal M pace and 3 at T or whatever else I have left.

Older 'n dirt "senior grand masters" apparently

goal races upcoming - low 28s for 8K, sub 1:20 half

last week - 7,9, 10, 11 (double), 10.5, 7,10 with race, and 15 for 70 miles

Workouts of the week:

Middling tempo on Wed. not feelin' it soto speak (it was about 29 degrees) 3.5 min to loosen up, 10 min T, short recovery 12 min more; then 3X 40 sec fast.

Training race on Sat. RR at end of last week, but 24 degrees, 8" of new snow, half mile skating rink level ice, and about a half mile of unplowed. Oh and we ran 6.75 instead of 10K. Floated first 3 at a comfortable pace and next 3.2 were surges and easing back to tempo effort. Last half K through deep snow.

10K split 39:17 (age grade 84.8 or so), and final 43 flat. won the masters division. It was a good tune up for next month.

M25, 149lbs, 5’9”

Week:

M - off (was feeling terrible after overdoing it on Sunday)

T - 85min w/ a 4km progressive tempo and strides

W - 45min easy

T - 30min easy W/ strides / 30 min jog

F - 85min w/ strides + 6x1km @CV (3:21 avg)+ 4x400m + wind sprints

S - 45min easy

S - 150min easy / 35 min jog

Total 69mi

It was supposed to be an 80+ mile week, but missed Monday’s easy run and 30 min jogs on Tuesday and Friday.

Felt like cr@p on Monday and Tuesday after overdoing it on Sunday (basketball + cycling + squats + long run + easy jog), so missed a couple runs and Tuesdays workout wasn’t great, but OTOH I ran great on Friday and averaged 3:21 for the km CV reps even though I was not pushing it too hard, which was cool.

2 weeks until my next race, the Surrey Half.

M/35/145

PRs: 5k-17:14; 5 Mile - 29:58

Goal(s): sub 17 or bust; 5 mile in June - sub 29... maybe lower...

Hey all! Pretty good week for me. Got all the work in I wanted to, and finally feel like I'm rounding out of the sickness (sinus infection, took too long to get rid of). This was the last week of my "base phase" or "Phase 1" of my JD 5k training. All this easy running has been nice, but I'm ready to get back on the track.

So this week

M - 9 miles @ 7:47

Tu - 4am @ 7:11; 8 pm @ 7:24

W - 4 (before 5 inches of snow and ice fell)

Th - 7.1 at 7:25; included 6x 20 sec striders at end

F - 7 at 7:23; included 6x 30 sec hills about 2/3 of way through

Sa - 7.1 at 7:32

Su - 12.2 at 7:36

Total: 59 miles - all at easy pace

I'm going to post my next three weeks here. Will be inserting some serious quality now that base phase is up. 2 or 3 days a week as prescribed by my boy Jack Daniels. I've also cut back on the drinking (3-4 beers a week, vs. 1-2 a night (yikes, typing that is a bit scary)) and will be continuing to work on core and strength stuff related to past knee issues. Should be fun to see how this all goes. More in the training to come in the next few hours, need to type it up.

I don't think that workout should be too taxing aerobically. It's only about 10 minutes of work and with how much recovery you have you really, in my humble opinion, shouldn't feel it too much there. The lactic acid, on the other hand...

So, as promised, here is the plan for the next three weeks.

This is all predicated on a VDOT of 59 going into this thing. I think i'm probably in about this shape. My last 5k was in November, but i've had mostly consistent mileage (except for 2 weeks) that has probably maintained my fitness.

Week 1

M - Easy/Recover; Tu - Q1; W - Easy/Recovery; Th - Q2; F - Easy/Recovery; Sa - Q3; Su - LR

Total Mileage - 55-60

Q1: 5x (2x200; 1x400) 200 jog after 200s, 400 jog after 400 - 200's in 37 sec, 400's at 76 seconds

Q2: 5x 1 mile @ 6:00 min; 1 min rest between miles

Q3: 7-8 mile fartlek - 2 min on; 1 min on; 30 sec on; some rest in between (or random, depends how I feel)

LR: 11-12 miles

Week 2

M - Easy/Recovery; Tu - Q1; W - Easy/Recovery; Th - Q2; F - Easy/Recovery; Sa - Easy/Recovery; Su - LR

Total Mileage - 55-60

Q1: 10-12X400 at 76 seconds, 400 jog rest

Q2: 40 mins at T pace (6:12; adjusted for time)

LR - 12-13

Week 3

M - Easy/Recovery; Tu - Q1; W - Easy/Recovery; Th- Q2; F - Easy/Recovery; Sa - Q3; Su LR

Total Mileage - About 60

Q1 - 4x200 (37 sec); 2x400 (76); 1x800 (2:34); 2x400 (76); 4x200 (37) - Jog rest equal to rep length

Q2 - 3x2mile at 6:00; 2 min rest

Q3 - Fartlek - 3 min on, 3 min off OR 5x1000 in 3:28

LR - 14 miles

Should be pretty challenging. Have confidence I can hit the interval workouts, the Threshold work promises to be fun. But think this should really kick start the training for end of April.

If anyone has any questions or comments about the lay out here, let me know. Open to talking about potential changes and tweaks if anyone has any suggestions. This is pretty by the book as it were, so would love any feedback based on real world experience.

Note that days workouts happen may change based on weather, but we'll see. If anything, quality work my shift a day here and there based on weather or work.

Looking forward to some real speed work again.

Goal race now up in the air. Have something I can’t turn down the day of BAA 5k. 5k in less than 3 weeks but I’m not super fit yet. Will reassess and look into some other options.

m- 8.5/4.5

*t- AM- 5 PM- 5 x 600 in 1:53 avg + 5 x 400 in 1:13, chilly. ~2:00 recovery

w- 8/4

*th- AM- 4.5 PM- 8 x 1k avg 3:19, 2:15 rec

f- 8/4.5

*s- AM- 4.5 PM- 3 x (mile/300), (5:12/:53, 5:08/:54, 5:10/:54), 1:30-1:45 rec, 4:00 btwn sets

su- 8.5/4.5

saturday got moved up because of we had decent weather (was supposed to be a tempo session, but that i can attempt this week in colder temps). Bummed because timing of this cycle was built around BAA 5k, but I’ll figure out something.

Will do some comments soon. Stay legendary folks

Male, 27, 160 lbs, father to two, grad student

Goals (still):

sub 40 10k

sub 19:30 5k

sub 4:55/5:15 1500/mile

Monday: 5 miles @ ~9:30 average pace on the treadmill

Tuesday: 6 x 1k @ 6:28 pace [4:01] w/ 400m jog rest on the gym’s track

I ran 3:55.5, 3:59.9, 4:00.7, 4:00.1, 4:01.5, 3:59.6; 3:59.6 average. I averaged about 2:30 per 400 jog. This was hard, but not as hard as I thought. I usually had 2-2 breathing, so maybe I should have sped up per interval? Another thing I wonder is if I jogged the 400s too slow since my heart rate hovered between 93 – 96% during the intervals when it should have been between 98 – 100% according to Daniels. Maybe I’m more FT than I thought? With warm up and cool down, 10.25 for the day. I jogged the sixth 400 because I was a tired idiot, hence the extra .25.

Wednesday: 3 mile tempo @ 7:04 average. About five seconds slower than last Saturday’s three mile tempo. However, my average HR and max HR were 12 and 18 BPM lower, respectively. So either I went too slow today, went too fast last Saturday, or just leveled up fitness wise. With warm up and cooldown, 8 for the day.

Thursday: 7 miles @ 9:30 average on the treadmill. Discovered that starting slower and then gradually speeding up feels a lot better than running the same pace the entire time.

Friday: 4 miles @ 9:15 average. Easy miles with some strides to prep for tomorrow.

Saturday: 5k TT

Failed and only ran 3k in 12:10. Super disappointed. I wish I at least pushed to 2 miles, and probably could have pushed from there to 5k. Did a couple 200s afterward to get some work in. With warm up and cooldown it was 6 for the day.

Sunday: 10 miles @ 9:20 average

Total: 50.25

It was a good week workout wise, but not so much time trial wise. It particularly sucks about the race getting cancelled since my next one is in about a month. But, time to just keep trucking along I suppose

Comments...

JQ: Congrats on the PR. Great to have a race like that especially coming off on off day earlier in the week, while continuing to sustain the miles. Out of curiosity, what kind of surfaces are you finding to run on? (You’re in the city, right?)

Stone: Ouch on the hamstring. Hope it is coming around for you. Smart to take the time and get the treatment. Am I right in remembering that you’ve had a couple of hamstring/lower back issues doing faster stuff over the last year? Something to look into, maybe, if you’re not already. (Be smarter than me, which admittedly is not setting the bar terribly high…)

GT: Strong week. How are slo’s workouts treating you so far?

JB: I find the wind very challenging mentally myself, particularly when trying to do stuff in that tempo range. Running easy is not a big deal, charging madly into the hurricane can be fun, but keeping things comfortably hard when dealing with significant wind can be tough.

TDR: Another solid week. Hope you’re recovering from the half – I’m reminded of that story about Grete Waitz saying that the most painful marathon of her life was the one she did with Fred Lebow.

Puddles: Solid week. Curious to know whether the fifty miles in the first three days was all in singles. I’ve done something like that in the past and definitely knew that I had done it afterwards.

pewow: Sounds like a useful winter week. Out and back mile with the back half into the wind sounds tough.

OR: Congratulations on the PR and even more on the win. Way to be confident and take control of the race.

RJ: Soooo muuuuch data… Just kidding (kinda). Looks like you’re getting into great shape, and welcome to the thread.

Urban D: Getting good work in, volume and quality. That 800 workout looks pretty tough.

Sub 6: Strong week. That track workout sounds like quite an experience. You mentioned a little low motivation. Not unexpected at times, and it sounds like you worked through it, but maybe keep an eye on the sleep/recovery end of things?

Viking: Getting good volume in, and nice consistency with the long runs. Smart to pull back on the intensity for a week.

JCPP: Smart decision with the training and sounds like you’re seeing the benefits. Very positive signs with the negative splits and unforced speed.

cocoon: Oof on the turning back into the wind. Been there. I wouldn’t call that a failed workout, though. The workout you did was a good workout, and more would not necessarily have been better. Calling it when you did may have set you up to stay strong on the long run – great job there.

darkwave: Congrats on the 8k PR. Recognizing that you were hoping to run faster, setting a PR in February in what felt like a just ok performance is a sign of progress.

RGM: Good solid week, and good to hear the foot is behaving.

SI: Sounds like the break came at a good time. Take care of those legs!

Pappy: Keep on keeping on. Smart to target not necessarily the most work you can handle, but the right amount to make the kind of progress you're looking for.

Coach Jeff: You look to be in terrific shape. Hope you’re getting over the cold, and have fun with the half coming up. (Unsuccessfully resisting the urge to make dumb joke about going Mach…)

Coyote: That sounds like a pretty crazy race. Could have made it a run-skate-ski triathlon.

DB: Basketball just totally wrecks me. You were flying later in the week, though.

LR: Sounds like you’re fire up about getting into the next stage of things. Should be fun!

slo: You’re going to be pretty darn fit before too long.

JtA: “Discovered that starting slower and then gradually speeding up feels a lot better than running the same pace the entire time.” Very true, and not just in the context of a given run. Stay within yourself and progress comes much more easily.

going faster miles an hour wrote:

JQ: Congrats on the PR. Great to have a race like that especially coming off on off day earlier in the week, while continuing to sustain the miles. Out of curiosity, what kind of surfaces are you finding to run on? (You’re in the city, right?)

Thanks! My surfaces basically break down into the following:

- Flat roads along the West side Hudon River Greenway

- Hilly roads in Central Park

- Flat/Hilly dirt along the Central Park reservoir loops (outer loop for hills, inner loop for flat)

- Woodway treadmill in apartment gym / Precor treadmill at work gym

Glad to hear your hip is progressing in the right direction! Hope a healing breakthrough comes soon and you're back on your feet! Sounds like you're approaching it smartly -- here's to coming back stronger

jot quill wrote:

My surfaces basically break down into the following:

- Flat roads along the West side Hudon River Greenway

- Hilly roads in Central Park

- Flat/Hilly dirt along the Central Park reservoir loops (outer loop for hills, inner loop for flat)

- Woodway treadmill in apartment gym / Precor treadmill at work gym

Glad to hear your hip is progressing in the right direction! Hope a healing breakthrough comes soon and you're back on your feet! Sounds like you're approaching it smartly -- here's to coming back stronger

Central Park is a really great place to run, especially that bridle path. Didn't run there often when I was living down in Brooklyn, but definitely enjoyed it when I did. (Did most of my running along the shore in Bay Ridge, which is where I was living, and then up in Prospect Park on the weekends.)

Oh jeez today I tried a workout inspired by the Kipchoge workout post (

http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=9261485

) and it was a lot tougher than I thought.

Intended to do 10x(1K, 1K float) but called it at 6 reps and then closed with 4x400m@5K. Averaged (3:47, 4:12 float) or (6:05, 6:45 float)/mi. Thinking back I probably should have aimed for 6:10 instead. Great workout though and something I want to do more of. I don't have much experience sustaining a float pace between reps.

going faster miles an hour wrote:

Central Park is a really great place to run, especially that bridle path. Didn't run there often when I was living down in Brooklyn, but definitely enjoyed it when I did. (Did most of my running along the shore in Bay Ridge, which is where I was living, and then up in Prospect Park on the weekends.)

Yep definitely find that running routes tend to align with where you live when you're trying to run lots on the daily! Was very happy to have moved to Hell's Kitchen late last year, with close proximity to the park and the west side greenway. Wish I had the motivation to get to Prospect Park for training runs too! That place has a great energy about it

Good news first. Mile time was 4:54 not 4:59. No bad news.

jq - congrats on the 4mi PR

Stone - hope the hammy heals quickly

Gordon - strong stepping stones

Jewbacca - good luck on the 10k

TDR - I like the flying 30s

puddles - strong tempo

GFMAH - sounds like a good plan going forward. Don't drown! I'm going to go to TK's workout group this week

OR - nice PR

RJ - welcome to the thread

UD - good workouts

sub6 - great cutdown workout

BH - solid week of volume

JC - another week of nice workouts. Did that same workout this last fall

cocoon- The most impressive thing about that 20 miler is not needing to stop for traffic

darkwave - tough to run fast in that weather

RGMW - be nice to the arch

SI - That's a pretty good 5 day week

Pappy - another consistent week, I'm trying to clean up my diet a bit too

CJ - no need to press through the cold

Coyote - Sounds like a rough "10k"

DB - consistent week

Lanc - enjoy phase 2

slo - don't keep us in the dark

James - agree with what GFMAH has to say

JQ: Back to back PRs, nice!

Stone: 800s are murder and I would not voluntarily run them alone. Sorry to hear about the hammy.

GT: Love Marshawn Lynch quotes applied to running.

jewbacca: What are levee sprints? I'm picturing extended striders, maybe up a grade?

TDR: Props on the half, that is a different kind of workout that sometimes you just gotta put in.

Puddles: Nice miles.

pewow: Nordic skiing is the best cross-training I've ever tried.

gfmah: Sounds like progress! Walking ought to help if doesn't hurt.

outside: Good quality on a down week.

RaceJace: That is a lot of stats and a lot of miles.

UD: Way to be consistent with those weeks

Sub 6: Great workouts for crummy weather.

BHV: Interesting that there were two separate increases.

JCPP: Looks like it was definitely the right call to back off pace a bit, that is nice work.

cocoon: Solid long run.

darkwave: Nice race, I agree on the weather. 40 degrees seems warm in February but its still a little colder than ideal.

RunGuy: That's gotta bode well that the PF is quiet after a full week and fartlek.

SI: Skiing after a 20 miler, bravo.

pappy: Wow with the strength work.

Coach Jeff: That's a good call not working out with a cold. Not gonna help.

Coyote: Congrats on that wild "10k." Racing on snow is a circus.

DietBacon: Ah, basketball, every coach's nightmare. I remember in school regularly ruining good speedwork sessions by playing basketball way too aggressively before or after.

Lanc: I second the core and strength work: that's been helping me a lot. Are you regularly doing some workouts already? I would have problems jumping into that many big sessions at once right out of a base, but they do look like a nice schedule.

slo-twitch: Lot of good speed in there.

JTA: Tuesday and Wednesday are both good solid days. Could be that doing them back to back caused issues for the time trial. Nice week overall.

Hi everyone.

Just checking in late. Still no running for me. I'm still in pain whenever I start running. I feel my plantar fascia going crazy and the tibialis posterior also flaring, right below my medial malleolus and along the tibial bone. Still couldn't schedule an appointment with my regular PT but I've been icing it, rolling my calves and doing some stretching... Oh well