Road Racing and Training Week Ending 5/5/2019

Sub 6:00 wrote:

Judging by the few dirt stretches of my trail this morning, I can imagine the towpath was a slopfest. That can be a fast place to run if it’s dry, but today...I’m sure that was memorable.

Yeah, that had to be awful.

Checking in: ran 62:28 at Broad Street, so cracked that magic 63 minute barrier. Was announced as 5th Master ($ and a big glass trophy), then later they corrected to 6th Master (so no $ and a smaller acrylic age group trophy). Ah well. I'm pretty happy with the time, and I think that was the absolute best race I had in me today. I felt that I paced it pretty well, and I had nothing left at the finish.

Weather wasn't great but was less awful than expected. Ended up being high 50s, light to moderate rain (but a lot of puddles on the road) and a cross wind with some gusts. Not ideal, but it was still possible to run well.

Tall Dark Roast - 62:28 at age 44 is 84.23 under the 2015 factors, so I've crawled up a bit on the ladder. I turn 45 on Thursday, so too bad this race wasn't next weekend.

Splits:

Mile 1: 6:26

Mile 2: 6:20

Mile 3: 6:14

Mile 4: 6:14

Mile 5: 6:08 (slightly short/hit watch early)

Mile 6: 6:21 (slightly long)

Mile 7: 6:12

Mile 8: 6:14

Mile 9: 6:14

Mile 10: 6:06

And....my week:

female, 44, 5'4", 104

PRs 5:25/18:51/38:56/1:02:28/1:24:22/2:57:42

Goal races: Garry Bjorklund Half - plus some fast 5Ks tbd.

Goal times: 18:30 for 5K, 1:23:xx for half

Last week: 38 miles, 14 "miles" of pool-running, and 1000 yards of swimming

M: Yoga and 8 "miles" of pool-running.

T: 10 miles, including 2x(1600, 800) in 6:00, 2:53, 5:55, 2:53 (half distance recovery in 4:25-4:40 after 1600s, and 2:07 after 800)). Also leg strengthwork and 750 yards recovery swimming.

W: 7 miles very easy (8:52) plus drills/strides and DIY yoga.

Th: Light upper body weights/core, DIY yoga, and 6 "miles" of pool-running.

F: 7 miles, including an uptempo 1600 in 6:09. Also DIY yoga.

Sa: Travel and DIY yoga.

Su: 3 mile warmup, 10 mile race in 62:28 , 1 mile cool-down. Later 250 yards of recovery swimming.

Male, 51 yo, 5’7”, 128 lbs

Goals: Continue running regularly despite tempoarry goal-less-ness

Upcoming Races: TBA

Hey y’all.

Not much I need to report from last week. I took a total reset week, running less than 20 km. I had low motivation and low energy, but a correspondingly high amount of work to take care of in the wake of my week off. Anyway I’m feeling better now, and finally put two running days together, and I’m feeling fine.

The plan for the immediate future is basically not really having a plan. Just go out and run 60 70 80 or 90 minutes a day, various terrain, various levels of effort. Still monitoring the heart rate, but not gonna use the heart rate as a metric. Just going to go out and run around for a while until I figure out a plan.

I am taking myself off of the high fat low carb diet that I have been on for the past two years. It really reshaped my body and metabolism, but I feel like I need to change. So I’m switching over to a more Mediterranean/whole foods style of eating. That’s right: 10 pieces of fruit a day... I am now on board with that. (But I keep the olive oil... and red wine over beer... I can adapt I think.)

I’ll be catching up with what everybody’s been doing for the past two weeks as I have time over the next few days. My work schedule normalizes beginning this week, and I’ll be able to be a regular member of this fine community once again. Hear hear.

Hey all! Back at it with a fully fledged weekly report ft. surviving the Golden Gate Relay:

=== 4/29/19 - 5/5/19: 54 miles ===

> Mon - 6.27 miles

#1 (7:49): 3.13 miles @7:49

#2 (18:21): 3.14 miles @7:38

> Tue - 10.68 miles

#1 (6:32): 7.57 miles @7:08, 2x1K, 2x2K, 2min jog recovery

3:19, 3:27, 7:28, 7:21

(5:21, 5:33, 6:00, 5:55)/mi

#2 (18:43): 3.11 miles @8:06

> Wed - 10.01 miles

#1 (6:23): 10.01 miles @8:00

> Thu

#1 (6:36): 8.48 miles @6:48, 5-2-1K, 3min jog recovery

18:31, 7:16, 3:33

(5:57, 5:50, 5:43)/mi

> Fri

Off, traveling

> Sat + Sun - ~19 miles

Golden Gate Relay

> Golden Gate Relay 2019 Race Report

190 mile race from Napa to Santa Cruz in California, with 12 runners each running 3 legs. Overall, we took second place to our rivals Stanford who were around 20 minutes ahead. One of our legs took a wrong turn though and ran 11 miles instead of 4.5, tacking on a huge chunk of time, so we likely would have had the win without that

! Ultimately, tons of fun, and around 19hr30 overall!

Came into this one pretty unprepared. After Boston I was out for a full week sick, and then went off to vacation for another week with sparse to no running. So this week was really my only “buildup” into this race :D. Running a relay is also a whole new thing for me as well, so didn’t know what to expect!

Leg 9: 4.4 miles (25:03) - Sat 7:36PM

Watch had 4.33 w/ splits:

5:39, 5:52, 5:58, 5:42, 5:53 (0.33)

Pretty straightforward start, had uphill in the middle two miles with the last giving back some of that elevation. Ran into headwind most of the way and had to surge 3 yellow->red lights but made them all! Definitely not peak fitness and wasn’t feeling fast, but managed to close 2 minutes on the gap to the Stanford team here, so that was a win!

Leg 21: 6.5? miles (37:22) - Sun 3:27AM

Watch had 6.3 with splits:

6:10, 5:58, 5:29, 6:06, 5:42, 6:13, 5:51 (0.3)

The start here was pretty rough, was fumbling with my headlamp and accidentally dropped all the batteries out, so I tried to switch with the incoming runner but he also dropped his on accident, and then I dropped the baton (wristband) so it was all sorts of hilarity. Probably ate 30 seconds or so into that first split. Was pretty stinkin tired here and it was pitch black, and I was holding the headlamp light in my hand since in the rush we undid the loop. Variation in splits is due to uphill/downhill but overall I kept a pretty even effort. First mile/two felt like absolute garbage but after getting in the rhythm the rest went by pretty quick.

Leg 33: 6.5 miles (37:40) - Sun 9:15AM

Splits:

5:39, 5:48, 5:53, 5:55, 5:58, 5:46, 5:14 (0.5)

Felt like I was going to fall asleep right before starting this one! This one was a net 300ft downhill but it was deceivingly hard to run. I was short roller after short roller and very narrow windy roads, so it was really hard to get in any sort of consistent running. Honestly felt like I was going uphill most the time. The saving grace was the final mile which was actually a smooth gradient down, so I was able to close pretty strong. Overall was surprised I was able to hit sub 6 for every split with the lack of sleep and pretty spent legs.

An absolute blast of an experience, and hopefully I can come back next year to pull even more weight for the team (not running Boston beforehand next time…). We had a few superstars on our corporate team, I’m talking sub 4:00 back in college and I was in absolute awe of their running. At best I was mid maybe slightly above mid for our team. Absolutely inspiration to get better!

Will probably take it easy this week, maybe even a few days off leading into traveling back to NY and eventually ramp back into training.

42M 5'10 145

Goals: Continue improving aerobic base, mostly inspired by Hadd's Phase 1 write up.

Races: June 2 Deadwood Mickelson Half Marathon

This Week:

First off, something seems wrong with my HRM. I use a Scosche RHYTHM+. I had to replace my old one about a month ago (the battery finally started to deteriorate) and the new one seems to have 10 minute increments of reading super low (like 80 bpm) despite steady effort/pacing. Powering the device off and then back on corrects it but most of the time I'm running by feel and I don't notice it until I'm looking at the data later. I did just email Scosche support so hopefully they can help me correct the problem. So if I don't post HR data, that means I can't really resolve what my average HR was.

Monday - Rest (Recovering from DNF at Revel)

Tuesday - Rest

Wednesday - 2.7 @ 9:52 pace. Calves still hurt but in a severe DOMS kinda way, not injury-like pain. Shouldn't have run.

Thursday - Rest

Friday - 4.2 Miles on my 42nd Birthday! Still sore but no longer too sore to be out.

Saturday - 12.4 miles @ 8:29. Less sore. Felt like a productive easy run.

Sunday - 12.2 miles @ 8:45. Even less sore. Almost there!

OR - Nice work making some marathoning cash! Hope the spill you took isn't too bad

Sub 6:00 - No doubt on not overestimating marathon wear and tear.

Jot Quill - So awesome to hear how much fun you're having. That's what this sport is all about!

Hey everybody! I'm in fact not dead. Basically just haven't run since the Oiselle 10k on 4/20. I got a PR of 45:04. But overall I haven't run much since then because grad school has been ultra stressful the last few weeks and haven't had the time or energy to run. Getting back on track tomorrow though for my next goal race on 10/12; another 10k. Between now and then, I'm starting a Lydiard style base phase tomorrow. And in about a month is the local all comers summer series where I'll race between 800 - 5000. So big things coming up and I'm glad to be back!

drcrusher wrote:

Sub 6:00-- true story, Wil Wheaton and I are related in a way (my dad's sister married his dad's brother). But Wesley Crusher has nothing to do with my nickname; just a coincidence!

Quite the coincidence! My brother and I watched a lot of Star Trek TNG and DS9 (plus TOS and Voyager to a lesser extent) growing up, and it’s left more of a trace on my adult self than I like to admit.

With fu cking carbs coach Jeff is gonna crush crush crush.

Love you man. Hopefully you get nice and regenerationed or whatever and ready for the next push.

Won’t forget your cell phone dumbassery. Classic coach J!

drcrusher wrote:

Stone Cutter -- last thread you asked if I am near Philly. Why yes, I am. I remember from the Boston-related threads that your wife's goal sounded a lot like my Boston goals but only I reached them once (best Boston so far is 3:29). Can't remember if you said, does she have plans for another race?

We are in South Jersey. She isn’t registered yet, but I expect Mrs. Stone to race the Scott Coffee 8k in Moorestown in early June, a 4th of July 5k, and possibly the Rock N Roll HM in September. As of now, her fall marathon goal is CIM. Looking for a training partner? Mrs. Stone is always trying to add friends to her running list...

darkwave - great, great race. I have heard mixed reports about the conditions today, but you clearly executed your plan well. I still think you have 1:22:xx in you by the time you get to the Gary Bjorkland Half, especially since you are steadily getting better each race at going out more aggressively and settling earlier into a metronome pace rhythm.

Male, 25, 6’4”, 153lbs

PRs: 4:54 (mile), 16:56, 1:18:00, 28:01 (8k 2015), 2:47:14 (all 2018 but 8k)

Goal: Philly Marathon, be back into full mileage by July

Mn - 6 @ 7:30s (w/ fiancee)

Tu - 2x(800,1600) + WU/WD = 8

Wd - 6 @ 7:40s (w/ fiancee)

Th - 3 Tempo + WU/WD = 8.75

Fr - OFF

Sa - 5k in 18:53

Su - 13 @ 8:00s (w/ fiancee)

Total - 50

Tu - 2:56 6:11 2:58 6:12, Th - 18:28 or 6:08 pace

Race tracker while getting back in shape

3/10/19 5k - 21:04 (3.2mi)

4/18/19 5k - 20:51

4/27/19 5k - 19:40

5/4/19 5k - 18:53

M59

5'11" 180 lbs

Training status: Knee rehab, rebuild

Goal: 15K in August

April 29 - May 5, 2019

M- 5.0 miles @ 9:16/mi

Tu- Bike 18.3 miles @ 16.6 mph

W- off

Th- 7.7 miles @ 9:13/mi

Fr- 10 mins elliptical; 45 mins treadmill @ 5%

Sa- 5.0 miles @ 9:50/mi

Su- Bike 50.0 miles @ 17.3 mph

TOTAL: 21.7 MILES

Thirteen weeks to my 15K goal race. Thursday's run finished with an all-out 1-mile time trial in 7:11. By comparison, less than 11 months ago, I raced a track mile in 5:38. A year older, 20 pounds heavier, and a nearly-6-month layoff this year versus only 3 months last year,

Just a few comments for now:

Gordon T - Wow, that's a killer week. Super-impressive workouts!

RRR - I thought of you cranking at 22 mph while I was struggling to maintain 16 during the last few miles of my ride today. I never could and never will ride your pace!

OR - Awesome run today! 2:48 and a podium finish ... in mud and gravel, with a face-plant and a full-body check along the way! I remember way back when you were a 40-something youngster chasing sub-3 ...

darkwave - Congrats! That's a very impressive time, and your pacing looks superlative as usual. And that last mile -- fantastic! Also, happy 45th birthday and new age group this week. My target race this year is a day before I turn 60. Aaargh!

BHV - good luck with Hadd. I used his method many years ago when I first decided to focus on distance running. I saw steady improvements over a few years before experimenting more with my own plans. It works with patience. Hang in there!

Allen - Thank you very much. Your comeback is inspiring. With regard to my race, you have described it very well, almost as if you were there. I went down hard, and have “gravel rash” on my knee, thigh, hip, and shoulder. Went down on my right side. A few miles later, I then took a hit at a water staion—and that is exactly what it felt like, a full-body check. My upper left arm is sore from that.

Unofficial results went up...3rd overall, 2:49:24, got beat by a 26-year-old and a 35-year-old.

Will take some days for rest, but I am already looking forward to fall marathoning.

darkwave - That is some fine racing. Enjoy the result, and I agree with Stone regarding the 1:22:xx.

OR - Congrats on a solid race. Glad to see you end things on a positive note after Boston. I've enjoyed watching your fitness progress under Coach Stone.

GT - Great week. You're looking ridiculously fit.

Indy 500 Festival HM report

DNF due to right hamstring strain.

Garmin splits: 5:16, 5:14, 5:13, 5:15, 5:18

Interesting non-race stuff: I found a couch for rent through Airbnb about 2 miles from the start line. Weird situation that I chose because I'm cheap. Though $40 is arguably not a great deal for a dirty old couch. I never met my hosts since I arrived late (1 am, thank you Budget car rentals for the 1hr+ wait) and left early (6 am). There was an added thrill as I fell asleep that my hosts could be any sort of sickos. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

Race stuff: The weather was excellent. Low-50s, low wind, and rainy. It doesn't get much better. Could've done with less rain, but it wasn't a downpour by any means. I lined up a couple rows deep, and when the gun went off I got out more conservatively than normal. I think I was only 82-83 at 0.25. Settled into the pace and got into a pretty good groove through the first 4. I didn't feel terribly great early. The hamstring was tight before the race and I suspected after mile 1 I was going to have a strain before the race was over, so easing into the pace seemed the right thing.

The lead pack went out way too hot for me, and the chase pack was a solid group of guys chasing 1:10-1:11. After mile 1 I locked onto a guy who had let go of the lead pack but was running strong solo. Maybe 15-20s up. He looked like my guy and I wanted to reel him in slowly.

Around mile 3 I had the kind of sensation I dream of as a runner. It felt like all resistance in my body melted away, and the pace felt... easy. I reached mile 4 and I felt like going sub-69 was in my hands and that I was fit enough to do it. The hamstring was there, but it was background noise and I thought it was going to hold up.

Unfortunately as I reached mile 5 things got much worse for the hammy. The course made a right turn, and that seemed to be the breaking point. The pain took over my awareness and a limp crept into my stride. I made it another quarter mile before I admitted I not going to finish the race. I stopped and tried a last ditch attempt to massage it and stretch it out. Started again and eased up to pace, but the damage was done. I was fortunate to find a volunteer with a medical cart who drove me back to downtown.

Post-race: I haven't DNF'd since 2012, and it feels unbelievably bad to do it when I know I'm fit. I'm really looking forward to getting healthy and proving my fitness this fall. The hamstring is really sore today... definitely the worst strain I've had. I'm guessing 3-4 weeks to full recovery, but I think slow jogging will be doable in a few days.

I think I initially injured it earlier in the week, and the race just hurt it worse. I saw the PT on Tuesday, and we did some hip/glute/hammy strengthening. I had alarm bells going off that I shouldn't do new exercises on race week, and I eventually did tell them I wanted to stop. Too late. But the real mistake was probably doing 3 x mile at LT the next day. The hamstring was complaining afterwards, and it continued to feel tight the rest of the week. Need to realize I'm not 18 anymore and I can't put that kind of stress on my aging muscles.

Pro-tip for Indy travel: Look into Blue Indy. It's pay-by-the-minute electric car rental with stations all over Indianapolis. $8/20 min and $0.40/min from there. For this trip it would have beat the traditional rental or Uber by a long ways. No fuel charge and no parking fees.

https://www.blue-indy.com/

44 year old guy, 5'6 124 lbs

PR's: 5K 17:05, 10K 34:52, Half (downhill 1:13) 1:15:59 Full 2:42:22

Monday: AM Treadmill HIIT 4@6:01 + strength/core/rowing, PM Treadmill 1.3@7:29

Tuesday: AM Treadmill HIIT 4.2@5:49 "Rolling Hills" workout with inclines up to 8% + strength/core/rowing

PM Treadmill 3.5@7:24

Wednesday: Track WU 2@7:15, 3x1 with 0.25 Rec (5:34/1:49/5:28/7:20/5:23), CD 2@7:44

Thursday: Treadmill Easy 6.3@6:48 + Strides 6x30" on/30" float off (1.2@5:07)

Friday: 3.1@6:16 (easy to GHMP)

Saturday: 3.1@8:07

Sunday: Prerace WU 2@7:17

OC Half Marathon 1:15:59 PR - 1st M40-44(top male masters also), 17th overall

Postrace Recovery 2@9:02

OC Half Marathon Splits

1 5:51

2 5:37

3 5:44

4 5:46

5 5:36

6 5:40

7 5:43

8 6:03

9 5:50

10 5:52

11 5:40

12 5:51

13 5:37

0.2 5:22 (I must have failed to run the tangents or maybe too much marathon traffic because I ran 13.2 miles)

I think I did a fairly good job with pacing for this race. The slower mile at mile 8 was attributable to a hill. I was sslightly lowed down by having to run through slower marathoner traffic for much of the race. Also, I ran alone for most of the race (I finished 1 minute behind 16th and 1 1/2 minutes ahead of 18th in the half marathon). I only got a 16 second PR but I am satisfied with my race especially after my last 2 races (Tokyo Marathon and the failed local 10K race) I could see the clock as I approached the finish so I think I sped up just enough to go under 1:16.

LebanonHills wrote:

PutiMiudo: thanks for the tips. Have been doing lots of calf, hip and butt strengthening but neglected stretching and band work. I’ll start that up tonight. How long did your recovery take? Did you run through it?

Did 80 min on exercise bike with some “tempo” stuff today. Not a bad workout but I know my arse is going to be screaming tomorrow

I couldn't even put my foot on the floor without pain. Maybe two weeks... The first runs after that I also felt a small niggle right below my medial malleolus, but with easy running, stretching, foam rolling and strengthening, the small pain eventually went away.

Some shoutouts and replies before I kick off the work week:

Gordon Tremeshko - nice MASSIVE week with some solid workouts (I laughed at the progression run). I see that you tend towards alternation workouts - is that because you find better response from those, or are you working on something specific?

runrincerepeat - fingers crossed for a continued comeback

smoove - it's good to see progress, though you are still in the early stages.

Tall dark roast - when I read "bridge repeats" I thought you were doing glute bridges in the gym...then I read your explanation, and it made more sense.

dirtroadSC - congrats on the double win and breaking 23 for the all important 3.5 mile distance.

Hereford - looking forward to seeing how you introduce stuff in the coming weeks.

Sub 6:00 - you don't pick easy races, do you....., with that 10K and half. I did the 10K once back in the old days when it actually went up and down Capitol Hill. I've always shied away from that half because it sounds logistically challenging, it's a hilly course in hot weather, and I don't drink wine.

LebanonHills - I hope the week off running does the trick. As noted previously, you can lose a week or two during marathon training and be fine, as long as you cross-train diligently.

outsiderunner - again, good job on what had to be a hard day. (I have a personal strong dislike for the towpath anyway) I've faceplanted on the towpath as well, so I know exactly what you mean by gravel-rash.

PutoMiudo - excited to see what you do next week!

going faster miles per hour - good to have you back

pewow - I've always wanted to check out Montreal.

drcrusher - I agree - the hot weather earlier this week was a shock. And interesting on the Wil Wheaton connection - I had assumed your handle was a Star Trek - TNG reference.

Coach Jeff - I really like the plan-less plan for the immediate future.

jot quill - wow, what an effort. People who do these things always describe them as a blast....and then report stuff like "feeling like garbage," struggling not to fall asleep, etc....We runners have a funny view of "fun"

BHViking - happy 42! I hope the heart rate issues get worked out.

JamesTheAmateur - was wondering where you were - welcome back!

Stonecutter - thanks for the nice comments - I do think 1:22:xx is doable within the not-too-far future. Of course, with Grandma's one has to see what the weather is.

RunnerSam - very nice progress

Allen1959 - thanks for the comments - your fitness will come back. And yeah, I wish we could age-grade in increments of a year.

Jewbacca - I am so sorry about the hamstring on a day when you were primed to run so well. Hopefully the fact that you pulled the plug early makes for a quick recovery. And thanks for the Indy travel tip - I'm planning on doing their marathon in the fall.

Bruin1996 - congrats on an excellent race and the master's win!

Some select comments for now.

OR - great racing. Sometimes w confuse time trialing for times and racing That’s great racing. Those races are the memorable ones. Like my half drunk up mountain half.

JB - love the couch surfing on a seedy couch story. The hamstring will heal and you will be in primo shape.

Allen - glad to see you back at it. And yeah my fitness on the bike the last couple weeks w higher miles has exploded. We shall see how a summer of biking a lot translates to fall racing.

DW and Bruin - great effing racing!

Same to you SLo if your lurking round these parts.