Road Racing and Training Thread, Week Ending 5/12/2019

Age 60+, wt 140

PRs - a really long time ago and not relevant

Recent (2019) results: 8K - 28:19, HM - 1:17:38 (chip)

Stepped out for a few weeks here and have not been feeling quite great since returning from WMAs at the end of March. But plugging away and rebuilding. Last 4 weeks were 42, 53, 50, 54. I think I'm just now starting to get my legs back.

Last week -

M - travel back from a long weekend trip to AK (that's a long ways if you know some geography)

T - 7 easy

W - 9 with a workout of 4X 3 min, 2X 2 min. Didn't feel good at all, maybe some lag from the trip.

Th - 6.3 easy

F - 9.2 steady

S - 8.3 with 4 mile tempo (some hills in it and a net uphill) and 4X hill strides (@mile race effort, so not sprinting)

Su - 13.5 with 600' climb, 3-5 were about 500' up some steady climbing there

Gordon Tremeshko wrote:

3 weeks left to whittle these wooden sticks I call legs into precision honed...I dunno....set of bows and arrows? Catapults? There's a good metaphor in there somewhere.

41M, 5'10 145ish

Goals: Improve aerobic base following my interpretation of Hadd's "One Approach To Distance Training"'s description of Phase 1 base training. Probably totally doing it wrong. :D

Next Race: 6/2 Deadwood Mickelson Half Marathon. Gorgeous race that I did last year for the first time. I've done both the full and the half here but I don't think I'd ever do the full again because it starts at 8 AM and it was just wayyyy too hot at the finish. But the half is really fun. Last year I managed to finish 3rd in gun time and 4th in chip time. Maybe I can improve my time on last year's finish, weather permitting. :)

This Week - Calves progressively felt better day after day after the Revel marathon disaster.

MaxHR currently estimated at 196

Monday - 105 minutes Treadmill - 8:41 @ 124 bpm

Tuesday - 110 minutes Treadmill - 8:39 @ 133 bpm

Wednesday - 110 minutes - 8:50 @ 122 bpm

Thursday - 125 minutes - 9:30 @ 122 bpm

Friday - 105 minutes - 8:44 @ 130 bpm

Saturday -115 minutes with 5 Miles @ Sub LTHR (6:44 @ 152 bpm, 6:39 @ 158 bpm, 6:32 @ 164 bpm, 6:40 @ 165 bpm, 6:39 @ 165 bpm)

Sunday - 110 minutes - 8:16 (HRM wigged out again but when it was working was around 135 - 140 bpm)

Total Mileage - 90.5 Miles

darkwave - Thanks for the feedback. I had no problem with the towpath in Oct. of last year. True, the weather was better on that day, but I was theoretically in much better shape this time out. Ran a 2:44:xx equivalent in Oct.

M, 31, 6'1" 162

Recent: 17:49, 1:24

Upcoming: 5k 5/27

S. 7 miles easy, rolling hills

M. am 3.2 easy/ pm 4.3 with middle 1.5 at 5:45 pace

T. 3 easy

W. 2.2 very easy

Th. 7 easy

F. 4x1k, with 2:15 jog rest, 6.2 total

S. 7 easy

Total: 39.9

Monday's double with speed went well, but I should probably not do that. Tried to do stuff like that last summer and I could not stay consistent. Either an easy double or one speed session, even for such a short tempo.

Friday's track session was a delight. 2 mile w/u, Ks* in 3:26, 3:18, 3:21, 3:20 with 1/4 mile jog rest in ~2:15. Tried to find the goal pace (3:20) with good form and steady effort instead of just thrashing harder.

*For the pedants out there: It was an unmarked track which I believe to be Imperial, thus 2 1/2 laps gives us 5/8 of a mile, 1100 yards or 1005 meters

Little bit of a light week due to some unanticipated car shopping mid-week and then pre-race as opposed to a long run today. Quality was decent though.

M - 9 miles, avg. 6:06. Last 2 miles included 2x "pre-800" with 3 minutes recovery.

Pre 800 #1: 30.6, 39.8, 30.2, 38.0 = 2:18.6

Pre 800 #2: 31.0, 39.1, 29.3, 39.8 = 2:19.2

T - Warm up and cool down + track ladder workout. 10 miles total. Ladder was 2,4,6,8,1k,8,6,4,2.

32.0, *60*, 65.6, *75*, 1:43, *90* 2:22, *1:45* 2:50, *3:00* 2:14, *3:00* 1:34, *3:00*, 60.0, *3:00*, 27.0

W - 6.5 miles easy, 6:27 avg.

T - Off, car shopping

F - Warm up, cool down, 6x800 + 4x200

2:27, 2:25, 2:25, 2:24, 2:23, 2:21, 29.8 30.0, 27.7, 27.7

Kept the rest short starting at 60 and adding 15 seconds per rep up to 2:00.

S - 8 miles easy, 6:38 avg

S - 7.5 miles easy with pre-race strides of 3x150 + 1x200.

masters runner

outdoor track

previous week (2 weeks ago) - rest/recovery/transition week

- 3 runs, 19.4 miles, 2:27 total time, 4 days no running

this past week:

- 65.8 miles, 8:13 total time , 7 runs, 3428 total ascent

- 1 minor session: 2 sets of (8 x 100m. strides) with 100m easy jog, 800m between sets

- longest run 2:05:55 (17.3 miles)

Overall: post BSIM was easy and relaxed with several rest days & easy running. I started this past week with the intention of establishing consistent training. Nothing amazing to report, but my legs feel good and I'm ready to point towards some masters track in the next few months.

Look forward to catching up on everyone efforts and results over the past 2 weeks.

Happy Mother's Day!

1:30:45 for me yesterday. Didn't have more in me. But that's ok! Another PR. Will give you a race report tomorrow as I'm still in Genève and the internet here is expeeeeeeeensive...

Male, 25, 6’4”, 152lbs

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 - 5 @ 7:35s

Tu - 3200, 1600, 2x800 + WU/WD = 11

Wd - 8 @ 7:45s

Th - 4800 Tempo, 8x200 + WU/WD = 9.25

Fr - OFF

Sa - 14.25 @ 8:55s w/ 1400ft elv gain

Su - 7.5 @ 7:55s

Total - 55

Tu - 12:22 5:57 2:59 2:53

Th - 19:04, 40 39 38 37 36 35 34 33

Fairly social week of running for me, ran with fiancee everyday + friends Mn-Th

Workouts are still slow but happy to get them in, trying to keep them easy but the effort is a little sad given the pace.

Onwards

Male, 51 yo, 5’7”, 128 lbs

Goals: Running “stronger”

Upcoming Races: TBA

I responded pretty well to Daniels 2Q and I liked the rhythm, so I’m still pretty much following that general Wednesday/Sunday protocol.

Wednesday: “Mountain Cruise Intervals” On the uphills, I crank the HR up into the “T” zone, and “E” for everything else. This run totaled a little more than 20 minutes at T.

Sunday: Same protocol, but on trails. This route features very very steep uphills and downhills, sometimes steep enough to use my hands to scramble up and over boulders. Like 21:26/mi translating to a GAP of 9:50 per mile. Very good for developing some power, I think...

Everything else at an easy perceived effort.

Total: 61 km or about 38 miles.

Morning morning,

Comments later since this is going to be a bit of a long post already...

So the past 2 weeks have been a bit mental. I'll start on Sunday 28th April...

Sunday 28th April - London Marathon Day - Better than Christmas. Did 15.5 miles of running to different spectating points. Screamed myself into losing my voice for the next few days, smashed my phone, ate a single sandwich and ended up vomiting in a taxi by 8:30pm. We celebrated the good and bad performances and I drank WAY too much.

The next week.

M - Off. Couldn't move.

T - 6 x 1k every 5:30 - 3:11, :10, :09, :10, :10, :08

W - 7.5m easy

Th - 3.5 mile race in 18:22

F - Off sick

Sa - 60mins easy

Su - 4.5m inc strides

M - 5000m in 16:05

T - 7.5m easy

W - Off

Th - Off

Fri-Sun - Batavierenrace 2019

So. First week was pretty brutal. Hangover plus no voice or phone meant Monday was a write off.

Thursday race was a good one. Ran to the start line and got absolutely drenched in a flash storm. Ran really steady and just picked people off, especially on the steady climb which makes up most of Mile 3. However the storm gave me a chill, hence Friday off running and work. Had the weekend to regain my strength.

Monday was a low key open track meet. Felt great first KM, though I picked it up during the second KM but was a couple seconds slower in 3:12. After that it was hard. Windy track and recent illness probably meant I just didn't have it. 16:05 is fine but I was annoyed.

Then a few days easy running until one of my favourites events in the world. I ran Batavierenrace last year as well. Student relay race across the Netherlands, 355 teams, 8500 participants, hundreds of volunteers. 175km across 25 stages starting at 10:30pm on the Friday night. The first and last stages are standalone races, the other stages are true relay stages with a restart at 7am and Noon on Saturday. Race is composed of 2 parts, the Dutch University Champs (think a Japanese Ekiden Champs) and the General Classification (GC) race. The race has its own radio station, it's rad.

Runners in the relay are sent off in waves (we were Wave 3 of 7) so you sometimes have slower teams from previous waves to pick off.

My team only had 9 runners to make up the 25 stages so I did 4.

Stage 1 - 10:30pm start. 1st GC runner. 2nd overall

3.8miles in 20:15 (5:20 pace)

First KM was slightly downhill but also 3:00. Went out hard, sat in 4th for most of the stage and then turned in on in the last 800m or so to take 2nd. But probably too big of an effort considering I had been awake since 4:30am and wouldn't sleep more than 2/3 hours in the next 22 and that being in a freezing minibus.

Stage 7 - 3:04am start. 1st GC runner. Tied 1st overall.

4.5miles in 25:26 (5:35 pace)

Lonely run in the dark, passed a couple of guys in the first 200m and then alone. Crossed a suspension bridge and then ran down a Dutch road in the middle of the night on my own basically. Felt good in this one, hard to tell when the course was going uphill or downhill so just ran by effort.

Stage 16 - 9:53am start. 1st GC runner. 2nd overall.

3.9miles in 22:25 (5:40 pace)

Lovely crisp, bright morning but I was starting to feel a little weary. Wind had picked up to a steady 10mph and the entire stage was a direct headwind. Luckily had a lot of runners to pick off so that kept me going. Whilst I had almost 7 hours between stages a lot of it was spent picking up team members and navigating in the minibus. Not much rest.

Stage 22 - 1:55pm start. 5th GC runner. 10th overall.

6.5miles in 39:23 (6:02 pace)

This was hard. I basically detonated after 900m and just struggled onwards. The same headwind the whole way and a bit of a twisty run. No one to pick off, so it was a lonely one. Ended in the Grolsch beer factory, which was nice! I was hot, tired, dirty and the entire stage felt like the last mile of a marathon.

We finished 5th team in the GC and incredibly only 7 seconds slower than last year in 12:09:44

If that isn't consistency I don't know what is!!

misc comments

GT - your monday reminds me of a 400 3200 3200 1200 (4x3200) workout I did last fall. Another tougher week done, I imagine your next three will be easier with the HM coming up. If you have another tough week next week the fatigue might not be gone by race day.

TDR - nice win in the 5k, I will hopefully be sitting and kicking some HSer this Sat as well.

Thread - Does not seem like a whole lot of running from everybody either from injury or post race downtime, I guess its that time of year (like december)

Guy Broman - interesting to see 8 runs in 7 days at 40 miles. I typically wait till about 70MPW to add any doubles but might try to start sooner this cycle. The stimulus is good twice a day no matter your total mileage but the extra shower/waking up early can be a killer. regardless both your Mn speed and Friday ks suggest you could knock down that 5k time

HHH - sounds like a fun relay race, I've always mentally grouped them in with obstacle races and colour runs but every relatively serious runner ive known who has done one says it is a lot of fun

Allen - Even for a double century you may not need many 70+ mile rides (unless its to just get the a** ready for the saddle!) I have responded well to 20-30/20-30 type days on the bike as doubles instead of one very long single.

RunnerSam wrote:

HHH - sounds like a fun relay race, I've always mentally grouped them in with obstacle races and colour runs but every relatively serious runner ive known who has done one says it is a lot of fun

Well the winner of the final stage was a 3:40 1500m/14:07 5000m runner. Mike Foppen of the Netherlands, who's a student at one of the universities in the main competition. So the standard is pretty damn high towards the sharp end!

runrincerepeat wrote:

Even for a double century you may not need many 70+ mile rides (unless its to just get the a** ready for the saddle!) I have responded well to 20-30/20-30 type days on the bike as doubles instead of one very long single.

RRR - For a century ride, I would be comfortable with a few doubles as you suggest, but before facing 16 hours in the saddle, I really think I'll need at least one 5-hour type ride. I really have no clue. My biggest single day was 100 miles back in June 1981. Generally, my body seems to respond best to bigger single efforts. For example, starting at zero, I can run 4 miles every day and see very little improvement. But throw in one 12-mile run, and boom! a big and instantaneous fitness boost. At least in years past.

Regarding saddle-readiness, I started gradually with 20 minutes at a time on the trainer during the winter, but have still been experiencing severe butt discomfort on every ride. So I ordered a cheap ($14!) mountain bike seat. Narrow profile like a road saddle, but padded. Much better, although I've only ridden a couple 25-mile rides on it so far.

A few more comments:

Gordon T - Monday's adjustment looks reasonable, and Saturday's double tempo is impressive as heck. You're really fit right now, and with a short taper you'll be ready to fly on race day. Do you have a goal time?

TDL - Congrats on the win. Sounds like you weren't expecting better competition, but rather just a planned fun win/workout to cap a grueling week?

jot quill - Looks like your 5K PR will be going down soon. By a lot!

RRR - I'm looking forward to that 2-mile race. What's the venue?

gfmah - A nice-looking and solid "build" week.

OR - Your resilience is impressive -- back to sub-7's a week after a 2nd OA marathon!

dirtroad - I raced a mile on the track last June, first time since 2003. Great fun, and you may find yourself looking for more of them. I had no idea what time to shoot for last year, but another LRC poster suggested time-trialing 1200m; that pace should be race pace, and indeed it was.

Sub-6 - Everything is relative. Your "not exactly high mileage" 70-mile week is higher than all but 4 of my 2,387-or-so training weeks.

jewbacca - Hope that hamstring is back to normal soon.

Hereford - How soon do you turn 50? In time for some big M50-54 wins this fall?

LongWay - Looking forward to seeing your transition to marathon training.

darkwave - I should emulate your well-rounded training approach. Or should have years ago. Probably too late now. When is the Bjorklund HM? Hope the biopsies are all clear.

Working Harder - Best wishes in getting back at it.

RunGuy - I had my bike set up on the trainer all winter, but could barely manage 20 minutes a few times. Always impressed to see that other folks can overcome the tedium.

Coyote Montane - Utica. July 14. I doubt I'll be running, but I might be found at Gerber's. My favorite Utica tavern.

BHViking - Impressive "bounce-back" week.

Guy - Always nice when a track workout "clicks." Any specific goals for upcoming 5K?

stat- So, a race yesterday?

Urban Diesel - My wife and I ran Big Sur a few years back. She lived in the Bay area and Northern California for many years, but it was my first trip out there. Beautiful marathon, but that's not an easy course!

PutoMiudo - Congrats on the PR! Looking forward to reading the details.

RunnerSam - Looks like smart maintenance workouts to me.

Coach Jeff - That trail is more mountain-climbing than running, eh?! Full-body fitness.

HHH - Enjoyed your relay tale! Your ho-hum 5000 equals my lifetime PR. Aargh.

Allen - I feel you.. I am just lucky as I do not get saddle sore even when all my rides are in runner half tights on a Brooks leather saddle. Guess hips shaped right? BUT 16 hours in the saddle seems brutal... I would have to get off every couple hours and stretch my lower back. The two mile race is a local road affair... kicks off the points series for 2019-2020 altho after winning it this last year I am not super motivated to run all the series races , but wanna see what the wheels can do.

GT - Like I said .. killer week. Stay healthy and you will kill.

TDR- Nice win, always a good time.

JQ - Looking forward to seeing your 400 time.

GFMPH - Glad someone got the Gallipoli reference.. great flick. Good to see ya back

OR- Good looking recovery week.. more "Flyers" In my future this summer as well with the base build

SUB 6 - my inspirational quotester ... that is a real week!

JB - Get right my man... must have been a pretty bad tweak. Sucks but it will heal

More to come... Gotta at least appear to work a bit this morning before I go ride my bike at lunch (hard life)

M35. Next race: Grandma’s Marathon (June 22)

Goal: Working my way to sub 3:05

Week 3 of battling this posterior tib. Bad news is I’ve had 3 down weeks. Good news is I’ve put in some good crosstraining and—knock on wood—I think I’m finally turning the corner on this tendonitis. Such a fickle and frustrating thing. In a bout of frustration, I threw some caution into the wind on Saturday and went 10 miles relatively fast. (I didn’t look at my watch—I just ran at that happy “float” pace.) This was the longest and hardest I’ve run in 3 weeks. I felt pretty good and could tell I didn’t lose much aerobically. Was worried my ankle would be screaming at me Sunday, but aside from some sore quads, woke up feeling good too.

M 60 min. elliptical, 10 min bike

T 60 min elliptical, 40 min bike

W Rest

Th. 30 min bike, 4.25 Treadmill (easy)

F 20 min bike, 20 min elliptical, 20 min stair climber

S 10 mile (avg. 7’18)

S 4.3 am, 2.3 pm = 6.6 miles (easy)

Total: 21 miles of running and lots of YMCA time

Not sure how to approach this week. Right now I’m thinking about doing 40 miles or so, all easy, with a cross training day or two. Then next week start back with actual workouts. I worry that so much training time has been lost, but overall I’m just happy that I’m starting to feel healthy and I can run again.

runrincerepeat wrote:

I am just lucky as I do not get saddle sore even when all my rides are in runner half tights on a Brooks leather saddle. Guess hips shaped right? BUT 16 hours in the saddle seems brutal... I would have to get off every couple hours and stretch my lower back.

The sore butt is maybe a function of old age? Less natural padding? A friend gave me a fancy modern racing saddle a few months ago, and I think it's worse than the classic leather one that came with my bike. But, dang, I can't imagine riding without padded shorts!

We're definitely NOT racing then 200 miles, and my brother has a lot of breaks scheduled. Still, I am hoping to ride a bit faster than he has planned ... if only to reduce saddle time. Here's the plan:

35/m/140's

Goals: Fast 5ks, good fitness

Next race: Probably June 1st 5 miler... unless a 5k next week feels right, and it might.

This week:

M: 6.75 miles @ 7:17

T: 3 in am @ 7:26, pm Workout (2 miles WU, 3 miles CD) 200, 400, 600, 800, 1000, 800, 600, 400, 200 rests were 1:30-2:00

200's - 33.2, 31.8; 400's - 1:12, 1:16; 600's - 1:58, 1:59; 800's - 2:40, 2:40; 1000 - 3:22

W: 6.25 @ 7:39

Th: 8 @ 7:34

F: 4.5 @ 7:30

Sa: 2 mile WU; 5k XC race in 17:40 (a bit short); 4.35 miles CD/running @ 6:54

Su: 8.4 @ 7:11

Total: 56.1 miles in 6h 48m

Tuesday workout with group at the track. Felt good, but went out a bit too hard in first two reps trying stupidly to keep up with someone who was much fitter. Hit my groove after that.

Saturday race: Was an unexpected XC race... i know, do my homework, but it was on the roads last year. It's a mile from my house, so hard not to run it, but was surprised by the XC. Anyway, a few guys I knew showed up and I knew they'd be right around me, or I guessed they would be. Ran up front with one guy through about 2.5 miles, then 3rd guy came up and made a move. My legs just don't respond well on grass, so I just let them go. Finished right with 2nd place guy (who I ran with up front the whole time). Wasn't really concerned with place, but was fun nonetheless. Officially 3rd place. Splits were 5:37, 6:03, 6:01. I need to be more confident and not be afraid to go with people, just need to keep racing to get that. Felt like I had some left in the tank at the end, which makes me a bit annoyed with myself. Conditions weren't great, it's been raining a lot here, so ground was soft and muddy, which didn't help things.

Live to fight another day. No long run this week, bc I was tired on Sunday, it was Mothers day, and just squeezed in what I could.

Comments:

GT - Another great week. Like RunnerSam said, assuming with the race coming up, you'll slowly back off these impressive workouts...

TDR - Sit and kick... ahhh the days where I had some semblance of a kick... lol. Nice race.

JQ - Nice long run progression this week, you've still got a lot in those legs, will be fun to see what you can pull off before next official training cycle.

RRR - looks like a well rounded week. coming into form. will be fun to see results of a 2 miler.

GFMAH - nice easy week, looks refreshing.

OR - the flyers are returning...

Allen - It'll come back, nice and easy. I mean, 17:06 at 55 for a 5k, that's impressive for your competition...

sub 6 - Nice week, good luck in 10k this weekend, you have to have a goal in the back of your mind? No?

JB - take it easy, don't want a soreness to develop into more. I always have trouble heeding that advice, but know it's the best to take it slow and easy.

darkwave - Probably good to take a break from the racing after the medical procedure. If you weren't feeling it, always best not to push. Good to hear it was clear-ish. Still a nice week and I'm sure some lost weight due to colonoscopy.

workingharder - good to see you! stay healthy.

BHViking - Nice week, nice mileage!

stat - good luck in the race today, interested to see how it goes. Nice week. Car shopping stinks, assuming you got it done in a day though, which is how I roll. Just get it over with.

RunnerSam - Nice week, mileage is coming back, the fitness will too. I've had more social running in the past 3 weeks than I have in the past 3 years.

Coach Jeff - Hills and humidity seem to be your thing. See your strava and constantly think about how it must FEEL there. Wet and heavy is how I would describe the weather I see on your feed.

HHH Runnner - I've been thinking about relay races. My dad and his buddies did Hood to Coast a bunch of years out on the West Coast here in the US, seemed like a really fun time for them.