Road Racing and Training Thread - Week Ending 1/12/20

M35, 6’-1, 155

PB / 2020:

Mile 4:06 / NT

5k 14:32 / NT

10k 31:30 / NT

Half 1:08:31 / NT

Full 2:32:50 / NT

Upcoming Races:

1/18: 5k

2/1: 15k

2/29: 10k

3/15: HM?

4/11: 5k

M: easy, 6M

T: speed, 8x600 @5k->3k (1:48->1:45) 200jog, 8M

W: easy, 9M

T: long run, 16M

F: easy, 9M

S: off, —

S: strength, progression 10M @easy->5k (7:00->4:50), 12M

1/12 Total 60 (6d), LR=16

1/5 Total 62 (6d), LR=14

2019 Totals: 2,811 miles in 296 days

M40, 6-6, 190

Upcoming:

5k in two weeks

London Marathon in April

M 8.1

T 10 w 4T (5:53 avg)

W 10 / 4

Th 9.5 w 200m strides

F 8.2

S 3 up, 1 mile race in 4:46.65 (PR) / 8.1 pm

S 18.2 / 8 planned

Total: 88 miles

Race report:

I’ve been wanting to run at the crossplex ever since watching the NCAA’s there a few years ago. I also figured this was a good chance to run an official mile PR since I’m between marathon cycles. I ran an unofficial 4:50 on an outdoor track about a month ago without any specific training not long after Indy. With that in mind I thought sub 4:50 (b goal) was very doable and that I had an outside shot at 4:45 (a goal). Plan was to run even pace 36 secs per lap and then kick it home with all I got.

Race went out fast. I got sucked out a little but not too bad. First 209 was like 36 instead of 38. Was 15th out of 16 I think. I settled back in to goal pace (36 per lap) and steadily started picking people off. Went quickly around a group of 4 in the second quarter instead of sitting back and getting boxed.

Hit 809m in ~2:24 which was a couple seconds ahead of schedule. Focused hard the third quarter to keep on the gas. Forgot about the rail and just about stepped on it. Stumbled a bit and took two steps inside the rail but didn’t go down. Lungs were burning and I felt like locking up but I held it together. Didn’t pay attention to splits. Just ran.

Kicked hard the last quarter to finish 6th or 7th in my heat. Total time was 4:46.65. Big fat 4 second PR for the 40 year old giraffe. Apparently I ran so fast it caused a tornado as a tornado warning was issued for Jefferson County before I could start my cool down.

RRR 36 181 6feets tall

Solid solid week of lifting for me. Lifts are getting heavier and R3 gets beefier.

Sun Off

Mon - Push AM chest PM light shoulders/tris

Tues - Pull AM upper back PM light lower back Biceps (curls for the girls)

Wed - Leg circuit

Thur - Push AM Shoulders/Tris PM Light chest

Fri - Pull AM lower back / Bi’s. PM Upper Back

Sat - Leg Circuit

Solid week of work for me w around 40-50 on bike

Makes me much hungrier than running 75+ mpw.

OR - a thought. Those symptoms can also be related to a stress fracture somewhere. Why mine went misdiagnosed so long.

M, newly minted 48, 5’ 8”, 157, PRs: not relevant anymore

Well, I’m not sure what my goals are, but I’m fairly sure I’m motivated to at least run more consistently. So here I am, posting meaningless weeks to try to make myself accountable.

A big part of my inconsistency over the fall was that I just had a ton of stress as I was asked by a client to consider a position with them and have decided to change jobs for the first time in the 20 years of my professional career. The next three weeks will be hit or miss as I expect lots of drinks with friends as I wind things down at my current gig. Now that the decision had been made and shared with my colleagues, most of the stress is gone and I’m starting to get excited about the new gig (while having anxiety about having to prove myself all over again).

Got out 3 days last week and have had one day so far this week (with a second this afternoon anticipated).

Expecting to run 3-4 days a week for the next few weeks while trying to drop maybe 5 pounds to get to a reasonable non-marathon weight.

From there, we will see what happens. I will need to find a race to run just to assess fitness at some point in the late spring. May try to put a good masters team together for Cross Country Club Nationals in San Francisco in December.

Male, 19, 6'1", 150

Tentative Racing Plan: 2-4 indoor club/all-comers meets (likely mile or 3k w/ some possible club 4x8 legs) January-March

Indoor Goals: 2:08/4:40/9:20

Long-Term Focus: NIRCA Nationals April 4-5- 5000m and/or half marathon

M: 10 x 200m hills w/ 2:00 jog recovery. 2 up, 3 down

T: 7 easy (6:50-7:00)

W: 9 @ 6:15 avg.; first 8 miles progression to comfortably hard effort, last mile easy. Splits: 7:08, 6:42, 6:20, 6:02, 5:54, 5:48, 5:43, 5:36, 7:01. Accidentally progressed too quickly at the beginning, but got in some solid tempo work I suppose.

Th: 7 easy

F: 10 x 300m (52.9 avg) in lane 8 w/ 1:00 jog recovery (~150m) back to the 300m start. Tried to treat this more like a continuous effort, spending most of the recovery time jogging. Strong headwind on the backstretch left me straining more than I would have liked, but found myself recovering quickly on the jogs. 2 up, 2 down

Sat: 7 easy on trails; extremely icy on the roads

Sun: 13.5 @ 6:51

Total: 57

A nasty ice storm hit us on Friday night and caused Saturday's indoor meet to be postponed to next weekend. Was lucky to find this out on Friday afternoon, and could get in a quick track workout before the storm eliminated the possibility of running fast outdoors. Happy with this week's mileage and quality, and looking forward to implementing faster track workouts.

Female, 45, 5'4", 107

PRs 5:25/18:51/38:56/1:02:28/1:24:08/2:57:42

Goal races: Houston Half-Marathon, One City Marathon, Boston Marathon (maybe)

Goal times: 18:30 for 5K, 1:23:xx for half, sub-2:55 for full

Next races: Houston Half (Jan 19); One City Marathon (March 1).

54 miles, 12 "miles" of pool-running, and 3000 yards of swimming

M: yoga and 8 "miles" pool-running.

T: 4 mile warm-up, then attempted workout of 1600, 4x800, 2x400. Pulled plug during 1600 due to left hamstring spasm. Sports massage in afternoon.

W: 6 miles very easy (9:11), DIY yoga, 3 miles very easy (9:32). PT for hammy in afternoon.

Th: 10 miles very easy (9:12), drills, 4 "miles" pool-running, and then lifting, core, rehab exercises.

F: 8 miles very easy (8:54), drills, 4 uphill strides, and then 2000 yards swimming with 2x5x100 yards on 2:00; 1:00 recovery between sets. Split between 1:37-1:39 for each rep. Then rehab and leg strengthwork.

Sa: 10 miles (8:36), drills and four strides, DIY yoga, core, and rehab work.

Su: 12 miles progressive, split as first 3 averaging 8:53, next 5 averaging 7:27, last 4 averaging 6:54. Followed with leg strengthwork and rehab, and 1000 yards recovery swimming.

Not quite the week I had planned. On Tuesday, I was in the first rep of a track workout when my left hamstring spasmed. So I pulled the plug and called it a day. Headed home, iced, and managed to get a sports massage that afternoon (working around the sore sport left by the spasm).

The hamstring was tight, sore, and jumpy the next few days. Fortunately the trouble was in the belly of the hamstring, not the attachment at the hip. The belly of the muscle gets much better bloodflow and heals more quickly than the attachment (plus I had stopped the workout ASAP when I felt it), so I was hopeful that I could get this cleared up with some relative rest.

Over the next few days, I found that as long as I kept the pace slow and stayed on flat pavement it felt OK, so that's what I did. Faster running was a concern, as was too much pool-running, so I was careful with those.

I was also able to see my PT on Wednesday and get dry needled. He also gave me some rehab exercises.

The hammy improved each day, but wasn't quite ready for my scheduled tempo workout on Friday, so I subbed in a hard swimming workout. The swimming workout itself devolved into ugly thrashing, but I got my heart rate up for a total of 20 minutes without stressing the hamstring, so I called it good.

By Saturday, the hammy felt good during strides, so that was my cue to test some faster running on Sunday (we cut back my planned 16 mile long run to 12 to be careful). That went well also - a bit slow, but that was due to unseasonably warm weather and a headwind, not the hamstring, which held up fine. So hopefully I'm in the clear. Just in time to taper for the Houston Half-Marathon next weekend.

[I also want to note, since we're discussing hamstring issues and how to handle them, that my personal take is that you always need to cut back your workload to the point where the tissue can heal. This doesn't necessarily mean that you have to stop running, especially if you catch something early. You just need to reduce things enough that you see improvement. This week, I was comfortable continuing to run (staying slow and on flat ground) because the hamstring was improving each day. If it had stayed the same or gotten worse, that would have been my cue to reduce the load even more, or stop altogether.]

Smoove - good to have you back!

Mn - OFF

Tu - 30min Stationary Bike

Wd - 30min Stationary Bike

Th - 2.5 @ 8:15s

Fr - 4 @ 7:25s

Sa - 2 @ 7:00s (7:50, 6:10)

Su - 5 @ 8:35s w/ wife+ FIL

Ribs feeling good enough to run, time to build a base

-RS

Male, 22, ~128lbs, 5'5"

M - 10mi @ 7:22/mi, 12.4mi total with strides

T - 6x1320yd w/ 3:00 active rest | 3:49, 3:47, 3:47, 3:46, 3:47, 3:45 -10.5mi total with warm up/cd

W - off

Th - 16mi @ 7:19/mi, 18mi total with strides

F - 10mi @ 7:37/mi

Sa - Local 5K in 16:36, 10.5mi total

Su - 10mi @ 7:37/mi

weekly total: 71.6mi

I didn't have a track available for the workout on Tuesday but I did have a local park with 110yd intervals marked so I ran there. I wasn't really feeling it after the first rep but I finished the workout strong after that and felt really proud of it and ready to go into the 5K on Saturday.

As for the 5K on Saturday - I completely blew that one up. I suppose the long run on Thursday could have played a part into it but I normally recover really well from those so I didn't think anything of it. The goal was to be under 16:10 or hopefully under 15:00 but I was way off. The weather that day was pretty garbage too - 75 degrees F and winds of 16mph, gusting up to 21mph.

Splits according to Strava were - 4:59, 5:18, 5:35

Felt strong in the first mile but maybe 400m after that I was battling against the wind the whole time. I went out a little quick but VDOT has me @ 15:48 for 5K and I've been crushing all of my workouts so I don't think that was the issue, just bad conditions overall. I don't think I've ever ran a 5K where one of my miles is slower than my T pace. Oh well, on to the next week!

^ meant to put hopefully under 16:00 instead of hopefully under 15:00 ;)

M - 9 miles, last 2 were 300 on, 500 off. 300s in 48.1, 47.6, 47.1, 44.8.

T - 10+ very easy in the snow.

W - 12 miles with 5x 3,2,1 on, 1 off fartlek. Did this on a treadmill thanks to the aforementioned snow, so the paces don't mean anything. Was a decent 45 minute effort though.

T - off.

F - 8 miles easy to medium.

S - wu/cd + 4x400, 1600, 4x300, 1k, 4x200. This was okay but made it clear I have a lot of work to do from a speed side especially.

66.3, 63.2, 64.3, 64.8 (60 seconds rest)

4:47.0 (3:30 including bathroom)

46.5, 46.8, 46.2, 47.1 (100 jog + standing to 90 seconds rest)

2:56.6 (3:00 rest)

30.3, 29.0, 28.8, 28.0 (90 seconds rest)

S - 16+ mile steady long run. 6:20 avg.

Total: 65ish

Another 6 day week with slightly less volume than I'd have in an ideal world and a few less strides. Still farther away from where I want to be than I expected to be at this point, but hopefully making progress.

Male 51 5'8" 137lbs

PRs

Marathon 2:57:06 Dec 2018

5k 19:00 June 2018

Upcoming Races

April 2020 Boston

Oct. 2020 Chicago

Here are the last two weeks since I missed last week.

Week ending Jan. 5

Mon. 10mi Easy

Tues. 5.9mi Easy

Wed. 12mi as 3 up 3x2T 3 down

Thurs. 5.5mi Easy

Fri. Off Travel

Sat. 2.8mi Hike + travel

Sun. Lots of walking @ WDW

Total 33.5mi

Week ending Jan 12

Mon. Lots of walking @ WDW

Tues. Lots of walking @ WDW

Wed. Lots of walking @ WDW

Thurs. Lots of walking @ WDW

Fri. Off Travel

Sat. 10.8mi Easy

Sun. 15mi as 2up + 2T + 8E + 2T + 1down

Total 25.8mi

The last two weeks were impacted by a trip to Walt Disney World. I packed my running attire but did not do any training while there since I was pretty well worn out after full days in the park. My hip has been bothering me a bit for the past two weeks and I think the time on my feet in the park may have made things a bit worse. I was a bit concerned going into today's long run workout. Oddly enough it seemed to feel a lot better after the run so I hope that is a good sign.

stat - No matter what, I always like what you do in a week. There is always some type of quality, and your long runs are never slow. I know you are a fine miler, but in my view, you will make an excellent marathoner some day.

42M, 5'10 145ish

General Aerobic until I pick a race. Long term goal is eventually Sub 2:45.

Mon - SICK

Tues - SICK

Wed #1 - 45 min @ 7:53 (143 bpm)

Wed #2 - 20 min @ 8:51 (127 bpm)

Thur #1 - 60 min @ 7:34 (146 bpm)

Thur #2 - 30 min @ 7:53 (135 bpm)

Fri #1 - 60 min @ 7:52 (141 bpm)

Fri #2 - 30 min @ 7:46 (135 bpm)

Sat - 120 min @ 7:42 (150 bpm)

Sun - 50 min @ 7:41 (135 bpm)

Weekly Totals

Miles: 53.7 Miles

Duration: 6:59

Elevation Gain: 0 ft

34/M, 6-2, 175

Goal Race: Boston Marathon

Mon - 6 mi EZ

Tues - 5 x 1K @ HM (3:16-20), 3 x 1K @ 10K (3:10)

Wed - 6 mi EZ

Thurs - 10.5 mi @ 7:02/mi w/ 381 ft gain

Fri - 3 x 1.5 mi @ HM (8:07, 7:58, 7:58)

Sat - 6 mi EZ

Sun - 16 mi progression (7:16-5:39), 1 mi CD, 601 ft gain

26 miles and 2.5 hrs of cycling for the week.

Stone - Nice week, good to maintain fitness until you have something to chase.

JQ - Nice 100 mile week. Keep putting that kind of volume and quality in and the results will keep coming.

OR - I'm still in favor of using an abundance of caution with that pain. I also agree with RRR. I think very localized pain can often be more symptomatic of a stress fracture type injury as opposed to something muscular. Worth getting checked anyway.

HHW - Nice week. Keeping the volume up with that cross training should help you transition back into full training relatively seamlessly.

Lanc - Good stuff man. Definitely enough there to maintain fitness.

GFMAH - Good stuff, glad to see consistent progress for you.

GB - Consistent long runs are a huge key to building that fitness back up. Definitely a good thing to focus on.

GT - Good to see you back to putting work in. Fitness will come back sooner than you expect, I think.

Pewow - Another good week of getting more work in, especially given the weather out there.

Sub 6:00 - Hard to really be out of shape after a 90+ mile week. Good stuff, man!

GNR1 - Really good stuff. Definitely interested to see what you can do on the track.

AJ - Great racing. Congrats on the PR. Should make 5k pace feel a lot smoother in a few weeks too.

IR - Solid week of work. Strength plus speed is a good combo of workouts early on in track.

DW - Good luck in Houston

Moke- Wind is brutal. Unlike a hill, it never ends.

JB - Keep grinding

Male, 51 yo, 5’7”, 129 lbs

Goals: Jan 19 - Standard Chartered Marathon Taipei - sub 3:10

You can do a lot in a lifetime

If you don't burn out too fast

You can make the most of the distance

First you need endurance

First you've got to last!

-- Neil Peart from Marathon

Who knows what race day will bring, but I’m feeling really fit. My “E” runs are off the charts. My Friday night commute home was the fastest ever on that route, running relaxed. 8 hours later, my commute to work the next morning was, again, my fastest ever for that route, again, running relaxed. I’ve never “peaked” before, but this must be what it feels like. I like it.

That's the fitness part, but I'm still dealing with the other lower body issues, especially after workouts. I'm doing my best to coax all of the moving parts into a semblance of alignment. I don't really care if I can't run for weeks after the race, as long as the wheels can provide what the engine needs on race day.

Race Plan: Just under 4:30/km for a 3:10ish finish

I have some other "goals" for extenuating circumstances (both positive and negative), but I'll hold onto those for now.

Best of success, Coach Jeff. If you want to get under 3:10, then make sure you start out at slower than 3:10 pace. Let the race come to you and finish fast...the only way to fly...patience...confidence.

M45 5'6 128

PR: 16:29 5K(2019), 33:50 10K(2019), 1:15:14 (2019), 2:42:22 (2018)

Next Races: London Marathon April 2020, possibly some tuneup local half marathon races before

Mon: AM Treadmill Easy 2@7:33

PM Treadmill Easy 8@7:04

Tue: AM Road Easy 6@7:42

PM Treadmill Speed 8x600/300 Rec (1:53, 1:53, 1:52, 1:51, 1:50, 1:49, 1:48, 1:44), 0.5 WU@6:41, 0.5 CD@6:02, Treadmill Easy 4@7:43

Wed: AM Orange Theory Treadmill 4.3@5:37

PM Easy Road 6.8@7:54

Thu: AM Treadmill Tempo 8 Progression(5:51, 5:49. 5:47, 5:42, 5:38, 5:32, 5:25, 5:02), 0.5 WU@7:01, 0.5 CD@6:30

PM Treadmill Easy 3.1@8:06

Fri: PM Easy 4@7:08, Orange Theory Treadmill 4.8@5:47, Treadmill Easy 2.5@7:32

Sat: AM Group Long Run Road 19.3@6:39

Sun: AM Road Easy 4.2@7:57

PM Treadmill Recovery 4.3@8:14

Weekly total: 88.1 miles, 10:09

Comments coming later..