Road Racing and Training Thread - Week Ending 2/23

Sub 6:00 wrote:

GB - meow that’s a lot of miles.

Hang on, let me convert it to kilomeowters.

Coach Jeff: Welcome back. Good to see something coming up on the calendar.

HHW: Tough one, but congratulations none the less. Crazy progress. Could see some more big progress going to shorter races as you mention. FWIW, I think you held it together very well. In my first one, I hit the half on target and then did a 30 minute positive split.

going faster miles an hour wrote:

stat: Looks like you’re turning the intensity up a little. Last set of Thursday 200s just a bit quicker than they’ve been? And interesting design with the 400s: sets progressive, third rep of each set the quickest – setting things up to deal with a little more fatigue in the final rep?

Yeah, the 200s are getting a little quicker. Tough to tell how much of that is thanks to getting inside for them now. The trade off has been 6:15 A.M. workouts which aren't my strong suit, so let's say those 2 factors offset and I actually am getting more fit. I like that narrative better anyway.

I've been a fan of that 400s workout for a while for a couple reasons. I like having to deal with fatigue the last rep. I think that's tough to effectively simulate in workouts while also getting a good volume in a lot of times, and this workout does a good job of that. I also like mentally having to dig in the 3rd rep which is pretty analogous to the 3rd lap of a mile. First rep is automatic, second one you feel a little fatigued but not too bad usually, but the third one is always tough. Make it a faster one and it just amplifies that a little. Then you deal with the fatigue while staying on target the last rep, which is a pretty good approximation of the last lap in a good mile.

Stone - LOTS of miles in singles. Brilliant!

JQ - These team summits are freaking draining. I have organized a few over the last few years - stressful times.

GT - Good idea to step back. Love the LRC 5 x 18 staple in there :)

Pappy - Nice buildup oof mileage and solid racing.

OR - Awesome, fast miles!

GB - I generally don't have anything on me for my long runs too. I just ask from my training partner when I crash and get a huge bump from any gel that I take.

NPurdy - Great range in your PR's.

GFMAH - Solid hill reps..and love the proverb.

Stat - Impressive training!

Sub 6 - Hope the ankle gets better soon

Pewow - Tough racing!

RunnerSam - Nice racing. So much elevation gain in last 3 miles of a race is tough.

SI - We have the same 2 marathons lined up for this year :).

RGM - Nice ramp back into training. The only time I did hot yoga, nearly passed out at the 50 min mark and had to go out of the room. Nice that you had a solid experience

HHW - Congrats on finishing your first marathon. You will get the marathon right soon enough. Very few get it right their first time.

BHV - Lots of treadmill time.

Drcrusher - On your Thursday workout, I don't think you lose any fitness by not splitting the tempo. Personally, I would take the recovery as I generally don't like extended tempos.

TL - Hope you kick the cold to the curb soon

RRR - Keep posting. Congrats on hitting the big sales.

Tyler - Love that you have the undisturbed undulating terrain for your Sunday run. For me, I either have to go on flat for miles..or go up for 4-5 miles and then come down. Not many rolling hills to speak of.

Smoove - Good that you have a goal 5K now. I am with SC in saying that you will go sub 6 minute pace.

going faster miles an hour wrote:

Coach Jeff: In all honesty, it's been a pretty mild winter here, so I really can't complain (and there are actually a lot of things I like about winter running). Plus, I remember that story about the many-banded krait, and that would be a hard no from me.

About building strength and power with an eye to durability: hills, if the groin and knee are up to it?

Wow. That's exactly what I did today! 5 x 2 minutes uphill at 3-5k pace. The groin appreciates the shorter stride and the knee is happy as long as we don't change directions. Uphill in a straight line is on the menu.

To all of those who observe it here, Happy Ash Wednesday!...and have a great Lent, filled with peace, renewal, and strong training.

Thanks for the responses. I'll be sporting the new hat tonight at the club run.

Coccon: Great week!!! 92.2 or 100 really no difference besides a number. Plans are meant to be broken anyways. Good luck in the half.

mdubs wrote:

BHViking - what HRM do you use? I just switched to the polar oh1 and I like it much better and have had fewer issues with weirdness than my old chest strap

Hey mdubs,

I use the Scosche Rhythm+. DC Rainmaker did some comparison benchmarks between the Polar oh1 and Scosche Rhythm+ and they appeared to track nearly identically. Because of this, I was considering getting the Polar if I can't figure out what is going on with the Rhythm+.

I'll share some detail in the off chance that someone reading this may have the same device and same issue. When it faults it always goes to 83-85 bpm and holds there for anywhere from 10 minutes to the duration of the run. It's quite obvious looking at the graph exactly when the fault started and stopped since it looks like a cliff on each side with a flat valley.

I suspect that the problem is either a bug in the firmware or it's coded to default to an output of 84 bpm if it loses track of the pulse. I've tried wearing the device in every possible location on my upper arm and forearm and it doesn't seem to make a difference. I did just discuss this with Scosche tech support and discovered that there is a way to do a firmware update with an app. I did the update so I guess we'll see what happens now.

Stone - nice job with the 100 miles, even more impressive with the quality of those workouts

Stone pt2 - I tried to be coach once for the wife (gf at the time), it didn’t take too long to discover that it wouldn’t work. I now hold more of an advisory role as well.

Jot Quill - no worries about the mia, sounds like you have a lot going on, good job getting in the miles even with it

pappy - 50 mile week, the comeback is going well

outsiderunner - nice to see the 6 day week back, what kind of elevation gain/loss do you have on a regular run? (in either ft gain per mile or per week)

Guy Broman - looks like you've laid a pretty nice base down

npurdy1112 - gj getting back to running after the surgery, sounds like quite a rough job/career to run competitively around

highhoppingworm - sorry about the hamstring, impressive turn around on lifestyle in the last year, keep at it

BHViking - nice job getting the doubles in and a very strong weekend.

drcrusher - one of the benefits of splitting a tempo is being able to do the same pace for a longer distance, or do a faster pace for the same distance. The cold does mess with things, I think your choice was a wise one (since it seems the benefits of a split tempo wouldnt have been possible).

Tyler_Runs_Lifts - I like the quote, nice job with the MP Tempo and 2mi reps

TheProcess - Welcome to the thread, good moving with continuing training right after graduation, If the mental break wasn’t needed than itll be easier to stay in the routine.

PowSloke - solid LR to finish up the week, even if the quality wasn’t quite there. Enjoy the downweek

AJ - another week with high volume and quick, specific workouts.

LancRunner - solid week even with the travel, your workouts were good, we will have to transition to some longer intervals/workouts soon

Coach Jeff ROC - although Ive been following on strava its nice to see you back

happyrunner32 - what is the height associated with that weight? Any race goals?

darkwave - best of luck with the marathon this Sunday, don’t let the trails get you all amped up a day early

@ my 5 mile race, start finish was in the ~same place so the 275ft of gain in the last half was in response to the 275ft drop in the first two miles (if that wasn’t obvious, I never know how to word elevation)

Does anybody know what I depleted through running that would cause either dizzyness or vertigo, have been experiencing it off and on since Sunday midday. My Sunday evening 3 miler at 8:30 pace my watch gave my HR in the 160s. Since mid day Monday it has just been when Im laying down and switching sides/moving my head that everything starts spinning. Things I googled included Vitamin B12, low blood pressure or sugar. also bought a carbon monoxide alarm so its not that

RunnerSam wrote:

Does anybody know what I depleted through running that would cause either dizzyness or vertigo, have been experiencing it off and on since Sunday midday. My Sunday evening 3 miler at 8:30 pace my watch gave my HR in the 160s. Since mid day Monday it has just been when Im laying down and switching sides/moving my head that everything starts spinning. Things I googled included Vitamin B12, low blood pressure or sugar. also bought a carbon monoxide alarm so its not that

You may not have done anything in the race; it might have been something else that you did that was not unusual but triggered it. A few years ago I got intense vertigo simply by turning over in bed. Doctor termed it "benign paroxysmal positional vertigo". Crystals in your inner ear get out of whack and disrupt your sense of balance/equilibrium. For me, I had a bad case; it was severe for three or four days, then gradually tapered off; my doctor gave me a diagram of some maneuvers (Google "Epley maneuvers") to do with my head to try to get the crystals to move back into place. It took some time (weeks) to go away completely and even when normal life was ok again, lying down on one particular side could trigger it briefly. I am now so very careful when I turn my head, particularly while lying down, because I never ever want that to happen again.

I get lightheaded/dizzy when I’m running a lot and not eating enough.

Pappy wrote:

Thanks for the responses. I'll be sporting the new hat tonight at the club run.

Coccon: Great week!!! 92.2 or 100 really no difference besides a number. Plans are meant to be broken anyways. Good luck in the half.

Headband>Hats

runrincerepeat wrote:

Pappy wrote:

Thanks for the responses. I'll be sporting the new hat tonight at the club run.

Coccon: Great week!!! 92.2 or 100 really no difference besides a number. Plans are meant to be broken anyways. Good luck in the half.

Headband>Hats

#SweatbandGang unite!

Hats>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Headbands

20 something with 20+mph wind gusts. Or I'd be wearing a Junk headband.

How does a hat keep the wind out your ears ?! Riddle me that.

I’d rather have exposed ears than an exposed bald spot.

runrincerepeat wrote:

How does a hat keep the wind out your ears ?! Riddle me that.

Someone has to get on a step ladder to see your bald spot fool ... and face it... its not really " a bald spot" you just bald

RS - I have never charted the elevation gain/loss. My runs essentially boil down to two types...”in the hills” or around town. Runs in the hills are based upon a main loop of rollers and a few other bigger hills, such as the “little mountain” or “the hump.” All I know is that both of those are challenging enough for me...and slow me down significantly by the time I get to the top. The main climb on each is about 1/2-mile in length. Aside from my neighborhood runs (usually short and fast), my other main routes are around town, and the challenge there consists of a long, gradual incline of about 1.25 or 1.5 miles, depending upon what route I select. Those can get old and tiring, too, just because of the length of the incline and especially if there is a wind in my face.

I live in a hilly area, and cannot avoid hills. It is not Colorado, or Flagstaff, or Mammoth Lakes, but is pretty much constant hills (of some type) around here. When I run a truly flat course, I REALLY notice the difference. It is obvious...and refreshing. I feel like I am sinking my teeth in.

I think Sub-6:00 said a few months ago that nowhere is truly flat, even in his DC environs. He is absolutely right. I have run so many hills that I can always discern an incline or decline, even if it is slight.

There is no better mental preparation than roller after roller or long gradual inclines, day after day.

going faster miles an hour wrote:

Sub 6: Hope the foot is heading in the right direction. Guessing from the 6400m that the tempo was on the track? How did it respond to all those turns?

Not terribly! Right turns are much worse than left, so the standard counterclockwise is good, and it’s the sharp turns that really aggravate it. I’d probably be worse off trying to tempo on the bike trail.