Road Racing & Training Thread: Week Ending 2/19/2023

AFF - Plenty of mileage there. 10 seconds per mile feels like a small delta between HMP and MP.

NaR - Looks like a fun track meet.

RS - Solid week. Starting to string those together now.

JC - Good luck this weekend.

BhV - Good volume. Should be maintaining more than enough fitness to step back into workouts pretty smoothly when the time comes.

TL - Decent week, I think you would benefit from a little more volume at goal pace in your workouts.

Sub 6 - Really solid week and workouts.

SK - Solid first few quality sessions getting back into things.

DW - Solid week.

HHW - Really nice workout Wednesday. Sub-5 on the close is legit.

Pewow - Good stuff continuing the streak.

B&M - Was waiting for you to get around to posting. Really solid race. Forgot that track is a 300 which makes such a big difference over those longer distances. Way to take advantage and throw down

Statfanatic: Thanks, and nice speed session for you. Still on the MD grind?

Darkwave: Hills pay the bills, at least in base/GPP. Great volume of aerobic work for you. Do you ever plan to reduce your total training hours and put a bit of time into more explosive work? I don't know your training history well, but I've seen many athletes at all ages make big jumps by working in plyos, weights, and sprints. Just a thought.

Notarobot: Crazy indoor meet. I would recommend some seriously easy jogging and maybe a few walks for at least two or three days until the soreness abates.

Averageforfun: Great volume, sub-2:45 looks in the cards.

Pewow: I would've taken full rec on the hills if they were true hill sprints. Probably should've gone for at least 1min anyways as 400-800m effort is truly taxing and it's early yet. Great mile and cross training. Do you feel like the skate skiing has a positive effect on your running? I had wanted to get into it this winter, but we've had terrible snow conditions and I didn't feel like dropping 4 figures on the equipment yet.

Beersandmiles: Pretty epic to run your first sub-15 as a 14:37 during a buildup during a week in which you were sick. Is Project 13.1 in Upstate NY or am I thinking of a different race? I'll be spectating Boston.

Highhoppingworm: Altitude sucks. I spent too long training at 6-7,000 ft and it probably had a negative effect on my overall running, at least my mental approach. I wish I could talk you into running the 800/1,500 competitively. You clearly have a lot of speed and MD talent. But I suppose it's the same as you trying to talk me into the marathon.

Jecht: Nice base-building week.

Sub-6:00: Awesome tempos. What's the plan/goal for the half? Sub-70?

Allen1959: Good week, have you incorporated cross-training much before?

Thoughtsleader: Solid threshold workout.

BHViking: Great steady mileage.

Jcanon: Good luck in the HM.

RunnerSam: Looking forward to seeing how Boston goes.

It's definitely helpful, but learning to XC ski is a big time commitment if you just want to use it as cross training. Fantastic as a hobby on it's own and a way to enjoy winter that also helps running. Classic skiing is easier to get to the point where you can move around without falling but skate skiing is easier to become proficient at.

You should be able to entry level XC ski gear for ~$500 (less used), which is cheaper than a low end road bike. No advantage to getting higher end stuff when you're just starting out.

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Definitely feeling that indoor track a bit early into this week. Man those turns are brutal lol.

Project 13.1 is like 40 minutes north of NYC.

Nice! Looks like we'll have a couple people from this group at Boston.

Thanks Stat. Do you mean HM goal pace? I’ve been at 4 miles workout length or thereabouts though I’d say the effort is a little more like HMG-10. I do think next week i will do 2x2.5T in the race shoes on the roads because I haven’t worn them since May.

Yeah, HM goal pace or in the vicinity. 1:23 is pretty much right on 6:20 pace and your last two workouts have averaged 6:15s so it's not so much the pace I'm referring to, but the volume. 4-5 miles of quality is on the low end if you're prepping for a half and a full. I think you'd at least want to get up to 3x 2 mile or 7-8x mile type workouts as your key sessions to ensure you're strong enough to hold 6:20s in the back half of the half.

I've done 2x3 mile @ HMP w/ a mile float and have used 3x 2mile w/ float recovery as peak workouts for half marathon. The former was fun for the first rep, brutal through the wind in the second lol.

Thanks guys. Tempo runs have always been a weakness for me, though I am doing more of this work with less rest than ever before. And it hasn't been so bad. I don't know if I'll get all the way to 7-8 miles of work but I'll try getting more into the 5-6 range and slowing down some of the speeds.

It sounds like the classic 4-5 mile tempos (20-30 min) are useful for 10k (6.2 miles) but not beyond that. The workout that worked for me for my good '19 and '21 marathons was 10 EZ and 10 @MP as a staple, or something like 12-14 EZ and then progressing to HMP by Mile 18-22 (I did one 22-miler that ended on a hill in Worthington lol). I need time to warm up the legs so progression runs work for me.

Hansons, for instance, had runners doing 6-10 at GMP throughout the basic plan, from Week 4 onward and lots of 3x2/2x3 miles with rest, plus ladders and lots of track work.