Good week overall. Happy with both workouts. Forced day off Saturday but that’s ok.
M - am) 10 @ 7:16, pm) 3 @ 7:55
T - 12.25 w/ 5x1600 on/400 off. 5:27/93/5:25/94/5:23/90/5:27/93/5:19/92. 34:47 10k.
W - am) 8 @ 7:40, pm) 5 @ 7:57
Th - 9 @ 8:45. Hilly.
Fr - am) 10 @ 7:30, pm) 3 @ 7:33
Sa - Off (cold)
Su - 22.37 @ 6:26 overall. Spedding Fartlek. 4 up + 10’ @ 90% then 5’/1’/2’/4’/1’/2’/5’/1’/2’/4’/1’/2’/5 then 10’@ 90%. The middle segments all at marathon pace or faster with 5’ @ 90% between each one. Felt good. Basically 6:30 on the 90% portions and 6’ down to 5:25 or so on the speedier portions.
Total - 83 miles in 6 days
M63, 5'11", 191 lbs
Age 23: 16:05, 2:40:30
Age 43: 17:10, 2:56:03
Age 58: 18:58, 3:07:23
May 2022, age 62: 3:44:06
I've been away from the thread for a while, but caught up over coffee this morning. Wow, a lot of great racing since mid-November! A shout out particularly to notarobot for the HUGE 5K PR. Super impressive.
Meanwhile, I probably tried to return too soon after cancer surgery, and had to back off for a while. Then apparently slipped into a cycle of depression: lethargy, procrastination, over-eating. A few years ago I had made peace with my knee situation -- constant pain and a three-run weekly limit -- but all the added health issues became a bit overwheming.
Now at my heaviest lifetime weight, l'm starting over yet again. Ha!
Trite to say, but, truly, enjoy your health, fitness and youth! Life passes so quickly. This year marks the 50th anniversary of my freshman XC season, and it still seems like yesterday.
JANUARY 18 - FEBRUARY 5, 2023
1/18 4.0 miles (10:54/mi out, 9:46/mi back)
01/20 4.0 miles (11:05/mi out, 10:30/mi back)
1/22 2.0 miles (11:05, 9:19)
1/24 4.0 miles (10:35/mi out, 9:37/mi back)
1/26 4.0 miles (10:41 10:33, 9:38, 9:16)
1/28 4.0 miles (11:42, 10:59, 9:55, 8:46)
1/30 6 min on bike trainer
1/31 4.0 miles (11:16, 10:48, 10:31, 9:24)
2/01 15 min on bike trainer
2/02 4.0 miles (11:07, 10:48, 10:15, 9:01)
2/03 20 min on bike trainer
2/04 20 min on bike trainer
2/05 4.0 miles (11:06, 10:02, 10:11, 8:26)
After having to postpone for three consecutive years, my brother and I are again planning an "ancestral bicycle tour" to family history sites this summer -- Ithaca NY, Corning NY, Tioga PA. Having a specific fitness goal helps.
Run well!
Allen - it is good to see you posting again - welcome back!
HHW - nice week. I think taking Saturday off was understandable. I need to look up "Spedding fartlek" to see what that one is about. I'm assuming it's Charlie Spedding. BTW, his autobiography "From Last to First" is a good read.
Sub-6:00 - I went ahead and signed up for RNR DC 5K. If you run the half, I'll finish the 5K and then hang around to cheer for you.
Female, 48, 5'4", 108
PRs 5:25/18:51/38:56/1:02:28/1:24:08/2:57:42
Recent best times: 5K in 21:08, 15K in 66:14, half-marathon in 1:34:05, Marathon in 3:24:40
52 miles running, 3 hours pool-running, and ~1500 yards swimming.
M: 90 minutes pool-running.
T: 10 miles, including a track workout of 400, 800, 2x1200, 800, 3x400 in 1:43, 3:31, 5:10, 5:10, 3:22, 1:37, 1:38, 1:39. Recoveries between 1:x and 1:3x for the 400s; recoveries between 2:0x and 3:1x after the 800s and 1200s. Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming.
W: 10 miles very easy (9:34) on treadmill plus upper body weights/core.
Th: 90 minutes pool-running and streaming yoga.
F: 10 miles, including a 6400m tempo in 28:54 (7:22/7:13/7:09/7:10); followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming.
Sa: 10 miles easy (9:34) on treadmill plus upper body weights/core.
Su: 12 miles, including 8 Iwo Jima hills (2:00 powerful up a 3% incline, then 90 second jog; 40 second downhill stride and then 60 second jog to bottom). Odd hill repeats (1,3,5,7) focused on knee lift and bouncy stride; even hill repeats focused on stride extension. Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 meters recovery swimming.
First full week of track workouts. My gait is feeling smoother and more stable. Not 100%, but 85% of where I want to be. I do feel like I've lost fitness, and so some of my work will be regaining that.
Weather permitting, I'm going to hop into a low key 5K next Saturday.
M38, 5’10”, low 160s
Road bests | 2023
5k 15:20 (2006) | .
10k - 31:15 (2008) | .
10M - 51:52 (2009) | .
Half - 1:09:01 (2009) | .
Full - 2:25:14 (2019) | .
Mo: 8 @ 7:11
Tu: 8 @ 6:37
We: 8 @ 6:49
Th: 8 @ 6:58, Arboretum hills
Fr: 5 @ 7:27
Sa: 15 @ 6:56
Su: 4 @ 7:15
Total: 56 miles
Allen - Best wishes on the recovery and reboot. This summer will mark 25 years since I went out for 9th grade XC (yikes).
beers and miles - Congrats on the 3k PR. When I was running similar times, sub-15 was no problem, and with marathon strength, you should be good. Best of luck on your attempt.
darkwave - Still need to sign up, but planning on the half. We can sort out trying to link up as it gets closer.
Male, 29, 6’4”, 150 lbs
Goals: Sub 2:40 Boston
Mn - AM: 3.5 @ 8:20s, PM: 12 @ 7:45s
Tu - 10 with 5 mile @ 6:10s with 80s rec after mile 4
Wd - 9 @ 7:50s
Th - 10 with 12x30s hill reps
Fr - 8.5 @ 8:00s
Sa - 8 @ 8:05s
Su - 20.25 @ 7:20s, last 6 under 7
Total - 81
Male, 33
PRs: 2:14, 4:51, 16:46, 36:17, 1:19:48
M - Off
T - 1.4 up, 200, 400, 600, 800, 600, 400, 200 (36, 76, 2:01, 2:40, 2:01, 76, 36) with 400 jog recoveries (except for a 200 jog after the first 200), 2.1 down
W - 12.5 @ 8:09
Th - 5.4 @ 8:03 with 8 strides
F - 8.0 @ 9:00 on the treadmill
Sa - 7.7 @ 8:22
Su - 2.0 up, 6 x 3 minutes hard uphill (6:03-6:08 pace, ~1.3% grade) with 2 minutes downhill jog recovery, 4.0 down
Weekly Total: 51 miles
YTD Total: 220 miles
Workouts this week were so-so, but it's February so that's okay.
Kind of a mediocre week again but both workouts were in pretty dang cold conditions, so it wasn't quite as bad as it felt I guess.
M - 9+ easy with 5,4,3x 200. Off 45, 60, and 75 seconds within sets respectively, 3 minutes between sets.
31.1, 31.7, 30.7, 31.3, 30.9
29.6, 30.0, 29.4, 29.8
28.6, 28.2, 25.9
T - 8+ with 1600, 4x400, 4x300, 4x200. Off 90 seconds within sets and 3 min between sets.
5:03
63.1, 63.2, 62.9, 62.2
46.5, 45.3, 46.2, 45.2
29.9, 29.7, 29.0, 28.5
W - 8+ easy
T - Off
F - 7 easy + 5 easy.
S - 9+ with 5 mile tempo averaging 5:30. Cold and plenty of elevation change so still a decent effort.
S - 13 medium. Got in a rhythm and just rolled with it.
I saw your run on strava. Very impressed, especially since it was in that cold in your area and incredibly early in the morning.
Male, 26, 5’9", 129lbs
PRs: 5k 17:47 (2022), 10km 38:27, Half Marathon: 1:17:53 (2021), Marathon: 2:45:27 (2022)
Next Races: Newport News Half Marathon, Boston Marathon, Fall Ultra
Future Goals: Sub 2:45 Marathon, Sub 1:17 HM, Sub 17:30 5k, Sub 5:00 Mile
Mileage: 91
Wednesday on the track and Saturday on the treadmill. Another week but felt very beat up for some reason on Sunday morning, was told easy-mod and could cap it at 6:40 pace but my body did not want to move that day. Wednesday went well and felt pretty in control, no troubles breathing just getting the legs to move fast enough. Saturday went well and practiced with 2 gels, Sunday took 3.
Mondays I now hike, bike, or row with a girl a little bit for fun. Nothing strenuous just a fun date night before hanging out if we're not working that evening.
Signed up for the Newport News Half in March, goal is 6:00 pace or around 1:18. Supposed to be a fast course so that is exciting.
Monday - Rest
Tuesday - PM Run: 12 Miles 7:35
Wednesday - AM Run: 6 Miles - 7:48, PM Workout:10.78 Miles = 3.1 up - 7:20, 4.75 Miles = 8min (5:56 --> 6:02) - 6min (5:52 --> 5:38) - 4min (5:45) - 2min (5:23) - 1min (5:08) w/ 2 min recovery (7:42, 7:53, 7:48, 7:54, 8:12) , 3 down - 7:28
Thursday - Am Run: 8 Miles - 7:56, PM Run: 10 Miles - 7:29
Friday - AM Run: 10 Miles - 8:07
Saturday - AM Workout:14 Miles = 3 Up - 7:35, 8 Miles - 6:17 = 4 x 1 (6:00-5:49) / 1 (6:40-6:30), 3 Down - 7:25
PM Run - 5 Miles - 8:05
Sunday - AM Long Run - 18 Miles - 7:30
Nothing interesting to see here this week. No workouts other than running the last stretch (about 1/3+ mile) comfortably fast (6:01 avg pace) at the end of the long run. Everything else was just comfortable aerobic running. Weekday runs were on the treadmill and Friday through Sunday (super windy) were outside.
Mon - 60 min
Tue - 90 min
Wed - 60 min
Thurs - 90 min
Fri - 60 min
Sat - Long Run in 2:17 - 18.13 miles - 7:33 pace (146 bpm)
Sun - 70 min
Total Miles - 74.7
Total Duration - 9:27
Avg Mile Pace - 7:36
Running Goal: Continue sub5 mile streak in 2023 (currently 12, 2022 was 4:51)
Next Race: 5/10km skate XC skiing Tuesday
Things are going great on the skiing front. Had first two races of the year which both went well. On the running front having some runner's knee flare up. Since spraining my left ankle badly this fall I've had my L hamstring, L achilles, and L knee now flare up. Clearly compensating in some way.
M: 45min classic skiing + strength*
T: 60min skate skiing w 10k race + strength
W: 30min run + Ext. Drills** + strength
Th: 60min classic skiing + strength
F: off
S: 60min snow shoeing
S: 111min skate skiing w 31k race
Run Total - 30minutes (4 Badger miles***)
*Easy strength style - 2x(15 KB swings, 5x1 arm KB press, 10x TRX pike), 2x(spectrum lateral lunge, DB row)
**Extensive drills - 1x40m Fwd skip, Bk skip, L/R Shuffle, skip-skip-lunge, Bk reaching walk, L/R carioca, 2x30m Skip distance, bent leg bound, 2x20m A march, A skip, A double skip, A triple stick, A run, ankle dribble, calf dribble, knee dribble, dribble rise, dribble fall, 2-4 ~80m strides. Takes me ~20 minutes. Idea is to supplement my low volume running with lots of "thoughtful" foot contacts to prepare for future running.
*** Using 7:30 pace for easy math
10km Skate XC Ski Race Report:
Had the first weekly Tuesday Night race of 2023 because we finally had enough snow! Was 2F so super cold, dry air and snow. Fortunately it wasn't that windy (XC skiers are a weird bunch, everyone was talking about how it wasn't that bad out for 2F).
Really happy with how executed. It's a 2 lap course and I started out patiently. I passed ~6 folks on the first lap and was only passed by 2, 1 of whom I re-passed 1k later. I passed another person on the second lap with ~4k to go and then was by myself trying to hammer to the finish line. Ended up 5th/21 in 38:01. Wasn't fast conditions with the cold but I was only 3:40 back from first which might be the closest I've ever finished towards the front in one of these. So much fun and super thankful for the volunteers who put on a race on such a cold night.
Also, if you think indoor track post race coughing is bad try racing in 2F, LOL.
31km City of Lakes Loppet Skate XC Ski Race Report:
City of Lakes Loppet in Minneapolis was an incredible course. Uses a chain of lakes to connect different trail systems and parks for an "urban ski adventure". Course includes going through a tunnel, up an overpass, and several road crossings that they shovel show across. Was nearly perfect weather, in the low 20s, sunny, and winds 5-10mph. My strava had ~1400ft of elevation, most of which was from 7-15k and 22k-finish. This was the biggest XC ski race I've ever done with ~600 in the 31k and about another 400 in the shorter races (10 and 20k).
I started in the last wave (#3) because I didn't have any previous results. First ~7k are almost perfectly flat lake skiing so I tried to move up without using energy, and stay out of the wind if I could. After the first aid station at 7k we entered the first major climbing sections and started hitting the back of wave 2 that started 5min ahead. Wasn't room to pass on a lot of the sections so just sat in a train of 4-5 folks trying to move up and tell myself that I could use the energy I was saving now at the end. Came through the 15k aid station in 55min and felt good.
Things started to open up after 15k and some nice rolling sections where I could start to work the up hills and not have to snowplow on the downhills. I'd been working through a lot the race with one other guy and at about 18k he said he'd take over on the front. He was hammering and dropped me within 30-seconds. The last 9k are the hilliest of the course and according to my GPS I was hitting over 25mph on many of the downhills. Really glad I grabbed some Gatorade at the 5k to go aid station because the last 2-3k I was running on fumes. Felt like my breathing would recover on the downhills but my quads were screaming on the ups.
This was such a fun race, a cool course, and I feel like I executed about as well as I could have. Ended up in 1:51:16 (was expecting 1:45-2:00 depending on conditions) and 215/590 for place.
M34, 5’10” 160
Past year SBs: 4:48 (5th Ave), 17:51 (Chilmark 5K), 3:10:35 (MV Marathon)
Goal: NYC Qualifier Half (Sub 1:23 at Tobacco Road Half), BQ (Jersey City Marathon)
Highest mileage week for me for a while though juiced up by two long runs.
M: 15.1 @ 7:24 running to Riverside Park and with Central Park Loop (minus Harlem Hills) with 3.89 uptempo upon re-entry into the park at 6:31 pace
TU: 6.6R @ 8:28 (Randall’s Island/East River)
W: 6.5M @ 7:47 (Bridle)
TH: 7.3 ft. 4 x mile w/ 75” rest @ 6:03.7, 6:00, 6:02 and 6:07.7. Ran on upper res mid-day. Had to dodge some walkers especially on the last one. Faster than my last 2x2 mile workout though expected with more rest.
F: 6.5R @ 8:24
SA: 5.1 @ 8:43 back home in Mass. Brutally cold, but wanted to get out there. I think it was 11 degrees out there. Never really tried to up speed because was worried about pulling a muscle.
SU: 16.2 @ 7:22 with Boston Tracksmith crew. No real dramatic changes in pace though we had a couple 7:0x miles early on that I noticed. Heart rate stayed low (avg. 140) on flat route with more stops than I’d usually take. This was easier than Monday.
Overall: 63.3 miles, 8:10, 1359’ Elevation Gain.
Workout on Wednesday likely. Might do 5x1200 with 1’ rest.
HHW - Very nice week overall. That mile repeats workout is nice.
DW - Nice full week, checked all the boxes you could hope to in a week of training. Gotta love a good track ladder workout too.
Sub 6 - Nice consistent week.
RS - Solid week, looks like the momentum for Boston is moving the right direction now.
NAR - That's still a solid week.
AFF - Good volume for 6 days, you're gonna feel tired some days at that level.
BHV - Solid volume even if the intensity stayed pretty low. Gotta have those weeks every now and then.
TL - Decent week, tough weekend for running hard for sure.
HHW - Great workouts
Allen - Great to hear from you. I just "re-joined" a couple of weeks ago. You're running more than I am currently!
darkwave - Nice week and big volume as always. Good luck on the 5k
sub 6 - consistent week
RS - Solid week and good to see workouts starting up
notarobot - I like the ladder workout
stat - Any reason for the back to back workouts Mon/Tue?
AFF - Nice cut-down fartlek. Always a favorite of mine
BHV - It's been said many times before, but not way I could do that much treadmill running
TL - Nice mile repeats
pewow wrote:
HHW - Great workouts
Allen - Great to hear from you. I just "re-joined" a couple of weeks ago. You're running more than I am currently!
darkwave - Nice week and big volume as always. Good luck on the 5k
sub 6 - consistent week
RS - Solid week and good to see workouts starting up
notarobot - I like the ladder workout
stat - Any reason for the back to back workouts Mon/Tue?
AFF - Nice cut-down fartlek. Always a favorite of mine
BHV - It's been said many times before, but not way I could do that much treadmill running
TL - Nice mile repeats
Haha, yeah. A lot of people can't do it. I just tell myself that running outside would be far worse. It's actually pretty rare that I run on the treadmill when the conditions outside aren't terrible. If conditions outside are free of snow/ice/extreme temperatures, I'm definitely going outside.
The treadmill is very strange. Here are some perceptions along with data that I've collected:
- The treadmill feels slightly more difficult at the same speed as outside. However, my heart rate at equivalent paces is lower by 5-10 bpm on the treadmill despite feeling slightly harder. (heart rate is likely lower due to no air resistance?)
- Stryd power on the treadmill is lower at equivalent pace to outside probably due to 0 wind/air resistance. However, my Power to HR ratio (W/HR) is nearly equivalent to outdoor running. (Generally speaking my day to day rolling averages of W/HR are a good indicator of whether or not my aerobic fitness is improving or not).
- Treadmill feels TERRIFYING to perform a workout on. Equivalent fast paces outside feel much, much easier despite higher outdoor HR at the same pace.
- The one big advantage to treadmill other than the added safety from the environment is I'm guaranteed to not accidentally over do it. Not that I have that problem. heh heh heh
hhw - Solid week!
Allen1959 - Happy to hear from you, looks like you have been productive since mid january in getting back to it.
darkwave - Not a bad week, goodluck in your 5k this weekend!
Sub6 - Certainly a lot of running for you in the past 25 years, wonder what that lifetime mileage is?
notarobot - What is next on the racing schedule?
statfanatic - Seems like you still have that speed, best of luck saturday for the gutcheck.
AverageForFun - Two solid workouts this week. Brutal 37 mile weekend
BHV - Nothing wrong with a boring looking week
pewow - My snowshow race was canceled this year due to lack so snow, jealous of the ski racing, they sound like a lot of fun.
Thoughtsleader - looks like we are in similar shape, nothing wrong with two LRs while marathon training.
pewow wrote:
HHW - Great workouts
Allen - Great to hear from you. I just "re-joined" a couple of weeks ago. You're running more than I am currently!
darkwave - Nice week and big volume as always. Good luck on the 5k
sub 6 - consistent week
RS - Solid week and good to see workouts starting up
notarobot - I like the ladder workout
stat - Any reason for the back to back workouts Mon/Tue?
AFF - Nice cut-down fartlek. Always a favorite of mine
BHV - It's been said many times before, but not way I could do that much treadmill running
TL - Nice mile repeats
I don't really consider Monday a workout. That's just supplemental speedwork and is pretty much the same thing as doing strides after a run. It was unseasonably warm and I felt good so I kinda ripped the last one, but otherwise those were pretty low effort.
HHW: Immense workouts. Also going to commend you for correctly running easy on your non-workout days, going to emphasize myself doing the same.
Allen: Great to see you back, best of luck in getting back into it and I like the progressions and finishing those runs on a high.
Darkwave: Good luck with the 5K and that tempo is encouraging news for it
RunnerSam: Definitely, I think you probably have me beat a little aerobically with your mileage and consistency. I can always put together a good mile in a short time, but I want to go into this marathon with a little more mileage than past ones (55-60mpw) and longer interval work (mile/2mile repeats, longer uptempo segments in long runs); also it’d be nice to hit the 21 mile mark of one note feeling like the last 5.2 mile is pure survival…
notarobot: treadmill intervals i always found hard, so props to hitting a good session there
statfanatic: Yeah hitting fast paces in the cold is a bigger challenge, 25.9 is zooming
Average: Impressed by the paces you’re holding in these long intervals, and think you got a great chance at the half goal
BH: Nice LR and low HR
pewow: having never done an XC ski race, I’m jealous though intimidated…best of luck in healing up on the running front
DW: Best of luck on that 5k. The weather is looking
promising around here.
Sam: Those 6:10s on Tuesday goal pace? Looking like a good
start to your sub 2:40! I personally love big back-to-back weekend mileage. It’s
let me know that I can pretty much muscle through any fatigue and that the real
work needed done is pacing and speed. Also lets me enjoy Monday off as much as
possible.
Stat: Can you explain your workout? I want to understand the
purposes of doing those sets of 200s. Is it just for turnover? I know you said
that’s supplemental speedwork, so just preparing for the next day’s true speed
session?
Pewow: Love reading the XC Ski race reports. Keep it coming!
Thoughtsleader: Solid mile repeats! I’m hoping to do well
but I’m not sure what the half will be run as. If it will be all out or just a
workout. But I think if I can do what I did at the Chicago 12.6 mile Half
Marathon I should be in a better place for Boston than I was for New York.