Road Racing & Training Thread: Week Ending 4/2/2023

Good week.

M - 6 @ 7:22

T - 3 up @ 7:09 + 8x800 w/ 75s off + 4’ off + 4x200 w/ 75s off + 1.5 down. 2:50/2:44/2:44/2:44/2:43/2:41/2:42/2:39 + 32/33/33/32 + 1.5 down. Easy to moderate effort.

W - 6 @ 7:52 + weights
Th - 5 @ 7:15 + 6x10s hill sprints.

Fr - 3 up @ 7:25 + 6x600 w/ 2’ rest + 4’ rest + hard 200. 1:50/1:48/1:49/1:47/1:52/1:45 + 27.7. Last 600 felt hard.

Sa - 8 @ 7:09. Easy with last 3-4 moderate (~6:40).
Su - 1.5 up @ 6:54 + 6x100m @ mid to high 13s. Last 2 in spikes. Closer to 110. + Weights.
Total - 45 miles

HHW - I need to check out your 800/1500 thread when I have the chance.

M38, 5’10”, low 160s

Road bests | 2023
5k 15:20 (2006) | 16:10 (split)
10k - 31:15 (2008) | 32:21 (split)
10M - 51:52 (2009) | 52:31
Half - 1:09:01 (2009) | 1:10:36
Full - 2:25:14 (2019) | .

Upcoming
5/21 - 10k
10/8 - 10 mile
10/29 - 50k
3/16 - Half

Mo: 8 @ 6:58
Tu: 8 @ 6:11, 5 x 1T*
We: 8 @ 7:12
Th: 5 @ 6:59
Fr: 3 @ 7:31
Sa: 3 @ 6:47 with 3 x .25
Su: 10 in 52:31, 13 total**

Total: 48 miles

*5 x 1T with .25 jog: 5:18, 5:13, 5:16, 5:14, 5:08

**Cherry Blossom 10 mile in 52:31, 42nd overall. Cool 48 and windy - across the river river at DCA read about 25 mph, gusting to 36 mph. (It was probably windier on Hains Point.)

Went out a little faster than planned (always happens in this race), in part to stick with big packs and draft. This made headwinds very manageable in the early parts of the race. The strong tailwind from 5 to 7.5 kept the pace fast. Things got rough heading back into the wind up the Washington Channel, and there were no good opportunities to draft. Slowed substantially the last 2, but got to the finish without the wheels coming off.

Splits:
5:12
5:14
5:12 (16:10 5k)
5:12
5:14
5:11 (32:21 10k)
5:08
5:12
5:31 (48:50 15k)
5:26

Male, 30, 6’0", 125lbs
PRs: 3K: 8:33 (2023) 5K: 14:37(2023) 5M: 24:28 (2022), Half Marathon: 67:29 (2022), Marathon: 2:23:58 (2022)
Next Races: Boston Marathon
Goals: Sub 2:22 at Boston

Monday: Off
Tuesday: 8.22 miles @ 7:18 avg
Wednesday: 12.02 miles @ 7:02 avg
Thursday: AM: 10 miles @ 7:25 avg l PM: 6.77 miles @ 8:22 avg
Friday: 10.22 miles @ 7:31 avg
Saturday: 12.31 miles @ 7:31 avg
Sunday: 3.01 mile w/u, 9 miles @ 5:18 avg, 4 down
Total: 75.67 miles

Comments:

Coach basically just told me two things for this week. Hit 75 miles this week so I don't mileage too much on this taper and 9 miles at 5:20-22 this weekend. I played it really safe earlier in this week so that I could fully recover from the race as well as let my foot heal up too.

I jumped into a 9 mile race over some rolling hills for my workout and had a bunch of my training buddies join in for the fun. Had most of my miles miles faster than 5:20 but man did this feel easy and controlled. Excited what I can put together in 15 days.

9 mile splits: 5:18, 5:20, 5:18, 5:20, 5:17, 5:17, 5:16, 5:16, 5:18

Male, 33
PRs: 2:14, 4:51, 16:46, 36:17, 1:19:48
Goal race: 800m on 7/22

M - 7.1 @ 8:01 with 8 strides
T - 1.4 up, continuous 1600/800/1600/800 (5:54/3:06/5:52/3:06), 2.1 down
W - AM 6.3 @ 8:13, 4 x ~10 sec hill sprints with 4 min walking recovery
Th - 6.6 @ 8:20
F - Off
Sa - 4.8 @ 8:04 with 4 strides
Su - 2.2 up, 4 strides, 10k race, 1.1 down

Weekly Total: 40 miles
YTD Total: 588 miles

Race recap: I ran the first mile in a chase pack of four (no too far behind the lone leader) and felt super smooth and relaxed (6:05, uphill). In the second mile two guys picked it up and split the pack in two, leaving me and the lead woman together in 4th and 5th (5:50, partly uphill). The lead woman dropped me in mile 3 (5:48, tailwind). When I hit the 5k turnaround I realized that it was a lot windier than I thought going out, and my legs felt too tired to do anything but slog my way back (6:06 into a headwind, 6:02 partly downhill). I got a side stitch in the last mile (6:01, downhill). Final result: 37:18, 5th overall. Kind of a stinker, but I still had fun.

Next up: a week off, then 800 training.

Male, 29, 6’4”, 151.5 lbs
Races: Boston Marathon 4/17

Mn - 10 @ 7:45s
Tu - 10.75 @ 7:40s
Wd - AM: 6x800 in 2:50 with 200 rec + WU/WD = 9.5, PM: 8.25 @ 7:50s
Th - 10 @ 7:40s
Fr - 11 @ 7:55s
Sa - 7 @ 8:30s
Su - 20 @ 7:15s
Total - 87

Female, 48, 5'4", 107
PRs 5:25/18:51/38:56/1:02:28/1:24:08/2:57:42
Recent best times: 5K in 21:08, 10 miles in 1:10:19, half-marathon in 1:33:20, Marathon in 3:24:40
39 miles running, 1000 yards swimming and 2.5 hours pool-running.
M: 90 minutes pool-running
T: 10.5 miles, including a track workout of 6x800+2x200 with splits of 3:27, 3:27, 3:20, 3:18, 3:17, 3:16, 48, and 48. 2:4x-3:0x recoveries for the 800s and full recoveries for the 200s. Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming.
W: Streaming yoga and 10 miles very easy (9:10) plus drills and 4 strides
Th: 60 minutes pool-running and upper body weights/core.
F: 6 miles, including a 1600 in 7:06. Followed with injury prevention work..
Sa: Off
Su: 3.5 mile warm-up, 10 mile race in 1:10:19, 0.5 mile jog back to car. Followed with 500 yards recovery swimming.

Ran Cherry Blossom this morning. Splits were 7:53/7:13/7:01/6:53/6:52/6:55/6:44/6:46/7:04/7:00. Missed breaking 70 but came in well under 71:19 and won a mug (for running faster than the female winner in 1973).

It was windy and rough out there. When I first checked my time post race (I don't look at my watch while racing), I saw the total time and assumed I had missed sub-70 because of the wind. Nope - I lost a massive amount of time dealing with course congestion and chaos in the first mile. Had I been able to run that first mile at even marathon pace (around 7:30 ish) I would have been sub-70.

But that's OK - I honestly care more about the confirmation that I am fit enough to run sub-70 than actually having that time show on the clock, if that makes sense.

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: Boston Marathon, Fall TBD
Future Goals: Sub 2:45 Marathon, Sub 1:17 HM, Sub 17:30 5k, Sub 5:00 Mile
Mileage: 82-83
Two workouts, Sunday after a long and early morning. Got called into the bar that Saturday night to help with a rush and woke up early to volunteer Sunday. Immediately went to workout afterwards otherwise I knew I'd never get it done. Coach said to never do that again, I couldn't agree more.

Taper time? I can't think there is much more left with 14 days out.

Monday Rest
Tuesday PM Run: 10 Miles - 7:24
Wednesday AM Run : 4 Miles - 7:42, PM Workout:12.34 Miles = 3 Up (7:15) -> 10 x 3min on (5:56, 5:56, 5:53, 5:53, 5:50, 5:50, 5:46, 5:46, 5:43, 5:3x)/ 1min off (8:30-8:20) -> 3 Down ( 7:25)
Thursday Am Run: 6 Miles - 7:47, PM Run: 10 Miles - 7:17
Friday AM Run: 8 Miles - 7:55
Saturday AM Run: 10 Miles - 7:39, PM Run: 4 Miles - 7:48
Sunday AM Long Run: 18 Miles - 6:49 = 3 Up -> 2 x 4 @ MP (6:14, 6:15, 6:14, 6:12) (6:15, 6:11, 6:13, 6:13) w/ 1 float (7:01) (7:03) -> 2 'faster' (6:19, 6:11) -> 3 down

M24, 5'10" 140
PRs: 15:15 5k, 31:15 10k, 1:08:44 Half Marathon, 2:31:54 Marathon
Upcoming Races: Boston Marathon 2023 (Sub 2:30)
M: 7.55 Easy
T: 7 Easy
W: 7.53 Easy
Th: Workout - 2 easy - 15 x 1min on/off @10k effort - 2 easy to 9.15 total on the day
F: 8.18 Easy
S: 7.05 Easy
S: 14.02 Easy
60.50 miles total

Thoughts: More or less a recovery week from the half marathon race with a good bit of easy and light workout to stay sharp. Workout went well, and I averaged around 4:55/mile for the minute reps which may be a bit overzealous for a 10k but it felt very smooth. As of today (04/03) we're two weeks out from Boston which means there's probably three more workouts left. Legs are feeling good and just focusing on little things the next 14 days. I think the goal is to go out around 1:13-1:14 for the first half and work from there. If anyone knows runners shooting for a similar strategy I'd love to connect with them.

M: 70min + strength

T: 30min with 5x20sec hill + 2x5min tempo w 1min jog (~5:45 avg) + drills + accels + strength

W: off

T: 30min + dills + accels + strength

F: strength, started warm up for workout but knee was sore so called it a day.

S: 60min hike

S: 60min run (knee felt good)+ 40min bike

Run Total - 190min (25 badger miles)

Tuesday was a beautiful day and felt very in control although probably easy to fake it for a short workout. 3rd time doing this baby workout in the last month and have gone 6:20, 5:55, 5:45.

M34, 5'10/155
Recent Race: 1:20:52 HM (March '23)
Upcoming: Jersey City Marathon (April 23) ~ Goal: BQ/Sub-3

Good week, though one filled with some aches/pains and little coming easy. Probably just that part of the build-up. Totaled 61.6 miles.

M: 6.6M @ 7:46
TU: 20 @ 7:33 ft. 3.9 @ 6:30 after returning to the park. I didn't feel great even running easily early on in this one. Sore, and a bit labored. On the positive side, things didn't get worse as it went. Once I returned to the park, it took a bit long to get going picking up the pace (first uphill-ish mile around 6:45), but I hit the last two miles in sub-6:20 and felt good after the run.
W: 6.3E @ 9:24, ran some with the wife
TH: 6.4M @ 7:59
F: 8.9 ft. 4x1.25miles at Threshold with 1:20 rest. Decided I should give the Adios Pro 2 a spin. Ran in the Central Park rolling hills. Pacing could use some work as paces were 5:57, 6:01, 6:06 and 6:09. Had a tough night sleeping the night before as I got some mysterious back of the knee pain that I worked on during the day and wasn't an issue during the run or after.
SA: 6.6E @ 8:14
SU: 6.8E @ 8:32

Going to go out for a long run in a couple of hours ~ probably 18 miles with it being 20 days from the race. It'll be pretty warm (58-60 degrees), and I'll aim to hit about 4.8 miles threshold at the end including the hillier Harlem section of the park. Will run relaxed before and after that.

Thank you for doing these.

M39, 5'2'', 138. 18:33/44:23/1:33:45/3:20:01

Mileage run as of 2023: 290, 38.5/week, started 1/29.

40 last week. Last few weeks have been 40-40-33-41-40.

Monday-5 EZ with more emphasis on active warmups (15-20 mins. extra versus more mileage!)

Tuesday-6, 1 up, 4 progression from 8:01 to 7:27, 1 down

Wednesday-7 EZ to steady

Thursday-3 EZ, right after chiro adjustment, 28:03

Friday-OFF

Saturday-14 EZ to steady in 1:58, tree branch almost fell on me on the OT (!), Started at 9:02 and worked my way down. Hit 7:50 at mile 13

Sunday-5 EZ, 9:37

Great perspective, I always enjoy your weekly recaps. You have a wisdom and insight into running I'm still trying to gain.

27 years old male

ROAD PB : 10 k : 33min34 2019 HM : 1h19 2017

Track PB 2022 : 1500 m 4min16 3000 m : 9min05

I will race a 5 k at the end of the month and maybe a 10k. I would like to run in the 15:20/32:00 range. Then I'll focus on the track. My training IS going well BUT with one issue : loss of coordination in the leg / runner's dystonia. That problem prevented me to run well on the road for years. I had a great XC season last year beating several time sub 32 10 k eventhough I could not keep that pace for 3k because of my leg issue .

During the faster and longer effort on the flat, my left ankle suddently goes outward, my calf and hamstring tighten up. That issue usually disappear after a few miles but it's hard to race in such situation. I did a lot of core and lift this winter and I Hope to fix that issue.

Last week I did one of my biggest block for month : 56 miles,4500 FT of elevation and 2h of strength and core.

Mon No running. 40 min of easy leg strength workout : jumping rope, bodyweight deadlift, lunges, and some elastic band stuff.

Tue Hill rep ! 6 k warm up and 7 k of workout with 320 m of vertical gain. I did 6*400 m @ 1500 effort 2min30 rest + 6*150 m @ 800 m effort 1min10 rest. I felt great on that session. I managed to increase my pace on the last few rep.

Wed : 50 min slow jog on hilly trail then 15 min of core and pull up

Thursday : Threshold interval on the track : 25*400 m with 30 sec rest + 3*300 m fast. I ran the 400 m between 76 sec and 81 sec and the 300 in 50 / 49 Sec. It was really hard to keep an even pace during the threshold interval because the wind was pretty strong that day (around 35 km / h)

Fri : Am 30 min of Light strength workout : jumping rope, core and push up. Pm Hilly 10 k 55 min

Sat : 35 min jog then drills and plyo for 15 min. Then 8 Hill sprints

Sunday : Longest run of the week 20 k. 8 k jog with 6 strides of 15/20 sec + 10 k @up tempo pace (5:49 pace) and 5 *200 m @ mile effort on a gentle uphill with 30 sec rest. My legs were really good but I had the unfamous leg of coordination issue on a flat segment after 20 min of tempo. I could keep my effort but it felt a bit akward. After one mile on the flat, I hit a uphill section, the problem went away..

hhw - How is the switch in training going? I liked your comment about being able to run easy runs quicker on low mileage (on strava)
Sub 6 - Great job in the 10 miler
beersandmiles - Looking forward to your Boston race
notarobot - Good job in the 10k
Darkwave - Glad you performed well in the 10 miler
AverageaForFun - Make sure you get some sleep in with the reduced mileage, soak up all that fitness.

pewow - Glad you are making progress
WinorLoseD3 - I think two of my clubmates are going for Sub 2:30, one is probably in shape for 2:28 but hasnt ran a good marathon yet so playing it safer
Thoughtsleader - Hope that Friday pain was a oneoff! Solid tuesday long run
jecht - Good week, In response to your other thread on a long marathon plan. I think you should break it up, have a minicycle with a different goal into a more traditional length marathon cycle.
UpHillGuy - I don't envy the runner's dystonia, I've been having single leg issues of my own but hopefully not that (though I have spent some time on the loss of coordination in leg thread). Looks like you had a good week or training, i like the threshold 400 workout. Have you considered getting off of the track due to the leg issues?

Thanks for checking in. I’m having a blast. Really looking forward to workouts for the first time in awhile. Also feeling my body start to transition a touch and be more explosive. No idea what kind of shape I’m in but will start some more predictive stuff and some TTs and races soon.

Thanks for making this topic living ! What kind of leg issue did you have and how did you fix it ? I noticed that my leg issue seem to be less prevalent when I am doing a lot of lifting plyo and some work on the track. Last december I raced a hilly 8k (with around 90 m of climbing) in 25min53 sec. I just had a slight loss of coordination on a downhill section but it didn't bother me much. Unfortunately, my winter training wasn't great hence the loss of coordination went back stronger with the first spring workout. I don't want to skip the track because I will race on the track. And I also think doing gradually more work on the track get my leg use to faster speed.

Anyway I plan to keep a good training schedule. This week I did :

monday : rest

tuesday : Threshold workout over hilly road : 6min*5 with 1 min rest did the first two set @ 5:28 pace and the fourth and fifth interval @ 5:18 pace and 3*20 sec hill sprints

w : 50 min easy

thursday : 35 min jog + 15 drills and plyo + 9 hill sprints

Friday : 30 min tempo ( 5:40 pace) Then 4 times 2 min @ 5k pace.

The loss of coordination striked pretty badly today. My ankle went outward a lot and my calf tighten up a lot on the downhill. But the good thing is, on the last segment of the tempo, my ankle stopped it's outward motion and my calf "worked" normally. My ankle was still a bit sore but I could run the last mile of my tempo without issue.

Else, it was harder to hit my usual pace this week because I started a labour job in a camping. I am on my feet the whole day and with my running session I can log up to 38 000 steps a day. My body will eventually getting use to it but it might take some weeks.

Thanks for the advice. Strengthening my leg, calves and glutes is helping big-time. I did 14 today, 7 EZ at 9:28 pace and 6 at 8:03 pace, 1 EZ at 9:15 pace and felt strong throughout. Ran by feel and my HR was solidly in the 150s.