Road Racing & Training Thread: Week Ending 2/11/2024

I arrived all excited to post, and was gobsmacked by the tragic news. I'll post, nonetheless. Stay safe, everyone.

M55
Next race: 4/21 10km

60km this week, with 2 workouts. Everything else easy.
Wed: 4 sets of 5 x 400/200 at goal 10k pace
Friday: 15 minute Threshold effort

My pre-injury best marathons 2016-2020 were all run at Daniels Vdots 45-50. My 12/2024 marathon was at about vdot 42, but that result was not indicative of my fitness that day. If I had run more confidently, I could have probably finished at 3:30. Wow, am I back to trying to break 3:30 again?

That race was a wakeup call to my competitive spirit.

I began in January to aim for this 10k, using vdot 44 paces, but after three weeks, I realized that I had been mostly ending up with vdot 46 results at the end of workouts. My first reaction was to say “Slow down! Stay in your lane.” Instead, I decided my body was telling me “You’re already here at this level.” I ran that 20 x 400 at “Daniels vdot 46 Interval pace.” (Coincidentally, this is equivalent to my goal 10k race pace at vdot 48) I finished without straining and was good to go the following day though I felt some fatigue on Friday, but that’s what I’m supposed to feel.

So the plan is to bump up to vdot 47 paces at the beginning of March and race at vdot 48 on 4/21. Then, reevaluate and plan the rest of the year.

Looking forward to connecting and reconnecting. Hope to see some guys checking in. Happy Chinese New Year, y’all.

Male, 30, 6'4", 150 lbs
Goals: Increase Mileage to 75+ mpw, Strides and Strength Work x3/week
Races: 5 Miler 2/17/24

Mn - 11 @ 7:40s
Tu - 5x1mi 2ith 90s rec + WU/WD = 10
Wd - 11 @ 7:35s + Str work
Th - AM: 3 @ 8:30, PM: 8 @ 7:45s + Str work and 4 strides
Fr - 11 with descending fartlek of 7' down to 1' on by minute, with 90s rec.
Sa - 16 @ 7:35s
Su - 12 @ 7:50s
Total - 82

Downweek next week after a string of higher weeks and with a race.

HHW - We are moving to a monthly format rather than weekly because of the numbers are down (see strava group)

RunRinceRepeat

almost 41. 6ft 178 ( down 14)

0(zero) Beers

7 runs for 25 miles

10000m rowed

and 3x lift sessions ( short and hard)

the build to 80+ mpw by fall continues

Male, 31, 6'0", 125 lbs
Race: Mad City 50K
Goal: 2:50-52

M: Off
T: 10.01 Miles @ 7:29 avg
W: AM: 3 mile warmup then 20x 1 minute on ~MP w/ 1 minute @ MP + 20 seconds, 3 down l PM: 3.11 @ 8:32 avg
TH: AM: 6.13 miles @ 7:54 avg l PM: 10.03 miles @ 7:22 avg
F: 10.50 miles @ 7:14 avg
S: 12.37 miles @ 6:46 avg
Sun: 16.16 miles @ 6:14 avg

Total: 81.78 miles

First bigger week at this since pre CIM. Wednesday I ended up knocking out about 7.41 miles @ 5:31 average with that workout. Still having trouble locking into a rhythm there and it didn't help to have a block that had a bit of rolling on it. But outside of overheating a bit at 20 degrees out, this was solid.

Saturday I helped some of our Saturday run group pals with their workouts. They were doing 4x 2 miles @ their MP w/ 1 minute jog. Went 6:23s then 6:10s, then 6:00 for 1.5 before splitting off for home.

Sunday was a 16er solo with 4 miles @ mp effort at the end. Took my alphafly 3s for a test drive and was really impressed by them. I did make a mistake by finishing my last three miles with some rolling. The 15th mile had some hills and wind smacking me in the face so that was unpleasant. Brought it somewhat back for the last mile. Went 5:18, 5:23, 5:53, 5:24. Not my best effort out there but this being significantly more than I've done in three month, i'm not too surprised. Need to be more controlled until in these early weeks.

M, 46, 6'1", 185lbs

Race - ?'

Goal - ?

Saturday was marathon day and as expected it proved to be a struggle. Goal coming into the last 8 weeks' specific phase was around a 2:48-2:49 MP. After this long lasting bout of whatever respiratory illness I had I knew that was going to be a stretch as I never felt fully well yet and had some serious lack of miles as a result. I guess if I were running for best time I probably would have backed it off to something in the mid 2:50s but that didn't really appeal to me so decided I'd go out at the original goal with the plan to shut it down and jog it in for at least a solid BQ if I wasn't feeling it for the day.

Made it through the first half in pretty decent shape but could already tell it most likely wasn't going to be there. Pushed on to mile 16 and started to struggle a bit so pushed on for one more mile and then pulled the plug as the effort was too much. Jogged it in for a 3:06 and at least a roughly 14 minute BQ qualifier so at least I don't need to worry about trying to run another qualifier. Far from my best day but feels good to at least be back at it.

Now time to figure out what to do next. Have a big ski trip coming up end of month that now takes priority then probably jump into some fun trail races. Think I'll eventually jump into some sort of sustained 5k focus through the spring/summer, and then provided my NY qualifying time holds up I'll shift focus to another marathon block in prep for that.

Looking very strong, Sam.

RRR, I like the new 2.0. 80mpw by fall? Do you have a race planned?

beers, that race is in April, right?

WH, well done on a tough day. After my underwhelming marathon performance, stories like yours are a good kick-in-the-pants to take advantage when I'm feeling good.

Yep! April 20th. Officially signed up last week so looks like I'm committed to it.

Down week for me with a race Sunday (did long run yesterday).

M35, 5'10/155
SBs: 5:09 (hilly mile), 23:31 (4miler)
Upcoming: NYC Half (March), Boston (April)

M: 6.9 ft. 11x5000m w/ 1' rest (averaged 1:41 or around 5:28 pace)
TU: 6.6R
W: 7 ft. 3x1.4mile w/ 1' rest; after last one 2' break and 3x~200m strides at around 5:10s pace; paces were 6:13, 6:05 and 6:03 for the longer reps
TH: Planned Day Off
F: 6.6E
SA 4.2E
SU: 7.4 ft Gridiron 4-mile in 23:31*
*Race Report: I slept uniquely terribly, which is something I've gotta work on (possibly CBD or something to chill me out). On the day I still felt OK, got regular warmup+drills+strides in and got to the corral warmed up and feeling solid. Lined up maybe a bit conservatively so had to pass a couple dozen people the first half-mile. I'd definitely critique my tangent-running and impatience in this mile and overall. I ended up with 4.04/4.05 on my GPS with too much of that unnecessary weaving. First mile (GPS 1.02) was 5:52, which is solid being an uphill mile and running that extra distance. Second mile I think was my first energy misstep. I ran it in 5:40 (11:32 half way split), which was probably a touch aggressive with hills to come. Even with it being downhill, I think I was working too much. The 3rd mile features Cat Hill, and by that point I was tired and mentally not doing the best. I split a 6:06 (17:38), which was OK but I was hanging onto a group at this point and not feeling like I had a whole lot to give. It being a downhill last mile, this should've been a time to lift the pace and make a great time (e.g. 23:00-23:15 that was more of my A goal). Instead I was just hanging on, and I don't think I did a great job of fighting through this rough patch. I hit 5:53 for the last mile (23:31) without really kicking. Overall, I did run 35 seconds faster than my Thanksgiving 4-miler, and 32 seconds faster than I ran on the course in 2020. So it's a PB, but I'd give myself a B- or so on how well I actually ran (seeing a 17:59 5K conversion for it). It's a fairly challenging, rarely-flat course with a good hill at a tough juncture, but I don't think it was my best effort. Many of my best weeks are probably still kicking in fitness-wise, and I didn't do much 5K-related prep/racing, so I think just a hard day at the office.

Hit 18.9 yesterday taking it pretty easy, and looking to the NYC Half next.

Will jump into races coach. no periodized training or set workouts etc on the comeback coach. ultimately I didn’t stay healthy w the hard workouts and I didn’t enjoy it.

just gonna run baby.
many loss of phones in ROC Ubers ?

Week 6 since surgery:

Started a little bit of daily cycling last week. Still doing lots of PT work. I finally have full range of motion in my knee, but I may be a couple weeks away from running still.

I staple it to my forehead when I go out. Harder to use, but harder to lose.

Anyone: I need new shoes. Any thoughts on Adidas Bostons? I've never worn Adidas before.

RRR - Looking good
beersandmiles - 50k sounds like fun
Working Harder - I don't blame you for not backing off the goal time. Sorry about the respiratory illness in the taper but at least it's a safe BQ. Maybe the race didnt take as much out of the legs since it was slower (a' la boston 2018)
Thoughtsleader - Nice race report, tough being in a race big enough that it has corrals and is only 4 miles.
jewbacca - glad you are on the mend and able to do some cycling
Coach Jeff ROC - My experience is that Adidas runs narrow, which I like. Only have worn their race shoes (Adios 1, Adios 4, and Sen Takumi 8) but liked them all. Have heard good things about the bostons but dont know the more recent models.

I just tried the Boston 12s. Pretty comfortable on my foot, but I didn’t commit.

Will do. Don’t want to take over posting RunnerSam? I am still running a bit but have other things going on over the next 6 months or so hence my non posting other than starting the thread.

I've never started a LRC thread, and often I end up running late on Sunday thus not posting until during the week. I'm not opposed to it.