Forums >Racing>3:20 Marathoners ... New and Improved for (the rest of) 2017
CDave - BELATED CONGRATS on that race!!! Awesome job.
McBen and RLK - sorry about the plague. No fun Get well soon.
Ilana - sounds like you're getting back there, hopefully you can manage everything and keep the bone density in check.
CK - lol about the hospital and running path. Makes sense that you're trying to get it in now! At least you don't have to carry the baby and then recover from that!
E - snow isn't slippery. Ice is.
I've been relegated to indoor running since the air is toxic here in SLC again. Omg I'm sore from 5 miles on Saturday and not sure how that happened - my body hates the TM, but I'm still getting one in our remodel. Good shows to watch while I'm stuck indoors?
PRs: HM: 1:32:59 (2015); FM: 3:18:36 (2017)
Mother of Cats
CK - you're up next! We're having as many babies as marathons, these days.
PJ and Cdave - enjoyed reading the reports. Ilana, glad for the progress. When I get a chance, I'm gonna jump in on the bone density thread - it seems like a good discussion.
13 for me today. 3 warm-up (8:57), 3x(1200, 800, 400) in 4:41, 3:06, 1:29, 4:36, 3:00, 1:32, 4:32, 2:59, 83, 4 mile cooldown (8:54). Got in 4.5 miles worth of fast stuff, so that was good. Also did injury prevention work and recovery swimming.
Everyone's gotta running blog; I'm the only one with a POOL-RUNNING blog.
And...if you want a running Instagram where all the pictures are of cats, I've got you covered.
Ilana: glad to see you're making progress! Has to be tough to stay patient. Hoping for continued steps in the right direction!
Thanks for the kudos on managing running/work/kids, but I think I have a pretty good setup. A VERY understanding wife who understands my stir craziness. Going to run for an hour or two mellows me out. Three 12 hour shifts a week and 4 days off helps too.
Pesto: I hope you get to go for sub-3 in Paris. Just putting my 2 cents in early. When in January is baby due?
CK: best of luck! Exciting times.
Brew: how are y'all doing? If you want to post a pic, just have elizabeth do it for you.
Enjoyed my workout today. 2 mile warmup, then 3 x 1.5 miles at 6:05 pace with 60s rest, 2 mile cool down. My pace on the intervals was very steady and so ways my HR. According to Garmin I keep chipping away at my threshold pace, although I'm not sure of it's accuracy. I feel safe in assuming whichever direction it's going is probably correct. I remember in June 6:05 pace felt blistering, now it feels a good bit easier.
This was my first run in the Hoka Tracer. Bought them in September. I didn't really care for them on the wamup and cooldown, but really liked them during the intervals.
Anybody's HR spike at the beginning of runs? My first 5-7 minutes, even after warmup and drills, can be 175!! Then it dives down to 130s-140s and stays consistent with effort.
dwave: nice workout today!
katia: not sure about the soreness, but I can definitely say that I HATE the TM. Conditions have to be terrible or unsafe for me to get on one of those torture traps. I have trouble watching shows while running. It has to be something mindless like ESPN or Seinfeld. Seinfeld is mindless because I've seen every episode a few times. For a non-running show, we just finished Mindhunter. Very interesting but a little disturbing. It's about the FBI studying serial killers. Based on true story.
Road Mile: 5:19 (2017), 5k: 17:09 (2021), 10k: 35:54 (2021), HM: 1:21:55 (2020), M: 2:53:18 (2021)
Resident Millennial
ace- seinfeld is everything!re. HR spikes, i don't believe mine does, but my garmin measures that .... i think it's just because my wrist isn't sweaty enough yet, or something. even during super easy runs, sometimes it'll say >200bpm for the first several minutes.
_________________________________________________mile, 5:26 /5k, 19:34 /10k, 41:00 /13.1, 1:31:49 /26.2, 3:12:58
Hearty Congrats CD. This is just awesome. This will be my goal for Chicago as well.
Max - what's your take on THIS?
Strong workouts by DkW and Ace.
Nice to see ilana working her way back.
Ace ~ I don't use HR, but my RPE level is much higher getting started than it should be for the effort.
A 3:20 Slowpoke
Ace - Garmin 235 here.......if I have an HR spike it’s during the first mile, BUT I’ve also had a handful of runs where the HR for the entire was way too high.
Question for all:
Do you have a fixed number of days you take off after a marathon? How much time do you take off and why? Thanks! I always start back up sooner than I say I’m going too. I’m sure more rest would be better.
katia - I think my mind hates the treadmill more than my body but we have to do something, right?
DW - solid workout! Every year I say this is going to be the year focus on more consistent workouts and speed, it never happens.
You’re dedicated to your craft!
Ace - nice schedule but I’m sure it has its challenges as well.
Anybody doing any winter marathons or are we on hiatus until early next year?
PR's 5k - 20:39 (2014). 10k - 42:04 (2014) 13.1 - 1:30:30 (2014) 26.2 - 3:14:21 2017)
Upcoming Races - Boston Marathon 4/18
dave- i usually say "i should take a week off" and then i run on like day 4. catching a cold on wednesday post-marathon made it very easy for me to actually take a full week off. i did one short jog over the weekend but haven't run since. (tried to yesterday, but was coughing so hard, just during the run, i was gagging. wahh).
I think I took 5 days off. I was eager to get back to running but wish I took more time off. Things seems to be going okay, no injuries, but I think I personally needed to take more time off or just do shorter runs. I think I remember its recommended to do easy running for every mile you race and about a week of no running maybe a little cross training.
Pace Prophet
Hey, I have a few new requests to join the Strava group.
Nick in Maine - is that RunNickRun?
Anyone know who Andrea in Italy is?
Cobra Commander Keen
KK - DW definitely has the rougher road to recovery! Yesterday the hospital called and told us the time of delivery and check-in (5:30). I joked that it would give me time to drop her off so she could start check-in and prep while I did a loop around the lake, with enough time left over to take a shower before the delivery. She didn't think it was as amusing as I did.
In my very limited treadmilling experience I've found that the best shows are ones that don't require paying much attention: action, stupid comedies(which I typically try to avoid anyway), etc. My mind tends to wander when I run, so anything that requires engagement of the brain box is out.
DWave - I can't wait! Nice workout, too.
Ace - Thanks! DD1 is especially excited, she really wants to find out what "brand" (read: sex) this baby is.
HR spikes: When using optical HR I don't get spikes, and very, very rarely run in to cadence lock (maybe twice in 8+ months). If I'm using a chest strap sometimes static from my shirt can cause them early in a run. Soaking the strap beforehand can help with this, but not always.
Rovatti - Thanks for bringing that up. I was very curious about what Max thought when I saw some analysis of the ascent.
CDave - I like the theory of "motion lotion". I find that just running very easy, short distances helps me recover better than not running.
Sunflower - Hi!
Ilana - No input on Nick, but Andrea was from RWOL. I can't for the life of me remember what his screen name there was, though.
Babies- Maybe one of these days if Ace, Brew, Pesto, and I all make Botswana in the next couple years we can have an official sub 3:20 toddler race!
5k: 17:58 11/22 │ 10k: 37:55 9/21 │ HM: 1:23:22 4/22 │ M: 2:56:05 12/22
Upcoming Races:
OKC Memorial 5k - April 27
Bun Run 5k - May 4
Question for all: Do you have a fixed number of days you take off after a marathon? How much time do you take off and why?
Do you have a fixed number of days you take off after a marathon? How much time do you take off and why?
I think you should take at least 72, probably 96, hours off from any running and any stress on leg muscles ... short walks, easy pool running, super light cycling, gentle yoga at most. (If you run it sub-maximally, like a pacer, I think recovery runs are fine.)
After that, I think it really depends on where you're at. If you have any mental fatigue/sense of burnout from grind of training: DON'T RUN. If you have any lingering issues: DON'T RUN.
But if you feel like you're want to give it a go, I think easy runs are OK on day 4. It kinda works out perfectly for a Sunday marathon: Rest thru Wed, do a shakeout on Th, take another day off, run easily Sat/Sun, take M off, run easily T-Th, F off, run closer to normal on Sa/Su, and then you're in a good place to start rebuilding in two weeks.
speaking of post marathon stuff, i felt some inside-of-knee tightness during taper week, felt nothing during the marathon, and now i sorta feel it again. it feels a bit like ITBS but on the wrong side. has anyone had this?
Recovery Phenom
Darkwave: What do you know about the starting situation of Houston? The qualification to get into Corral A seems like it would house many, many runners, so do you just need to make sure you line up at the front of it? Indianapolis was so crowded during the first four miles and I am not looking for a repeat. I think you'll get your 1:25 if the weather is decent.
Climber: Congratulations on Tucson! That's amazing since you weren't even expecting it. Probably took a lot of the pressure off. Nice recap too. I like that you didn't look at the Garmin until the end and were surprised! I hear that's the way to do it but I am too much of a control freak. 3000 miles for the year would be amazing!
Jim: It's good to see you back out there. The fun thing about starting out again is that you will make quick gains.
Dad: Congrats. Was the course slippery in parts? 1st AG is awesome!
RunnerJones: Sounds like a nice snowy run. You don't find it difficult to run in the snow even while it is melting? I am always worried I will slip.
AceHarris: Nice week. Sorry to hear about the nagging. My Achilles was like that for the past two weeks but I think I finally turned a corner. It would hurt in the middle of the day for no apparent reason and then stop. I kept reminding myself that the injury didn't start suddenly, so it won't stop suddenly either. Recovery is not linear.
OMR: Impressive week and elevation. No wonder your legs are tired! I probably get that much elevation in two months!
Pesto: Great week!
Keen: Exciting that the baby is coming soon!! Good week.
Pepper: We must be the same age. I'm 39 too.
Ilana: Thanks for the update. I am really impressed with how active you have been staying in spite of your injury. I hope that the blood markers are nothing to be concerned about.
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I think I've been gone from this thread for an entire week. I've been insanely busy and meaning to check in. Last week was 53.2 miles and this week will be about the same. My training has been going really well, and my most recent workout (yesterday) was 3 x 1K with 30 seconds rest in between, 3 minutes recovery jog, 2 x 1K with 30 seconds rest in between, 3 minute recovery jog, 1 x 1K. Splits were 4:12, 4:02, 4:04, 4:02, 3:59, 3:56. This was hard and I had never done this workout before. I definitely felt that V02 max effort on the last few!
I have hills tomorrow and I hope it doesn't snow overnight and make the ground slippery.
26.2 x 31 (3:15:34 PR)
13.1 x 35 (1:30:58 PR)
Author of the book Boston Bound