Forums >Racing>3:20 Marathoners ... New and Improved for (the rest of) 2017
pie man
I'm usually an even number person but last week was 55.5 for me. It left me an even number of miles left to hit 200 for the month, though. So maybe I can't really let it go.
15 down in DC from my sister's condo before seeing family. Took a route down to the Mall and around until I had enough to go back up the hill to Mt. pleasant. Turned the watch off pace cause I didn't want to care but turns out I was averaging faster than I thought. Which was a surprise cause the legs felt iffy the whole way.
Windy today.
11:11 3,000 (recent)
CDave: I need another 80-mile week to get to 3K. Roughly 69 after today...
Happy Holidays everyone!
There's a section where bios go? I'll have to check that out.
Dwave - That's interesting about perceived sow weights being a little different from actual. I recently acquired an electronic kitchen scale, will have to give that a try.
Yay Keen, Mrs Keen, on the new Keenlet!
I have a week to report! It even has a race in it so I have some Idea where I stand fitness-wise (There is work to do).
That MP effort on Thursday was a mess. I did not focus properly at all. After that, the 10K on Sunday was quite pleasing. Time was 45:15, despite poor pacing, which lines up with a 3:28 marathon, (7:55 pace). That's about where I thought I was at. Now to see how much climbing back I can do in the next er, 10 weeks.
Happy Holidays Every one
My training last week
Problem Child
ace Sucks about the course. A local marathon got BQ certified two years ago, maybe more, and it was kind of a big deal to me. Last year I didn't run the marathon and due to construction and road closures (flooding) the marathon was 25.5. Imagine signing up for a BQ course to find out the week of or day of it's not actually going to be a BQ. I'd be very upset.
weekly miles some of you make me laugh. Who has so much time to run more than 20 mpw? With that said I need to step up my game with everything going on in 2017. It actually hurt to go out running yesterday and it was only a 5 miler.
Hope everyone had a great holiday weekend. DW, NeRP and I will be staying home for the weekend. NeRP has some diaper rash so it was suggested to us to let it air dry to help it go away. Yesterday I was so bored I checked the weather and it was 50F so I decided to take the $200 stroller out for a run. I think I know why it's advised to lock the front wheel but I'm sure I looked like a weirdo with no kid in the stroller. Hopefully it balances better with an additional 20-30 lbs in there but it won't be easy to push. Anyone ever think it changes running form to push a stroller for an hour or so?
keen hope all is well with DW and DD1-3.
Jim how is the IT band doing? Are you running/packing Oakland 2018?EDIT: Sh*tty K*tty is officially out of the family. Re-homed to a girl a couple weeks ago. Sister in law was mentioning how much easier it is to find a place to stay without an animal while at the same time realizing Sh*tty K*tty is actually 100% gone forever and not just staying with family.
Many of us aren't sure what the hell point you are trying to make and no matter how we guess, it always seems to be something else. Which usually means a person is doing it on purpose.
VDOT 53.37
5k18:xx | Marathon 2:55:22
Mother of Cats
PJ - saw you were in the hood. Had to be a tough way to finish off the run, heading back to MP.
Jim - good to see you here again. And yay on being well enough to race!
Brew - babystroller with no baby does seem like it would be awkward.
Hi to all others!
11 miles for me today. 2.5 warm-up (because I left the house late) (9:12), then 4x1200 in 4:37, 4:36, 4:34, 4:28, followed by 5 mile cooldown (9:25) plus injury prevention and leg strengthwork, and recovery swimming.
Kept the pace controlled and the recoveries a bit shorter than normal (between 2:40-2:55) so an aerobic workout. Debated adding some faster stuff at the end, but decided to shut it down at 4 reps since I'm doing another workout on Thursday (I usually do my second workout on Friday).
Debating on which New Years race to do. E78 and Dad - I'm leaning towards the 5K in Ashburn on New Years Day. I'm entered in the Fairfax 4 miler, on NYE but I'm worried that there may be some ice that weekend on roads, due to the forecast cold. If that's the case, I'd rather race in daylight.
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.
Will Run for Donuts!
Daylight may be your better option. I did the Fairfax 4 Miler a few years ago, and while the hoodie they give out every year is nice, I thought the course was VERY dark in places, and the start was a mess. Partly it was my own fault for not getting to the start line sooner to get a good spot closer to the front, and partly it was due to the usual poor race etiquette - groups running 5+ abreast, kids running crazy lines, etc. Some people even brought dogs on leashes and while I'm OK with allowing that, dog-human running teams should be towards the back, since the leash can be a tripping hazard. One lady started with her dog closer to the front, and it was on one of those retractable leashes, which was unreal. The dog would dart to the side of the road on occasion, creating an ankle-high tripping hazard over half the road! I'd only ever recommend that race as a 'fun' run-type event, if at all.
I did it in 2015, so I know what you're talking about. I started near the front, so I missed a lot of the mess. But it's hard to run fast when you can't see the course. I remember not seeing the finish line until I was almost underneath it.
(It is a nice hoodie).
I'm not racing with the intent of a fast time; I just want to get another race effort under my belt before Houston. That being said, I don't want to get injured slipping on ice either.
I did it in 2015, so I know what you're talking about. I started near the front, so I missed a lot of the mess. But it's hard to run fast when you can't see the course. I remember not seeing the finish line until I was almost underneath it. (It is a nice hoodie). I'm not racing with the intent of a fast time; I just want to get another race effort under my belt before Houston. That being said, I don't want to get injured slipping on ice either.
I just looked at my hoodie (wore it to the gym) and 2015 was the year I ran it too! Funny!
Good luck in Houston! The family is heading down to Disney World next week for marathon weekend. A bunch of us are doing various events, including my wife, son, and brother-in-law running their first full, and my 75yo mother running her first half. Should be great fun - can't wait!
A lot has happened here. Happy holidays to all!
e78 - thanks for the advice on different paces on LT runs. Makes total sense, I will try it out when doing the longer LT runs.
CD - congrats on 3k miles! That's just ridiculous (same goes for you, OMR). This coming from someone who's very happy about going over the 2,000-mile mark this year. I also like the number 3003, I tend to like numbers that read the same from left to right and from right to left. We actually have a word for that in Spanish (capicúa), but I don't think it translates to English. Those numbers are supposed to bring luck.
ace - I couldn't read the article either. Short courses are very annoying, and especially for marathons, where so much effort goes into preparation. Are there any penalties for having a course measured incorrectly? I think there should be.
DkW - very interesting RE shoes weights. So, your trainers (Flyknit Free) and your racers (adios 2) both feel like they have the same weight, right? What is the difference between the two that makes one a trainer and the other a racer?
RJ - good luck with the Disney running weekend! Definitely in my to-do list in the future. That's great the whole family is able to do it, and again, kudos to your mom, that's inspiring.
brew - pushing a stroller definitely changes form I think, you're obviously leaning forward more (in general). But in my case, I've found that it did not affect my form beyond the stroller run itself. Most of the time you're running easy, I wouldn't advise to do workouts with the stroller.
Fantastic weeks from DkW (as usual, great LR!), OMR (monster week!), dad (amazing workouts!), Jim (great job on the 10k!) and arv!
Hi to everyone else! My week:
Week 3/18 of modified Pfitz 18-55 for Paris. Very happy with it, I'm enjoying the "faster" LRs prescribed by Pfitz for now. We'll see if I'm still enjoying it when they get closer to 20 miles.
Have a great week everyone and a happy new year's eve!
5K - 18:03 (5.18) | 10K - 37:58 (2.18) | HM - 1:20:45 (9.18) | FM: 2:57:59 (10.18)
Thanks Pesto, and good luck in Paris! That sounds like a fun race in a beautiful city - enjoy! As for my family, one of my favorite accomplishments in running is getting so many family members involved in it. Three of our four kids have run half marathons, as have two of my brothers, and many more in-laws, nieces, nephews, etc. For Boston 2018, I'll be running with my youngest brother, which is a huge thrill, and I hope to run it with one (or more) of my kids some day. With so many people living unhealthy lives these days, it's great to help others make positive changes for their own health and well-being.
pesto: no penalties for short courses that I know of. However, the Chattanooga race (it was the 7 bridges marathon in Chattanooga NOT the "Chattanooga Marathon" btw, wanted to be clear there. The Chattanooga Marathon has bee well measured). The race did offer to pay race entry to other marathons for patrons. Thought that was interesting.
brew: hahaha, strolled with no baby. That's a funny site. It's interesting I prefer to leave the front wheel unlocked. Maybe it's because I run curvy roads and greenways. Note: make sure you open the top flap when running, it makes the strolled just a little bit less like a parachute by letting some air flow through.
Decided not to run the NYD 5k since I missed some training time due to illness.
Had a decent progression run yesterday. Last half was in the dark due to poor planning / holiday travel.
7 miles (7:38, 7:26, 7:14, 7:01, 6:40, 6:33, 6:18), 1 mile cool down back into my neighborhood (7:53). My watch gave me a new VO2 Max of 59. Woo Hoo! I have no idea what to do with that.
Hey everybody! Nice weeks!
Road Mile: 5:19 (2017), 5k: 17:09 (2021), 10k: 35:54 (2021), HM: 1:21:55 (2020), M: 2:53:18 (2021)
They feel the same weight, but very different otherwise. The Flyknit Free 4.0 is very soft, very flexible, and has a low heel. It's a very comfy shoe to run in, but not a fast one. OTOH, the Adios 2 is very firm and stiff, with a higher heel. I get a lot of rebound from the Adios, while the Free is more like a pillow.
RJ - cool that your entire family runs. I am the outlier in mine. SO does not run; nor do my parents, sister, cousins, etc. I think each way has pluses and minuses. The fact that my SO doesn't run keeps me in balance and keeps the running in perspective.
Pesto - I look forward to seeing how Pfitz works for you. Many others have had success with it. I'll confess that everytime I see your workouts in KM, I have to do math
Ace - nice progression. Good to know about 7 Bridges - I had briefly considered that one when I was searching for a marathon to run last minute this fall.
As for the Garmin, mine has started spitting out a value of "60". I assure you that I am not now in shape to run 17:22, 36:02, 1:19:38, and 2:46:25...
Ran 6 miles very easy to yoga (9:20), yoga, and then 4 more miles very easy (8:52) plus drills and strides.
Resident Millennial
stopping by to say hi and almost-happy new year to all!
brew- kitty is gone?!?!?!??!?!?!?!!!!!!!! ;-;
_________________________________________________mile, 5:26 /5k, 19:34 /10k, 41:00 /13.1, 1:31:49 /26.2, 3:12:58
Recovery Phenom
Dad4JC: Crazy- I have a Black Diamond story too. About a month ago I emailed their customer service to tell them that the headlamp was too big for me and could they recommend a model that was smaller. They said that they didn't have any smaller headlamps so they would custom make me a smaller band. I also have the sprinter headlamp. The custom band came in the mail but I haven't figured out yet how to swap it into the headlamp. Any ideas? Also, killer workout with the 5 x 5 minutes hard. Wow.
Darkwave: You are my soulmate with your shoe weights. I have done the same thing in the past with a kitchen scale. My Adidas Tempo shoes feel really light weight but they are among the heaviest "fast" shoes I've worn according to the scale. Houston will be my first half marathon wearing the adidas tempo. Interesting about the Vaporflys. I'm actually kind of relieved to hear that because now I am unlikley to shell out the cash for them. Great week last week- especially with that 15-miler! Regarding the 5K, I am registered for the Reston one but I literally just looked at the course map today and realized it was NOT the Firecracker course! I thought it was. I am not a fan of the course on the map because it has 5 hairpin turns and the WOD will likely not be treated in the event we get snow/ice on Saturday morning. So now I am leaning toward Ashburn due to its lack of hairpin turns and the fact that the roads are more likely to be safe. Fairfax Four is never a consideration of mine because I hate running in the dark.
OMR: Great mileage for you last week and impressive elevation. Congrats!
Climber: I agree that short courses are the worst! And glad you enjoyed some lower mileage before ramping back up.
Pepper: Ah, running the Mall in DC is awesome. Glad you had such a great run without seeing the pace!
Jim: Hooray for your week. Awesome job with that 10K too. I'm surprised they held a race on Christmas Eve.
Arvind: Solid work for you! Nice to see all the cross training.
Brewing: I am zero help when it comes to strollers and diaper rash!
Ace: Great job on the Progression run!
RunnerJones: Agree completely with you on Fairfax Four. I hate running in the dark and that route just kind of sucks too.
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I ended up with 59.8 miles last week. I did a cool workout on the track yesterday morning. 8K of non-stop running, alternating 1K at 10K pace, 1K at 20 seconds slower. I used 6:38 (4:07) as my 10K pace and ended up running 4:11, 4:25, 4:07, 4:26, 4:07, 4:24, 4:07, 4:23. I overachieved a little on the "20 seconds slower" laps. In any event, this was an 8K at a pace of 6:54 on the track (34:13) and it actually wasn't that hard. And I used my Garmin as a stopwatch and the track to measure the distance!
So I think I am ready to shoot for sub-20:00 at the 5K on New Year's Day. Provided that the wind isn't too bad and the course doesn't measure long (not sure if it's certified), I think I have a decent shot at it. Darkwave, I made a MapMyRun of the course and it looks like the first 2/3 mile has about 80 feet of elevation gain, but then most of the rest of the race is downhill. Nice, right?
26.2 x 31 (3:15:34 PR)
13.1 x 35 (1:30:58 PR)
Author of the book Boston Bound