Forums >Racing>2020 Marathon Training and relevant COVID 19 discussion echo chamber
Mother of Cats
I know, London is so lame for having so many charity runners when there should be more proper runners...
Hah...
(and, to be clear in case it didn't come out clearly on the internet, I was snarking about the US approach to charity running, not the UK approach)
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.
Problem Child
Maybe with a 2:51 or faster time limit too! I’m guessing that most Americans haven’t got a clue what the London Marathon is all about....it’s a charity event and elites are the icing on the cake.
Maybe with a 2:51 or faster time limit too!
I’m guessing that most Americans haven’t got a clue what the London Marathon is all about....it’s a charity event and elites are the icing on the cake.
Sounds like the Boston marathon to me. Not many qualify and it raised something like $27 million dollars this year without even happening or having an expo. Thankfully it slowed the spread of COVID 19 and people are still socially distancing so we can maybe have a spring race again. We might even be able to have one in December if people still wear masks and wash hands and go to bbqs and camping with friends and family they haven’t seen in 4-6 months.
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
Mmmm Bop
I feel bad for the Boston charity runners this year who are expected to raise ridiculous amounts of money and then don’t get to run the race.
5k - 17:53 (4/19) 10k - 37:53 (11/18) Half - 1:23:18 (4/19) Full - 2:50:43 (4/19)
London raised the equivalent of $83 million dollars last year, but it isn’t as much to obtain a charity bib here....something like £2000 iirc.
53.4 Miles
M: 3.1 miles easy (9:10)
T: 7.4 miles w/ 3 @ tempo (6:50, 6:50, 6:48)
W: 10.3 miles easy (8:47)
T: 5.2 miles easy (9:31)
F: 5k time trial in 18:41 w/ 4.1 warmup and cool down
S: 10.1 miles easy (8:34)
S: 10 miles easy (9:00)
Ran a 5k time trial on a local high school track Friday morning in18:41. I was really happy with this time, it was an improvement of 1:25 from the time trial I ran 8 weeks ago. My goal was to run 19:22. I started out a little faster and than I was planning, but the effort didn’t seem too hard. I finished the first mile in 5:59. I started to work a bit in the second mile, but still felt that I was in control. At this point I realized that I was in a lot better shape than I thought, but had to keep reminding myself to stay focused. Ran the second mile in 5:53. The third mile I just tried to hang on and keep it as close to six as possible. I ran to the track that morning and began to contemplate whether or not to take an Uber home once I was finished. Ran mile 3 in 6:07. Surged a bit at the end to finish the last 0.1 at 5:38 pace. Sat around for a while after then used the 2 miles home as a cool down.
Not quite sure how I made such a large improvement in such a short period of time. The last 2-3 months have been by far my best period of training. Also, I think I picked up a few seconds by running on the track, although my last 5k was on a very flat course.
Jhudak - congrats - you should feel really proud of that 5K. Now lets just hope you can find a race at some point!
Are you still doing the Loudoun Street Mile next weekend? I am now obviously out - no way my hamstring will be ready for a road mile by next Saturday. I'm not going to go cheer either - a) it's a long way to drive if I'm not racing, b) my hunch is that they would prefer not to have spectators.
Some tips for you on that race (I've run it 4 or 5 times). It is a rolling course, but generally matches what you will run on a track (the years I've raced both it and on the track, I've run similar times).
The course essentially is: first quarter downhill, second quarter uphill (and steeper than it looks), third quarter downhill, last quarter gently uphill.
9 out of 10 runners are going to start too fast and then blow up about halfway up the hill in the second quarter. Hold back in the first quarter and let everyone drop you. They will implode in that second quarter.
The third quarter is nice; the last quarter is a bit cruel. Essentially you enter the town square and it looks like the finish line is pretty close - maybe 150-200m away.It's an optical illusion - it's more like 300m away (and the finish looks flat but is actually uphill). Resist the urge to kick when you enter the square. Count to 10 or so, and then kick. There are a LOT of people who blow up in that last 100m because they misjudged the finish line.
My week:
21 miles, 5500 yards of swimming, 3:30 pool-running, and 30 minutes slow walking on treadmill.M: A test run of 12x30 seconds jog, 30 seconds walk (about half a mile), 1900 yards swimming, and streaming yoga. 30 minutes slow walking on treadmill in evening.T: Upperbody weights/core, a test run of 10x60 seconds jog, 30 seconds walk (about 1 mile), 50 minutes of pool-running, and streaming yoga.W: A test run of 8x2 minutes jog, 30 seconds walk (about 1.5 miles), 50 minutes pool-running, and streaming yoga.Th: 10x.5 mile jog, 30 second walk (5 miles total), 1800 yards of swimming, and streaming yoga.F: Upperbody weights, core, 55 minutes of pool-running and streaming yogaSa: 7 miles easy (9:25) and 55 minutes of pool-running. Streaming yoga in afternoon.Su: 9 miles aerobic (was too hot to call "easy") (9:21), some leg rehab/injury prevention work, streaming yoga, 1800 yards of swimming.
Indy was cancelled this week, which wasn't a total surprise. So now I'm down to four potential marathons: Harrisburg, Richmond, New Jersey, and CIM. Mankato marathon was sold out before I could grab a slot, which I am actually OK with - especially given my hamstring oops, I like having the extra time. I am entered in the Mankato half.
I think Richmond probably has the best chance of going, based on what I'm seeing. Virginia seems to be one of the easier states to hold races in on the east coast, and Richmond has the following statement on their website:"As you are putting in the miles and time now to train, we can promise you we are working to provide you a race to run. Providing you with a measured and marked course is our goal, where and how that is done continues to be what we work on. Depending on how guidelines and safety concerns evolve, race day may not look how it always has but we are currently working through multiple scenarios to ensure a safe race experience for you."
I have a hunch they may mark the course, not provide any on course support, and then have people run in very small waves or something similar. If that's how they do it, I'm down with that - as long as I have people ahead of me to chase down one by one, I am fine with not having people around me during my marathon.
Darkwave: Thanks and thanks for the advice! I am running the Loudoun Street Mile and I’ll definitely keep your comments in mind.
It looks like your hamstring recovery is coming along well. Hopefully you are back to normal training soon.
Another marathon you may want to keep an eye on if races keep getting cancelled is Rehoboth Beach. Their marathon is limited to 1,000 runners and it looks like there are only about 350 signed up. Looks like they had a short course In back to back years a couple of years ago, but other than that seems like a good race. I emailed the race director and she said they would allow deferrals if it is canceled. Don’t know why, but I have a good feeling about the race happening.
Thanks. Rehoboth is a no go unless they change the course. From what I understand, several miles of it are on a crushed stone type path - I have a lot of issues with that type of surface. If it was just a half mile or so, I wouldn't worry about it, but several miles is an issue, especially with marathon fatigue also elevating the injury risk.
3 months til Masters
JH- Nice job on the 5k. Always nice to be able to keep getting those new benchmarks.
DW- Keep healing up. I am somewhat tempted by the CIM because they have a great policy. Pretty sure I'll run it one of the next 2 years if I can get in. i got two college buddies who live there with their families both about 30-40 min away from the start.
My week. Still building back into the mileage. This was the first week with 2 workouts since the marathon. Workouts were really good. The warm up and cool downs felt crappy, but when I started the work out itself they felt really good. I think it is just getting used to speed again and changing gears.
2023 Goals
Marathon Sub 2:37 (CIM) 2:41:18
10k Sub 35:00 (Victory 10k 34:19)
5k Sub 16:00 (Hot Dash 5k in March (16:48), Brian Kraft in May (16:20), Twilight 5000 in July and August (16:20/16:25 Both heat index 102-103F)
Sub 1:16 Half Marathon City of Lakes Half Marathon 1:15:47)
Sub 56:30 in 10 mile (Twin Cities 10 mile, Canceled due to weather, 56:35 as a workout)
2024 Goals
Sub 2:37 Marathon
Sub 1:15 Half
Sub 34 10k
Sub 16 5k
jhudak: Nice 5k time trial! It's great when the training goes well and pays off with big improvements. What are you targeting for the road mile?
DW: Glad the injury is getting better; was glad to see some runs from you on strava this week. Sure you don't want to add Bucks County to your list of potentials?
DPS: Great week. You're bouncing back from the marathon really well.
My week was ok. For Wednesday's workout I thought about doing a 3rd rep, but kept it to 2 x 2 mi. I want to pay more attention to gradually increasing my training intensity this cycle, something I think I can improve on. Sometimes I think I train too hard too early and don't time my peak for race day. If my races happen, they aren't till Nov. 8 so there is plenty of time to work up to 3 x 2 mi and maybe 4 x 2 mi. This week was also a planned cutback on the long run, another modification I want to make this cycle. Usually I do a long run every Sunday and think it may contribute to burnout/injury, so I'll try to take a down week every now and then.
2:52:16 (2018)
Dwave: Good to see you back up to 9 miles by the end of the week.
Jhudak: Congrats on the 5K improvement! Always fun to knock off those old PRs!
JT: Nice mileage without a long run...lots of 10s and 11s.
DPS: Yep, definitely a couple of solid workouts in your week.
Week 2 of the Half Marathon plan...
T: 5.3M @ 8:35
W: 9.6M @ 8:25
T: 5.7M @ 8:47
F: 9.7M progression run @ 8:14 O/A, last 10minutes @ 7:39 --> 6:19
S: Rest, recovery kayaking
S: 8.3M @ 8:28
M: 17M @ 8:36
Total: 55.6M
37 or so miles. Skipped 2 days due to a doctor's appointment and heat. Sunday I spent the morning with the kid and went looking for the wife on my usual loop. turns out she text me about 15 seconds into my run. I'd gone the opposite direction she was coming from. I was looking for her. I didn't have my phone because EYE THOUGHT we were going for a family walk. She was so pissed at me not having my phone she was going to walk the 1.5 miles home. In the heat. Without water. Uphill. Because the truck was locked, and I had the keys. Yeah. She can be as stubborn passionate determined as I am.
dwave I predict CIM will run. Mostly because I'm in the "Stay home. Stay safe." crowd. If it was me I'd take the 4 tables they usually have for drinks, spread them out over 1 mile, give volunteers gloves to wear, ask them to bring masks, and give out balaclavas for race swag since they're compliant with mask mandates. The road the start is on has enough space to make social distancing easier, and pace groups could be put off for 1 year to discourage large groups. Since the race is giving you the opting to run in 2020-2023 by paying now I'd honestly see a fair number of people defer. I'm thinking of signing up ONLY because I'm concerned with Boston 2021 getting canceled. I'd be SHOCKED to see the race canceled and the BAA allow 2018-2020 times to be allowed for the 2022 race. I'd expect them to say "nope, we tried the 2 year thing but now we need to go back to the way it was and the normal qualifying window." It just requires a LOT of training effort on my part to get back into shape.
Resident Historian
My week went better than expected -- until the end. My hip adductor issue seems to have disappeared; I had it tightly wrapped in a tensor bandage for most runs, and a test run without the wrap went well. I reached my target 20 miles early in my Sunday run, heading for 25, when I got hit with sharp pain on the outside of my other hip. In two steps, I went from running easy and comfortable to dead stop, then a painful walk back home.
Some internet digging showed it was probably the piriformis spasming, although it's so deep I can't pinpoint the exact spot. Doesn't seem too serious, although I understand it can linger. I have some massage suggestions, stretches, and strengthening to do. I thought I'd had every damn runner's injury ever invented, but this is new to me. Has anyone else had this issue? One specific question: massage with a tennis or harder ball, or just on the surface? (I saw some comments about not digging too deep because the sciatic nerve is under there.)
Jhudak -- Huge improvement in the 5K TT! Did you feel like you pushed yourself harder this time? Good luck with the mile.
JT - Good week, very consistent.DPS - Impressive mileage rebuild, dealing with the lack of sleep and then the heat when you get out there!Running Problem - The major difference between Boston and London is that 80% of the Boston is qualifiers vs London only about 15% are "good-for-age" qualifiers (and they're limited to UK residents). About 40% are lottery place, and the odds of a lottery place are about 5%.
Neil
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------“Some people will tell you that slow is good – but I'm here to tell you that fast is better. I've always believed this, in spite of the trouble it's caused me. - Hunter S. Thompson
I think there is no way in h*** anything like CIM happens in California until foreseeable future. If it were Montana or Wyoming, then yeah, maybe, but not in California - only 3 counties in CA right now not on monitoring list, new covid cases are piling up, people are ignorant and looks like just started to ignore all the precautions - there is no way all the authorities involved in approving big race like CIM go ahead and allow it - doesn't matter what logistics anybody offers them. Also, the charity part is missing in CIM too... No way. Unfortunately... That's mostly why my motivation went int a negative territory.
Longboat - my goodness man... Sorry to hear about another issue. Darn...
paces PRs - 5K - 5:48 / 10K - 6:05 / HM - 6:14 / FM - 6:26 per mile