2020 Marathon Training and relevant COVID 19 discussion echo chamber (Read 700 times)

    OMR: Good to have you back here and I'm glad you're healthy and doing ok. Great base-building week there.

     

    jhudak: Shamrock is a good choice; I've had that one on my radar but never have run it. I've heard only good things about it.

     

    Otter: Nice week, easy does it. I hope the build-up goes smoothly for you. I think you'll be able to offer a lot of good training advice here giving your coaching background. That's an excellent result for your girl's XC team! At my son's school the fastest girl on the team was in the mid-low 19s; having a whole top 5 averaging that fast is outstanding.

     

    Mikkey: The urge to DNF my last marathon was probably stronger than any of the 9 I've done, and I held on to finish! So even with a multi-loop course I think I can resist DNF-ing, but you never know.

     

    Piwi and Mark: I understand wanting to focus on the shorter distances; you are both doing great at that and you need to focus on what you enjoy!

     

    RP & DW: Good point about the elevation where you live RP; that much would definitely make things tougher!

     

    All easy running for me this week. I just love running this time of year; temps are perfect and I love the feel of fall. HR is still a bit on the high side but I suspect that will right itself in the next few weeks. I may incorporate some hill reps this week if I'm feeling ambitious.

     

            Distance   Pace   Gain
    Tue   Morning Run   8.26   8:29   492
    Wed   Morning Run   10.13   8:09   554
    Fri   Morning Run   8.09   8:01   453
    Sat   Morning Run   10.03   8:06   548
    Sun   Morning Run   14.03   8:10   725

    Total distance: 50.53 mi

    2:52:16 (2018)

    darkwave


    Mother of Cats

      Nice consistent week JTreeves!

       

      Jhudak - I'm hopeful for the spring - there's been enough small successful races in Virginia that maybe after this next wave is over, races like Shamrock will be more likely to happen.

       

      My week:

      45 miles, 1000 yards swimming, and 3:30 hours of pool-running
      M: upper body weights/core and 50 minutes pool-running
      T: 10 miles, including a track workout of 1600, 2x800 in 6:24, 3:08, 3:10. 5:09 recovery after the 1600; 2:30 recovery after the 800. Followed with leg strengthwork and yoga. 500 yard recovery swimming in afternoon.
      W: 9 miles easy (9:00), drills and 2 hill strides, yoga, and 30 minutes pool-running.
      Th: 50 minutes pool-running and upper body weights/core
      F: 9 miles very easy (8:51), drills and two strides, yoga, and 30 minutes of pool-running.
      Sa: 14.5 miles, including a workout of 3x2 miles at 10 mile/half-marathon effort. Splits were 13:06 (6:33/6:33), 13:03 (6:31/6:32) and 13:09 (6:36/6:33). Half-mile jogs in 4:30-4:50 between each. Followed with streaming yoga, leg strengthwork, and 500 yards recovery swimming.
      Su: streaming yoga and 50 minutes pool-running

       

      I had a bad workout on Tuesday - I simply couldn't catch my breath and felt drained and heavy, so I stopped early - I'm pretty sure that this was due to getting a lot of blood drawn for PRP last week. 7 days wasn't quite enough time to replenish. So, I pulled back on stuff for most of the week and focused on recovery before trying a tempo workout on Saturday morning that went much better. Of course, perfect weather didn't hurt.

       

      On a separate note, it looks like I am going to be able to get a treadmill (!!!).  Back story is that sig other has decided to get himself a rowing machine.  Which means we are converting a room into a home gym.  Which means that I now have a room to put a treadmill permanently.  So I'm doing some shopping.  I'm leaning towards the Horizon AT 7.8 right now - it checks nearly all my boxes and I liked the one I tested in a store earlier today.  I just need to get confirmation that it doesn't have a time limit (some treadmills automatically shut off at 60 or 99 minutes)

       

      I intend to run on it while listening to music, like I did before.  Harkening back to this thread last year....we'll see if that makes me mentally weak.

      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.

        ....we'll see if that makes me mentally weak.

        I'm not overly worried.

        OMR


          otter1:  That PR is impressive (but less so if the 30+mph winds were at your back the whole time!)

           

          JT:  Thanks, hopefully I don't have any setbacks moving forward.  Fall running is the best.  Unfortunately, ours disappeared a couple of weeks ago, but at least we don't have any snow on the ground right now.  Just a lot of wind.  Interesting that your HR is still high.

           

          Dwave:  rovatti beat me to the punch.

           

          My week...

           

          M:  6.3M @ 8:49

          T:  Rest

          W:  7.3M @ 8:35

          T:  10.2M @ 7:51O/A w/30min Steady State (7:17)

          F:  7.4M @ 8:34

          S:  8.3M @ 8:29

          S:  12M @ 8:28

           

          Total:  51.5M

             

            Otter: Nice week, easy does it. I hope the build-up goes smoothly for you. I think you'll be able to offer a lot of good training advice here giving your coaching background. That's an excellent result for your girl's XC team! At my son's school the fastest girl on the team was in the mid-low 19s; having a whole top 5 averaging that fast is outstanding.

             

             

            All easy running for me this week. I just love running this time of year; temps are perfect and I love the feel of fall. HR is still a bit on the high side but I suspect that will right itself in the next few weeks. I may incorporate some hill reps this week if I'm feeling ambitious.

             

                    Distance   Pace   Gain
            Tue   Morning Run   8.26   8:29   492
            Wed   Morning Run   10.13   8:09   554
            Fri   Morning Run   8.09   8:01   453
            Sat   Morning Run   10.03   8:06   548
            Sun   Morning Run   14.03   8:10   725

            Total distance: 50.53 mi

            Yes, I have to be careful.  The desire is there but I break easy now so I have to take the advice that I would give someone else.

             

            I'm hoping I can help.  That is my calling now in that I am a coach first and an athlete second. This thread will show that I am not much of an athlete at this point.

             

            The girls I coach are extremely hard working dedicated student athletes that were not distracted last year.  Training and the team is really all they had this year and because of that I have never had such a close group.  They truly are like sisters and that unity makes them very strong in a race.  I also have a great mentor in Ray Treacy over at PC and was able to go over schedules with him over the past couple of years.  He rarely changes anything but he gave me a lot of reassurance in what we were doing.. I don't trust anyone more in the world than him for training advice.  Anyway, the same group of kids from last year set personal records by over a minute on average on the same state meet course.  I'm really proud of them!

             

            You're smart to come back slow.  You hung tough in your Marathon but I know from experience that when you are starting to go down with 10 to go and you hang on there to the finish, then you have at least three weeks before you're going to start clicking again in training.  Otherwise you risk injury for no good reason because your body can't adapt to the training anyway.  I have a friend that has run trials a couple of times with a 2:15 Pr.  He used to go 3 miles per day for a week, 5 miles per day the following week, and then he would jump back in.  This for a guy who fluctuated from 110-140 MPW.  I always admired his patience and dedication to rest and recovery because it was mentally torturous for him to do so.

            Running Problem


            Problem Child

              Brewing - could part of it be that you set your marathon PR at a much lower altitude than what you currently live in (and do your time trials and local races in)?

               

              (Folsom altitude - 220 feet; Sacramento altitude - 3 feet; Reno altitude - 4505 feet....)

               

              Absolutely believe this is a large part of my Marathon PR vs any other PR I have. I PR'd the half (almost twice) at CIM in 2019. I also think a lot of it has to do with about 4 years of focused training on the marathon distance with 5ks and 10ks being a "let's jump into this race" type of event instead of the goal. With that said... I think Jmac is accurate in where I SHOULD be based on marathon fitness levels, and how training FEELS at this point. It hasn't been taxing. Repititions have been just a fun little quick "not sprint" pace that doesn't destroy me like I'd think training at VO2 max would. I think the 12x400s @5k I did were less enjoyable every SINGLE time I did them compared to 6x200. Although....based on my 5k pr time trail at elevation this is where I SHOULD be training. I'll possibly go for a 19:59 on Thanksgiving.

              6:25/mi SHOULDN'T be too challenging if I don't start out too fast, and actually know what pace I should target. Same course as the 20:19 PR. Thursday's weather should accomidate it and I'm PLENTY tapered.

               

               

              My week:

              Took the week off due to crap weather (30 mph winds) during the first part, then cold and rainy for another part, and my welding class might get shut down early so I kinda had to focus on work this week. 10 milers felt just fine other than some achy joints/bones at the start. I just lost the first half and mentally wasn't in it for the second half wiht life happening. Turkey Day 5k should bring back the spirit of racing. Local group is apparently meeting at 8am to do a 5k loop conveniently located near my house.

               

              5k warm up suggestions? I think I usually do a mile or so, then some quick sprints.

              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

                 5k warm up suggestions? I think I usually do a mile or so, then some quick sprints.

                 

                One of the things I have learned over the years as a coach is to not change your routine on race day or your preparation leading up to a race.  So, if you are used to that warm up then that is exactly what you need to do.  it extends to the days leading up to the race as well.  For example if pizza day is Tuesday then it should still be pizza day this Tuesday even though people tell you not to, etc...   In other words changing a routine should be done in training only.

                 

                For regular training runs I feel anyone can benefit from a warm up that includes dynamic stretching.  If you do them already then you should do them on race day also.

                 

                I'm curious, for your 400m session, did you run a mile or so and do strides for that?  If so, that is perfect for you leading into a race day preparation.  If not, that would be a good thing to start doing in practice (next week) so the body knows it is go time on the day of the race.

                Running Problem


                Problem Child

                   

                  I'm curious, for your 400m session, did you run a mile or so and do strides for that?  If so, that is perfect for you leading into a race day preparation.  If not, that would be a good thing to start doing in practice (next week) so the body knows it is go time on the day of the race.

                   

                  1.5-2 mile warm up for 400s when I did them for marathon training. For the current JD I stick to the same so the weekly mileage is around 40-50 as the plan calls for. 40-50 seems to be a good spot for me to balance "doing things other than running" while also keeping the body acclimated to a marathon lifestyle change.

                  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

                  weatherboy80


                    Hey all - been a few weeks since I posted, but figured that since my 1/2 is still "scheduled" to take place this upcoming Sunday that I'd post again.   Kind of surprised the race is still going to happen, but considering FL is still pretty open to many things figured it was probably the best place to have a race go on as scheduled.   Not overly sure what to expect with a goal time since as usual it will be about 70 or so degrees at the start time, but I'm going to go and try to compete with whatever I have on the day.  Workout paces recently have indicated something close to sub 75 fitness with the usual caveat of having better weather so we shall what I can do that day.   Would also be helpful to have some folks to pace with but given the current environment that seems less likely.   Been kind of fun to really not follow a super structured training plan for a change instead just keeping lots of high volume and throwing in a mixture of speed and tempo efforts over the last few months.

                     

                    JT: Not sure if I ever mentioned (on here anyways), but great job holding on to the finish and knocking out yet another strong marathon.  Glad you are feeling mostly recovered.

                     

                    Darkwave: as usual your all around fitness shows nicely! I'm also hopeful for the spring.

                     

                    Otter: congrats on the PR!

                     

                    RP: with regards to the warmup I like at least 2-3 miles plus some good strides especially when trying to run 10k-5k pace or faster. I always feel tired and old in the first of many of runs anyways lol.

                     

                    OMR: welcome back!

                     

                    JMac: looking forward to whenever you run your time trial.  Your workouts have been looking quite good!

                     

                    Welcome to those that I may have missed!

                     

                    Happy turkey day everyone!

                    1mile: 4:46 (12/20) | 5K: 15:57 (3/21)  |  10K: 33:40 (4/20)  |  15K 51:43 (4/21) | HM: 1:15:03 (12/20)  |  FM: 2:40:30 (1/20)

                    Mikkey


                    Mmmm Bop

                       

                      Mikey- Thank you!

                      Richmond looks like a good race.  Do you know anyone that has run it before?

                       

                       

                       

                      Yeah I know someone who ran it last year and yes it’s flat and scenic, but according to him it’s 50% on gravel so probably won’t be as fast as London. The website is saying that it’s an 8am start which is ridiculously early so will most likely stay up there and make a weekend of it!

                       

                      Btw great work on your girls XC team.👍

                       

                      DW - I would love to convert a room into a home gym but unfortunately we don’t have enough space!  The treadmills at our gym have a 90min limit plus 5min cool down which doesn’t bother me. If I’m doing a long run then waiting for it to restart gives me a chance to have a swig of Lucozade without worrying about falling off the machine!

                      5k - 17:53 (4/19)   10k - 37:53 (11/18)   Half - 1:23:18 (4/19)   Full - 2:50:43 (4/19)

                      Running Problem


                      Problem Child

                        NormaTec PULSE 2.0 Legs + Hips (hyperice.com)

                         

                        Noratec boots are on sale. $850 for just the legs and about $1,200 for the full body. I think they've always been $1,200. COVID 19 must be hurting the "medical device for recovery" business.

                         

                        EDIT:

                        http://runworks.com/calculator.html

                        Using this website my 20:19 5k time trial comes out to a 19:57.8 at sea level. I'll take that at 4,500 ft in the near future.

                        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

                        Mikkey


                        Mmmm Bop

                          NormaTec PULSE 2.0 Legs + Hips (hyperice.com)

                           

                          Noratec boots are on sale. $850 for just the legs and about $1,200 for the full body. I think they've always been $1,200. COVID 19 must be hurting the "medical device for recovery" business.

                           

                           

                           

                          They are meant to be the best brand, but if you’re looking for something more affordable then check out  https://www.air-relax.com

                           

                          I only have the leg recovery system (love it) but the hip/shorts attachment looks very tempting as well!

                          5k - 17:53 (4/19)   10k - 37:53 (11/18)   Half - 1:23:18 (4/19)   Full - 2:50:43 (4/19)

                          Running Problem


                          Problem Child

                            mikkey I think that's the brand darkwave turned me onto a year or two ago. They had an orange one that was ONE size (I think small) for about $100 less than any other unit they sold and I almost bought it. I do love the $40/month option. Finance anything these days. I still think I might rather have the "ray gun" vibrator toy over the boots. I could buy 2 for the price of the boots and they'd work for more than just my legs. Plus I don't think I've heard someone say they have over used their ray gun.

                            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

                            darkwave


                            Mother of Cats

                              mikkey I think that's the brand darkwave turned me onto a year or two ago. They had an orange one that was ONE size (I think small) for about $100 less than any other unit they sold and I almost bought it. I do love the $40/month option. Finance anything these days. I still think I might rather have the "ray gun" vibrator toy over the boots. I could buy 2 for the price of the boots and they'd work for more than just my legs. Plus I don't think I've heard someone say they have over used their ray gun.

                               

                              Yup - Air Relax is what I have.  Happy with them.

                              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.

                              Running Problem


                              Problem Child

                                https://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/en/search?q=Lighting%20%E2%80%93%E2%80%93%E2%80%93%E2%80%93Headlamps%20%2F%20Lanterns

                                 

                                Black diamond headlamp sale. I've been happy with my Black Diamond headlamp for running and mechanincing. I believe it was the storm....which has been replaced. 20-50% off makes that Storm 375 appealing.

                                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