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

darkwave


Mother of Cats

    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.

     

    I have to admit, I don't like headlamps.  I think part of it is that anything tight on my head gives me a migraine.  I just bought a waist lamp that I like.

     

    ***

    my week:

    61 miles, 500 yards swimming, and 2:30 hours of pool-running
    M: upper body weights/core and 12.5 miles easy (8:58), plus drills and 2 hill strides.
    T: 17 miles, including 2x5 miles at marathon effort in 34:25 (6:54/6:55/6:58/6:48/6:50 - 6:53 pace) and 34:28 (6:52/6:54/7:00/6:54/6:48 - 6:54 pace) with 1 mile float in between (7:42). 500 yards recovery swimming in afternoon.
    W: core, 50 minutes pool-running, and streaming yoga in afternoon.
    Th: 8.5 miles very easy (9:05), streaming yoga, and 2 miles very easy (8:59) plus drills and two strides.
    F: 5 miles, including a quick fartlek of 3:00 at half-marathon effort; 4x30 seconds at 5K effort, 4x10 seconds at mile effort. Followed with 50 minutes pool-running.
    Sa: 3 mile shake-out in the morning (9:39). In the afternoon, 4 mile warm-up, 5K-ish race on an uncertified course in 19:46 (splits of 6:17/6:16/6:10 and then 1:03 for the final .17 miles - as measured by my footpod). Followed with 5.5 miles easy (8:50)
    Su: streaming yoga and 50 minutes pool-running.

     

    I ran a casual 5K on Saturday afternoon - race report is here.  Next week I may be hopping into a local half-marathon (IF it goes forward).  I was planning on going down to Jacksonville in a few weeks to race there, but given how things are progressing, it seems to make more sense to stay local.

     

    Since I didn't do a long run last weekend and was racing this weekend, I did my long run on Tuesday morning.  Which was the same day that Keira D'Amato went for the US Women's 10 Mile record in the "Up Dawg 10 Miler" at a secret location in Washington DC.  Before and during the Up Dawg, the area would be closed to all traffic, spectators, and runners.

     

    Said secret location was described as a flat 3+ mile road loop in DC, which perfectly describes Hains Point (where I do many of my workouts). In fact, I couldn't think of any other location that would make sense - downtown DC is flat, but closing off that area is extremely expensive and difficult.

     

    I was annoyed that Hains Point would be closed, but it was what it was.  A friend of mine was one of the other participants in the Up Dawg, so I messaged her on Monday afternoon, basically saying "I know you can't tell me where the race is, but can you tell me when the course will be open again so I can do my workout?"

     

    She responded "Yeah, I thought it would be on Hains Point also.  Don't worry about it. Go ahead and do your run whenever you want."

     

    Turns out they did the race in Anacostia Park - which was actually brilliant and a D'OH when I realized that Hains Point was not the only flat 3+ mile loop in DC that could be easily closed off.

    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.

    OMR


      Nice week, Dwave.  That's a solid Tuesday LR, and nice work on the 5+K.  Congrats on the finish/award!

       

      Hey to everyone...hope you all had good weeks.

       

      My week (base-building week 3):

       

      M:  7M Trail Run @ 9:18

      T:  8M @ 8:16

      W:  6.6M @ 8:12 w/strides

      T:  6.4M Trail Run @ 9:15

      F:  7.4M @ 8:15

      S:  6.5M @ 7:32 O/A with a 2M Time Trial

      S:  14.4M @ 8:20

       

      Total:  56.3M.  For the 2M time trial, I've never run a 2M race before, so I decided to try a different strategy for me:  go out slightly fast (first half mile), drop back to goal pace for the middle mile (ran this too slow), and then push to the finish (didn't push hard enough).  I ran it on a point to point route, so I couldn't 'see' a finish line, and started the kick late.  Finished in 12:45...meh.

      Running Problem


      Problem Child

        dwave Funny how sometimes when we think we know it all it turns out there is another way of doing things. I sometimes expect "new" local races to follow the same paths as before and I'm rarely disappointed when organizers create their own courses. Nice 5k time. Looks like you and I could have held hands for our 5k-ish race on an uncertified course.

         

        I didn't run much. Many reasons. Oddly, l did my long run and saw a friend I hadn't seen in a year or two. He reached out for a high 5, I thought that was odd due to covid 19 (I'd usually give them out to any stranger I see along the path) and instantly wondered why some random stranger would reach out for a high 5. Instantly regretting it and almost pulling away from it after looking at the mans shirt (local ultra marathon). I found out later who it was.

         

        5k PR is the biggest news I have. Finally broke 20 in a time trial for 3.12 Garmin miles. I should have run the full 3.25 a 5k would have measured and either way I'm happy because it's far enough away from a 20 minute 5k that I will claim it as a PR and there was no one to latch on to. Coming close to wild mustangs on the run was interesting.

        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


          Dwave: congrats on the 5K.  Looks good on the negative splits as well!

           

          RP: Awesome and congrats on breaking 20!!


          OMR: congrats on the 2 mile TT!  Nice week overall.


          JMac: I know you likely posted on the other thread but congrats on the new 5K PR.  Looks like we both have 5K PRs from Covid related time trails now lol

           

          Space Coast (North) HM Race Recap: As I mentioned last week I actually had an in-person race this past Sunday here in my local area Smile  Compared to most other areas my local county and state has remained relatively open so some of the small to medium sized races are still happening.  There were numerous protocols in place with social distancing, mask encouragement at the start/finish areas, and staggered starts for the half and full marathoners though.  Weather wasn't anywhere near great (as usual), but it was certainly better than what I have been running in through much of the fall.  Starting temperature was about 68 with 95% humidity and it probably warmed into the low 70's just after sunrise.  I figured I would be in lead pack, since I won this smaller race year (in 1:15:53) so I was in the first corral, but I also wasn't sure who might show up from out-of-town.  Going in figured I had a really good shot at breaking 75 with decent weather, but with the humidity at the start figured I'd go out at mid to low 5:4x pace and see where I was near the turnaround.  This course is not anywhere near flat (well by FL standards) since it winds north/south along the Indian River with rolling cliffs/hills every few miles of about 25-30+ feet or so which I tend to like since it breaks the effort/pace level up a bit.

           

          Started off in the lead pack with 2 other younger guys who turned out to be out-of-towners that were actually running the full marathon.  Turns out the first guy was a 2:28 marathoner so at the time not even sure he was running full on race effort or not.  The other guy quickly dropped back behind us after about the 2nd mile.  After the first mile at or so (5:39 pace) we decided to just run together so this worked out and made the miles go by that much smoother.  Miles 2 and 3 (5:45/47) didn't feel that great but they feature slight uphills so figured I'd work my way through these early tough miles.  Miles 4-6 were a bit flatter, but we didn't really push the pace all that (5:42/5:40/5:45) and still wasn't feeling that great at this pace.  Funny moment of the race: with COVID they were only doing aid stations every 2 miles with full (small) water bottles and I ended up knocking over like a dozen of them at one of the tables at mile 6. Whoops as I ran by I yelled back sorry!  Turnaround was fairly non-eventful at around mile 6.5 and then taking my only gel at mile 7 the next 5-6 or so miles I really settled into a great feeling and looking back now wish I had tried to pick the pace up just a wee bit here but decided to run in tandem with lead marathoner.  Miles 7, 8, and 9 were in 5:41, 5:37, and 5:43.  At about mile 9 the marathoner mentioned to me he was gonna back off about 10 sec/mile as I think he realized the humidity would cost him later on.  Smart move as he ended up fading a bit after mile 18, but it did get incredibly warm for him on the 2nd half.  Given how decent I was feeling and after a small uphill mile 10 of 5:45 really noticed how close to 75'ish I was looking to be especially if I could close hard.  Ran mile 11 in 5:34, and then hit the hardest part of the course (double rolling net uphill in mile 12) in 5:42, but knew that after that last significant challenge the last mile is net downhill at least for the first 800 meters or so.  Last year in my win I was able to close in 5:33 for that mile so I just ran with whatever I had left at this point trying to better that mark.  This year I ran mile 13 in 5:29, but then had to navigate 2 final turns before the finish line.  Hit the final straightaway and saw the damn clock right in front of eyes turn over 1:15:00 just as I finished Sad  Gave it my all over the last hundred or so meters, but ended up literally 4 seconds short of that sub 75 finish clocking in a 1:15:03 (net time).  Still ended up winning the 1/2 by close to 2-3 minutes so looking back it might have been nice to have someone there for the final kick as well.  BTW, the guy running the marathon still ran a 2:35 after I left him before mile 10 and he finished in what had to be mid to upper 70s weather. Very strong effort!


          Takeaways: 1) clearly this tells me I'm in sub 75 shape on any decent weather day right now. 2) I'm not sure what happened but I really need to do a better job a taking the tangents on slight turns as I clocked in at 13.21 according to my Garmin.  Yes the course could have been long as well.  3) Grateful to be able to run with someone else at race pace because it helps those miles go by that much faster, but I wonder if by doing this I perhaps held myself back for miles 5-10 running instead of pushing the pace there just a bit given what had in the tank for that last mile?  3) Kind of liked not following a certain training plan this fall instead just keeping the volume consistently high and then mixing lots of Daniels esque threshold workouts over the last 2-3 months. 4) In conclusion just HAPPY to have an in-person event regardless!

           

          Next up: Yes Jmac I will actually be taking 4-5 days completely off later this week Smile  Might wanna work on some shorter distance events of the next 1-2 months before trying again in a HM come early spring?  Not sure what the larger race calendar might look like towards next fall yet?

          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)

          OMR


            weatherboy:  Congrats, and boy that sounds fun!  You're definitely in sub-1:15 shape.

            RP:  Sounds like things are coming back for you, congrats on the 5K PR!

            JMac11


            RIP Milkman

               

               

              Next up: Yes Jmac I will actually be taking 4-5 days completely off later this week Smile  Might wanna work on some shorter distance events of the next 1-2 months before trying again in a HM come early spring?  Not sure what the larger race calendar might look like towards next fall yet?

               

              I think you took some down time in 19 as well and it seemed to serve you well. Also slowing down your easy runs. Your success has been impressive this year. Keep up the great work!

              5K: 16:37 (11/20)  |  10K: 34:49 (10/19)  |  HM: 1:14:57 (5/22)  |  FM: 2:36:31 (12/19) 

               

               

              darkwave


              Mother of Cats

                I'm late, but...

                OMR  - it's really really hard to do an all out effort, or even a hard effort, when you don't know where the finish is.  We have paint marks set accurately on some of our routes, but I find it challenging to use those as markers since it results in squinting at the road the whole time.  Signs or similar are much easier.

                 

                Weatherboy - congrats on a great race and the win.  I agree you are definitely in sub-75 shape on any good weather day.  But...as you note, it's great just to be able to race.

                 

                ***

                 

                My week:

                55 miles, 1000 yards swimming, and 2:00 hours of pool-running
                M: upper body weights/core, 11 miles easy (9:18), plus drills and 4 hill strides. Later did 35 minutes pool-running
                T: 10 miles, including a short track workout of 3x800, 4x200 in 3:09, 3:08, 3:06, 43, 43, 42, 41. 2:3x recovery after 800s; full recovery for 200s. Followed with leg injury prevention work and streaming yoga. 500 yards recovery swimming in afternoon.
                W: 7 miles very easy (9:09) and then another mile on the track to confirm calibration of footpod. Followed with streaming yoga. Later did 35 minutes pool-running.
                Th: 50 minutes pool-running and upper body weights/core.
                F: DIY yoga and 7 miles, including a bit over a mile at half-marathon effort in 6:38 (so about 6:31 pace).
                Sa: DIY yoga and 2 miles very easy (9:36)
                Su: 3 mile warm-up, and then Blue and Gray half marathon in 1:31:08, followed with half mile cooldown.  Race report here. 500 yards recovery swimming in afternoon.

                 

                The race was a hard one, but I'm happy I did it.  Like Weatherboy I was happy just to race.

                 

                Based on this race, I think I'm in low 3 hour fitness right now for a marathon on a fast course.  Which sounds odd, but historically people run not much faster than their marathon pace in this race.  The course is a pretty hard one.

                 

                I'm entered in the Louisiana Marathon in mid-January, but I've decided to either swap to the half or skip it altogether.  I'm not getting in shape quite as fast as I had hoped, and I don't want to run the marathon if I don't have a solid chance of running a PR.  I have no problem in racing shorter distances when I am out of shape (as one can see), but marathons are a big investment in taper and recovery, and I don't want to make that investment unless I have a reasonable shot at a good payoff.    Plus the challenges of traveling right now.

                 

                I'm starting to see more short races showing up locally, and I'm also hopeful there will be smaller marathons in March and April.  So I'm liking the idea of pulling back from the marathon training, doing some 5Ks and 10Ks through mid-January, and then doing another short build for a spring marathon.

                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.

                OMR


                  Dwave:  Nice week, half and RR, I totally understand what you're saying about getting out of rhythm late and struggling to find that again.

                   

                  My week:

                   

                  M:  6.2M @ 8:54 trail run

                  T:  7.6M @ 8:01 w/strides

                  W:  7.3M @ 8:16

                  T:  6M @ 8:03

                  F:  8.4M @ 8:24

                  S:  12M @ 7:54 OA w/40min Steady State @ 7:08

                  S:  5M @ 8:54

                   

                  Total:  52.5M.

                   

                  I signed up for the Lake Wobegon Trail Marathon on May 8, 2021.  It's the race Sam, Kev and (hmm, Steve, but don't remember his RWOL name) ran a few years ago in central MN.  Paved bike trail (old train tracks) for all but the start, pretty flat, rural, basically one turn, field limited to 250 runners, and relatively cheap ($80).  Even if it gets cancelled due to covid, at least it gives me some motivation to get out there when it's below zero a month from now, hahaha.

                  darkwave


                  Mother of Cats

                     

                     

                    I signed up for the Lake Wobegon Trail Marathon on May 8, 2021.  It's the race Sam, Kev and (hmm, Steve, but don't remember his RWOL name) ran a few years ago in central MN.  Paved bike trail (old train tracks) for all but the start, pretty flat, rural, basically one turn, field limited to 250 runners, and relatively cheap ($80).  Even if it gets cancelled due to covid, at least it gives me some motivation to get out there when it's below zero a month from now, hahaha.

                     

                    Hmmmm.....a shame they don't have a half marathon

                    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

                      Sunday was to be CIM. I was to watch my friend achieve greatness and feel the excitement of watching someone work so hard achieve their goals. CIM was canceled, the county is probably going into lock down, and CIM had a "run by the river" type event. I was looking forward to the energy from CIM and have instead just slipped into not posting anything about running. I'm just here for the covid chat. It's entertaining.

                      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

                      OMR


                         Hmmmm.....a shame they don't have a half marathon

                         

                        I was wondering if you might investigate that one.    And if they had a half, I would probably have chosen that option as well.

                        Running Problem


                        Problem Child

                           

                          I signed up for the Lake Wobegon Trail Marathon on May 8, 2021.  It's the race Sam, Kev and (hmm, Steve, but don't remember his RWOL name) ran a few years ago in central MN.  Paved bike trail (old train tracks) for all but the start, pretty flat, rural, basically one turn, field limited to 250 runners, and relatively cheap ($80).  Even if it gets cancelled due to covid, at least it gives me some motivation to get out there when it's below zero a month from now, hahaha.

                           

                          I wonder if that's what Kev4400 is gearing up for. I've seen him starting to run more frequently on Strava and I believe he said he was injured for about a year or 18 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

                          OMR


                             

                            I wonder if that's what Kev4400 is gearing up for. I've seen him starting to run more frequently on Strava and I believe he said he was injured for about a year or 18 months.

                             

                            interesting.

                             

                            FYI, registration for the Fargo Marathon is now open.  They've pushed the date back to September 25 this year, which should mean there is a significantly less chance of it being humid than late August.  Fall running in this area can be perfect marathon weather...sometimes...

                            OMR


                              The crickets are chirping...

                               

                              My week...first of a six-week plan focusing on hills before getting into a 16-week marathon plan...

                               

                              S: 5M @ 8:54
                              M: 7.3M @ 8:15
                              T: 6.9M @ 8:28 with 6 x 60-75sec Hill Repeats
                              W: Rest
                              T: 7.2M @ 8:24
                              F: 7.5M @ 8:11 w/10 x 20sec @ 5K --> mile pace
                              S: 10.3M @ 8:47

                               

                              Total: 44.2M

                              darkwave


                              Mother of Cats

                                The crickets are chirping...

                                Yup.

                                 

                                I'm thinking in the new year there should just be one training thread.  Seems about 2/3rds of the participants on this thread are also on the 1:30 thread, so why not just combine the two if this one has become low traffic?

                                 

                                Thoughts?

                                 

                                Nice week with some good prep work, OMR.

                                 

                                My week:

                                52 miles, 1000 yards swimming, and 2:30 hours of pool-running
                                M: 50 minutes pool-running in morning; streaming yoga in evening.
                                T: 8 miles very easy (9:10), drills, and upper body weights/core.
                                W: 10 miles very easy (9:19), drills, and streaming yoga.
                                Th: 50 minutes pool-running and upper body weights/core.
                                F: 5 miles on brand new treadmill (9:14), streaming yoga, and 6 miles on brand new treadmill (8:59)
                                Sa:11 miles, including a track workout of 2x3200m, 2x200m in 13:05 (6:34/6:31); 12:58 (6:32/6:26); 43, and 42. 6 minute recovery after each 3200m (had to retie shoes); full recovery between 200s. Followed with leg strengthwork, streaming yoga, and later 1000 yards recovery swimming.
                                Su: 12 miles very easy (9:01), streaming yoga. Later did 50 minutes of pool-running.

                                 

                                Just one workout this week, since I spent the first half of the week recovering from last Sunday's half-marathon. I usually do tempo workouts on the roads, but did this one on the track so I could compare it to a similar workout on the roads. I confirmed that a) my footpod is measuring accurately at tempo effort and b) I much prefer tempoing on the road.

                                 

                                Also got my treadmill delivered on Thursday. I named it "Fluffy" because it amused me to do so.

                                 

                                Now to start the hard work of developing mental weakness via treadmill use. We're supposed to get a snowstorm here on Wednesday, and I am sure that our trails will not be cleared of ice and snow the way they have been in years past.

                                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.