Forums >Racing>2020 Marathon Training and relevant COVID 19 discussion echo chamber
Brewing: There actually are options for me, I'm just too stubborn. I could have access to an oval track, but it couldn't be in "lost time". I have access to the square track at lunch. There is also the TM option, but that is stubbornness of my part. Many many northerners do their workouts on the TM and are much better prepared than me for spring races
Keen: The Stryd was on my shoes I used to run to work, but I forgot to put it on my "indoor track" shoes (Kinvaras) I leave in a gym bag at work. Since I have a short lunch break, I didn't have time to walk back to get the Stryd. You can still judge me. Heck, I judge myself
Just 38 miles for me last week, over 5 days. Better than last week, but only slow improvement. Had to take a couple of days off as my ankle got sore again, which I'm attributing to lower drop shoes. Just soreness the rest of the time for the most part. Frustrating, but hoping to continue increasing as it's mostly just sore as opposed to painful. It does appear that I'll be limited to getting into sub3 shape though as I can't see myself getting any quality in over the next few weeks. To top it all off, my bloody watch appears to be packing it in too, pulled the trigger on a suunto 5 to replace my old tom-tom gen 1, I'll miss that watch
JT: Pretty much back on track. Great session on Tue.
Marky: Solid build in progress.
Cyber: Great job getting in 81 miles while navigating your groin. So many pesky muscles that we can trivially injure.
DPS: Really like the report of how that 5mi T went. You are well on track hitting sub245.
DW: Good luck with the taper, I hope your body responds well to it. I really admire how good you are at keeping a balance in your weeks and looking after yourself, lots to learn from.
Cal: Hope you're not too sore after your jolly up the Devil's path with Gabris!
Nimmals: Love your slow assed running. A lesson for us all.
Weather: right back at it I see!
Madison: Another just trundling along. That's a strong piece of MP running!
Cmdr: Great week. I like the look of that Wed session.
Jmac: Great racing. Good to see you setting standards early in the cycle.
5k: 17:32 (11/18) -- 10k: 38:47 (07/17) -- 10m: 60:23 (08/17) -- 1/2: 1:22:32 (11/17) -- full: 2:49:26 (04/17)
2020 Goals: Assault on 2:40! Next up: Toledo (Apr 26)
Problem Child
cal I will be doing a similar training plan for long runs for my ultra. The speed for long runs on trails is much different and is helpful for ultras. Almost like practicing race pace. I think getting a lot of vert is helpful and I’d encourage you to get on to the race course if you can. There is only a few ways to practice training up and down long hills and running roads isn’t the only option.
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
I agree - it’s hard to replace the ascent/descent of real trails. Though, interestingly enough, my two best trail races were ran by me when I was not preparing for them specifically - just had big mileage weeks for a long time. Seriously. But I still would like to try the way I do it now - having a dozen of long run trails - would be interesting to see how I feel different on a race day. The 100k course I am going to run in May will be run by me for the 5th time (yeah, I know - I love the same stuff over and over - like running CIM 7 times or Quicksilver 100k - 5 times🤪 So, there won’t be any surprises there for sure - I can even recollect many parts of the course right now in my head 😱
paces PRs - 5K - 5:48 / 10K - 6:05 / HM - 6:14 / FM - 6:26 per mile
Mmmm Bop
Otter1 for sure on catching up. I will also be 50 YO in a few short years and I think that's an amazing legacy you have going. You certainly know how to get yourself back there. While I am happy to entertain and inspire you know in the end its discipline. So stop putting off the date join us officially and just slowly get back into it. I would love to see your training and pick your brains. I had a 52 YO friend go sub 3 who is also a coach but he wanted someone to hold him accountable and we did it together so. I'm here when you're ready to make the step.
Otter1 for sure on catching up. I will also be 50 YO in a few short years and I think that's an amazing legacy you have going.
You certainly know how to get yourself back there. While I am happy to entertain and inspire you know in the end its discipline. So stop putting off the date join us officially and just slowly get back into it. I would love to see your training and pick your brains. I had a 52 YO friend go sub 3 who is also a coach but he wanted someone to hold him accountable and we did it together so. I'm here when you're ready to make the step.
Well if a couple of clueless numpties like myself and Cal can go Sub 3 at 50+ then I’m sure a knowledgable USATF coach will have no problems doing the same if the desire is there.
macey - You’ll get a better response if you post a bio and make your training log public. 👍. If you’re a high mileage runner and built up good endurance/strength then a 26 miler at easy 8:00 pace 3 weeks out isn’t going to be a big deal. I would be more wary of an all out 10k race 9 days out, especially as your body might not have enough time to absorb the benefits of the race and not worth the risk imo. I raced a 5k 8 days before my marathon last year and felt that was a perfect last tune up race and PRd them both. Your 3:05 last year sounds like a classic case of going out too fast and the wheels coming off during the final miles. For every minute that you bank in the first half of a marathon, you’ll pay back at least double in the second half!
5k - 17:53 (4/19) 10k - 37:53 (11/18) Half - 1:23:18 (4/19) Full - 2:50:43 (4/19)
3 months til Masters
Kramrunner- the tempos have felt very easy, the Tuesdays intervals on the other hand are slowly killing me week after week.
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
cal: As someone who does not have access to “trails with hills,” I am curious to see how your shift to more trail running impacts your performance in May. Maybe I’ll have to retire early and move closer to the mountains...
Same here - Best 2 trail races I had no trail miles, no hills ... I should have been unprepared and sub par. Because of this I gave the race and distance a ton of respect and was conservative the 1st 35 miles (50 milers). Same races when I have been in top trail shape ... I try and race too hard too early and have run slower times.
The damage to my quads was much higher when I was unprepared.
I agree - it’s hard to replace the ascent/descent of real trails. Though, interestingly enough, my two best trail races were ran by me when I was not preparing for them specifically - just had big mileage weeks for a long time.
Long dead ... But my stench lingers !
RIP Milkman
Kram - your injury issues have been disheartening. I remember before I joined these boards I was intimidated by all of the crazy Daniels work you were doing at fast paces, especially since most of it was on the treadmill! You still have the potential for that sub 2:40 just need some luck.
Andres - forgot to point out, good half. What's your goal now after you've had more time to reflect on Houston? I imagine you only have 2 more months before weather goes to shit in Texas.
5K: 16:37 (11/20) | 10K: 34:49 (10/19) | HM: 1:14:57 (5/22) | FM: 2:36:31 (12/19)
Brewing & Mikkey: Thanks for the advice will certainly take it on board.
Bio: I'm 43 years old now and as a sprightly 15 - 17 yr old I was a decent club runner over 3000m (8.57) & 1500m (4.06) on the track and also enjoyed running the cross country season. Pretty much packed in running once I started university. In 2015 I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease called Ankylosing Spondylitis which causes serious inflammation of the joints, particularly the spine. I take medication intravenously every two months to keep the condition under control. My rheumatologist basically said keep moving as much as possible so I took up running again in 2017. I started of with a 2.18 half marathon and I've been making improvements since then with current PR's of:
10km: 38.50 (during a recent track training session)
Half: 1.23.20 (December 2019)
Full: 3.05. 40 (March 2019)
I'm six weeks into my training cycle for the Vienna Marathon on April 19th where the aim is to go sub 3 hours.
Brief overview: (Between 10 - 15 miles per week is run at marathon pace or faster)
Week 1: Total Mileage: 55 miles
Week 2: Total Mileage: 58 miles
Week 3: Total Mileage: 57 miles
Week 4: Total Mileage: 63 miles
Week 5: Total Mileage: 71 miles
Week 6: Total Mileage: 50 miles (recovery week)
My previous post asked for advice on the following:
A friend has asked me to pace him to 3.30 marathon in the Palestine Marathon 22 days before Vienna. Could I treat this as my last long run?
I've entered a 10 km 9 days before Vienna. Can I run this flat out and still recover fully in time?
Thanks in advance for any words of wisdom.
Speed Surplus
RE: Shoes and banning.
I ran my first marathon in these:
5:27 / 18:49 / 40:32 / 88:12 / 3:12
Macey runner 4:06 1500?!!?!?!?! BY THE BEARD OF MERLIN!!!
I once ran like 5:05 downhill and 4:55 for about 100m of a 200. I can't even FATHOM watching you pull away from me at that pace.
Nice PRs under medication. I can't imagine the amount of paint it might be to live without it.
Would you run the entire 26.2 with your friend or would you run just the long run portion of it? If you're only going to do the long run portion at the 8:00 pace and you're three weeks before your race you'd probably be okay. I'd personally skip it unless the race didn't have pacers and it's REALLY important for this person to get their 3:30. Just with GPS watches and pace bands I'm not sure I'd want to pace a friend in a full marathon with my own race coming up.
I'm really amazed by you guys that are still consistently running under 3 at 50+, or even within striking distance. I'd love to think that I'll be there, but I doubt it. At 40 it was hard enough. Not sure that I'll still be there 10 years from now. But I do want to keep running marathons until I'm 70. That's where my dad got (he could still surpass that, I guess), and so I'm fairly certain I'll keep going. I'll be fine with a 30 min slow down each decade though. I'll always hate marathons, yet keep running them as long as I can. As soon as I think I'm done, I start thinking about how much fun they are. And as soon as I do one I remember how wrong I was about them being fun. It's a really cool roller coaster I'm on.
Slammin - don't knock Texas so quickly! You should come down and race in Houston sometime. There's a great 45-49 age group that are still putting up some great times. There's an 8k this weekend that usually gives out prize money based on the best AG times. I think I finished 18th last year in it and 10+ of the runners were significantly faster and older than me. That was cool.
Weatherboy - I can't believe you're already back up so quickly! Are you doing Boston? I don't see it on the chart. Sucks you've already got the 70s temp back. For me there's a huge difference between 64 and 70. At 64 I felt like I could go almost all out this weekend, where I doubt that would have been true for 70.
JT- Are you re-thinking the no spring marathon thing? Seems like you're mileage/workouts would easily support building for one.
CK - I'm confused. Are you running a 50k or a marathon?
JMac - that's a great race you had. Looks like it served its exact purpose. I'd ignore those VDot tables. Not only do you have a lot of time, it seems like you always skew towards being better the longer the race. As far as my plans, I am fairly certain I'll target the half in Madrid as a big goal race and go for a PR (1:19:20 is my current PR). Should be doable. I plan to race one or two more times before then for fun like I did this past weekend, but not take it all too seriously. I mean I'll still go all out, but I'm not going adjust my schedule or anything. Or even do workouts. I'll try to focus my training more by early March.
Kram - Keep it together! all this ankle stuff around here must be contagious.
Upcoming races: Boston
I'm sorry macey.runner I can't give you advice on what you're asking since you're a stronger runner than I am.
I think both your questions are excellent, and I'd be wondering the same thing too.
The 3:30 marathon 22 days before I would do if:
For the 10K 9 days before... I would not race it all out if the marathon is a target race.
Feel free to ignore what I said. It is not advice, but what I think I would do.
Brewing: That 4.06 was as a 17 year old - I think i finished 8th in the Junior men's North East track champs. The winner did something ridiculous like 3.57. I'm similar to you these days and don't think I could hold that pace for 100m.
Yeah, without the medication (infliximab) it gets quite painful and I end up shuffling around like a 100 yr old.
The Palestine marathon is pretty low key so no pacers however whilst it is important to my friend there's no way he would ask me to run it if it meant putting my sub 3 attempt in jeopardy.
Cyberic: Thanks for your thoughts -similar to what Brewing was saying.
Vienna is the target race and has been since I ran the 3.05 last March. I have done some decent mileage in the past couple of years as I trained for a couple of Ultras (70km and an 80km) but you're absolutely right in that the target race should be my priority.
Cheers both!