Forums >Racing>2020 Marathon Training and relevant COVID 19 discussion echo chamber
We will all be self-isolating by the end of the year and running virtual races on our treadmills. 😷
Mother of Cats
I guess it would have been smart to buy Peloton stock a few weeks back....
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.
Legs felt pretty sluggish at the start of the week, but great for Saturday's long run. Not sure why coach put my track session on Sunday but it was tough getting the legs turning over the day after a long run. Probably another reasonable volume week this week, and then a lighter week next week with the Albany Lakes 10km / final race of the North Shore Run Series on Sun 22nd.
M: 5km recovery, weights
T: 17.8km easy-ish
W: 12.7km easy
T: 20.2km w/ progressive intervals
F: weights
S: 28.5km long run
S: 14km track
Total: 98.3km / 61.1 miles
3,000m: 9:07.7 (Nov-21) | 5,000m: 15:39 (Dec-19) | 10,000m: 32:34 (Mar-20)
10km: 33:15 (Sep-19) | HM: 1:09:41 (May-21)* | FM: 2:41:41 (Oct-20)
* Net downhill course
Last race: Runway5 / National 5k Champs, 16:22, National Masters AG Champ!
Up next: Still working on that...
"CONSISTENCY IS KING"
RIP Milkman
TL;DR version: do you modify your taper into a race if you get sick 2 weeks prior, or do you just keep everything as planned?
Question for the group (assuming the NYC half is still going to happen; NYRR sent out an email saying it’s still planned, but my guess is the NYC area is going to have something like 500 cases of coronavirus by next weekend so we’ll see):
I just had the flu for 4 days. Yes, the flu, not corona, as confirmed by a positive flu test. Anyway, I clearly missed some quality work and mileage. I’m probably going to dial my goal back a hair, but that isn’t what this question is about. Rather, has anyone dealt with a sickness this close to a race? The timing is super awkward. Obviously if the race was tomorrow, nothing I could do about it. If the race was 2 Sundays from now, then I would just pick up normal training and taper as usual.
However, with only 8 days to go, the question is: do I taper exactly like I would have if I didn’t get sick, or should I taper slightly less? Obviously my legs are pretty fresh right now after taking 4 straight days off, but I don’t know if that’s an excuse to put some more mileage in. Here was my original plan:
Saturday (today): 22
Sunday: 7
Monday: 11
Tuesday: 18 with 2x3 @ LT
Wednesday: 7
Thursday: 6
Friday: OFF
Saturday: 4
Sunday: Race
As you can see, still getting my quality in during race week as the real goal race is theoretically Boston, but still a pretty good taper the 4 days before. So I was thinking of effectively keeping it the same, but moving my long run to tomorrow (today was my first day back so couldn’t just go hit 22 coming off the flu), then 7 on Monday, then the same plan. I figured I only need 1 day in between the 22 and the 18 because my legs are so fresh. However, Is that too much taper though given the 4 days off this week? The only thing I can see doing is maybe pushing the quality day on Tuesday out to Wednesday, but that gives me one less day of easy running before the race.
Any other ideas are appreciated!
5K: 16:37 (11/20) | 10K: 34:49 (10/19) | HM: 1:14:57 (5/22) | FM: 2:36:31 (12/19)
JMac - my opinion only, pretty sure it won't be very popular among you tough guys but I would spend next two weeks based totally on the way I feel day by day. It was a flu, it was pretty serious, the post-flu symptoms can last up to 2 weeks - I would not stress my body after that too much and just have fun and do my best based on the flu fact - I would probably have 4 days of taper - last not too hard speed workout would do something like 4 days away from the race. And main thing - I would not stress the result at all - just go do my best in the half - and would not judge myself too much - things just didn't work the way I would like them to.
paces PRs - 5K - 5:48 / 10K - 6:05 / HM - 6:14 / FM - 6:26 per mile
Resident Historian
Barcelona Marathon (March 15) now off, rescheduled to Oct. 5.
I had considered going to this one, combined with a visit to Valencia for Fallas Festival. I couldn't have run, as it turns out, but glad I didn't book anything.
Probability of London being cancelled is getting higher... and Boston?
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
Jmac: Well, Coumo just declared a state of emergency, so I can't see how this would go ahead... but, I would echo Oleg and say be careful. While, fluid may have stopped leaking from everywhere, clean-up and recovery will take a little longer. Play this 100% by day to day feel. It could be worth trying out say 5k at pace just to see how recovered you really are...
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)
Thanks guys. Just to be clear because it wasn't in my post: I had a relatively mild case. I got the flu shot and still caught the flu for a strain that was in the shot (A). But because I had the shot, I only had mild symptoms. Still led to 4 days off. But it wasn't one of the devastating flus where you feel like you got hit by a truck. I'm definitely not ready for 5k pace (tried to do strides today and after one stride I realized my lungs weren't ready), but I can definitely do less oxygen intensive work. So I think a long run is definitely in the cards, and a LT run in a couple of days should be fine too. It's just a question of what to tackle to hit the half taper properly, assuming Corona doesn't shut the race down.
JMac - I'd just follow your plan, but be open to scaling things back based on how you feel.
Me - Just capped off my two biggest weeks of this cycle. LAT took some time to recover from but I felt great for my long run. I'm likely racing a 10k next weekend and overall am feeling confident to lower my marathon PR in a few weeks.
M - 6/6
T - 15/6
W - 6/6
R - 14 (w/ 7 @ LAT 5:30)/6
F - 6/6
S - 24 (6:28 pace, last 5 <6:15)
S - 4.5
Total - 105
My week:
Mon - 8 with Mona Fartlek
Tue - 12 MLR
Wed - 6 easy
Thu - 8 with 4 at HMP
Fri - 6 easy
Sat - 18 LR with 4 fast finish
Total - 65 miles
Comments:
- The Tuesday workout was pretty awful. I was targeting 7:00-7:05, which I was able to hit pretty consistently in a similar workout a couple weeks ago. This time the splits ranged from 7:08-7:17. Couldn’t hit the pace or find a groove. Maybe it didn’t help that the rout was a bit hilly and it was quite windy. Plus I was out of town, maybe some travel fatigue factor. Blah blah blah. Maybe just a bad day, it happens. - Saturday is my running group. However my regular crew within the group was only going 14, and at a bit slower pace than usual. I stuck with them anyway, then decided on the fly to add 4 miles at the end targeting GMP (7:35). Apparently I still had some juice left because it ended up averaging 7:24. Not earth-shaking since it wasn’t a very long stretch, but felt pretty good about it this early in the cycle - 8 weeks out. Assuming my marathon isn’t cancelled.
In other news:
I got in on the pace team for the Rock n Roll Seattle Marathon in June. I am pretty excited and a little bit nervous, since I have never actually paced before. One concern is that it is pretty hilly, so probably tough to pace well. Another is that it is 5 weeks after my goal marathon. It usually takes me about a month to feel like myself again after racing a marathon hard, so it’s kind of a close call. On the flip side - they actually split the pacing duties in half, so I’d only be running 13.1. Also they pace in pairs - I’d have a partner, so the pressure of letting everyone down if I do a crappy job is not all on me.
Dave
Great week DaveP. I'd also be a bit fidgety about pacing in a big marathon. But the double team, and only half of it does take some pressure off.
MadisonRunner, wow, I've never done a 100 mile week. A couple of people here are very high mileage runners, and it seems you are one of the century runners.
Me: Had a very good week compared to what I've had lately. I've done my run commutes, as always.
Mon - did hill sprints at the end of my commute back home
Tue - 3 x (2K / 1 min)
Fri - 7 x (400m / 200m float). Wasn't looking at my watch, and was in my cool down when I heard beep-beep-beep, what? looked at it and it was beeping the end of my 8th 400. The workout was programmed in my watch, and I managed to screw it up.
Sat - 14.9 miles with a little portion accompanying friends during a workout
Sun - LR - 18.7 miles
Total for the week: 88 miles.
Still have not commited to any race or distance for the spring.
ETA:
Marky Mark: I appreciate the kilometers
I've never done a 100 mile week.
It’s a little surprising considering how high your mileage is - last two years at 3500 and 3700 miles. But you just kind of stay consistently high, with a relatively low standard deviation.
Jmac: I think the day that would get the most attention from me, in terms of thinking about adjustments, is the Tuesday workout. I'd probably put the threshold stuff early in the run, cut it back to either 2x2 or 1x3 if things felt a bit off, and leave the option open to cut the run a little short if need be.
Not running related: downhill skiing world cup finals are cancelled due to the virus. Can't help but wonder if some March Madness games will be held without spectators.
I'm officially signed up for the Twin Cities Marathon in October. Coach wants me to go through some speed and hill work before getting into the marathon cycle, since the last two cycles were ultras. This was my last week of recovery from BC100K, while introducing some speed work as things ramp back up.
M: 6.5M @ 9:17
T: 4M w/strides (had to cut this one short because we had to put my cat down)
W: 4.7M @ 8:40
T: 8.5M w/15 x (1min @ > 5K effort, 1min Recovery)
F: 3.4M @ 8:58
S: Rest
S: 10.2M @ 8:54
Total: 37.3M
Longboat - yeah, I am constantly thinking about visiting Barcelona - I know it should be beautiful. Running a marathon would be a great feat too, of course. Hopefully this craze with coronavirus subsides at some point.
Cyberic - huge mileage!
madisonrunner - very impressive mileage, especially taking into account you are doing workouts also. I guess your base is really huge
kram - hi! hope you get out of those doldrums and I pass you at Boston again!
JMac - I saw your 20+ fast LR today. Again, hard to say based on your description but if it was a real flu, I would be really careful - complications can be pretty bad - hope you can judge the way you feel appropriately.
DavePNW - solid mileage and congrats on the getting included to a pacing team. I know some people love doing that. I never felt urge for that - maybe it will change as I get older
OMR - yeah! Let's get back to business!
Had my biggest week since Nov 2018. Concentrated on mileage only as I still had some coughing and didn't want to stress my body too much. Managed to finish with impure* idiotic training week
Mon - 13.2 @9:23
Tue - 13.6 @8:53
Wed - 13.6 @9:09
Thu - 13.6 @9:27
Fri - 13.6 @9:11
Sat - 16.3 @9:05
Sun - 21.1 @10:53 - with 4,157 ft of ascent
===
Total: 105.2 miles
*pure idiotic training week would include 7 days of 11+ or 13+ or 15+ or 17+ miles days. I managed to do all of those kinds of weeks except of 17 miles days - it was challenging to find time for 5 such a long runs so early in the morning - could do couple of times, but waking up at 4 5 days a week - I could not handle that
Calbears, 105 miles also. Wow!
Not interested in adding fuel to the drama, and hopefully I'm not, but I've been meaning to ask if you typically keep high mileage with less intensity than the "normal" 20% ish often used by runners? I've tried that before, kept the mileage high and steady and did very little quality work between a fall marathon and a spring marathon. I like to try things out. I did a 2:59 in the fall, on a point to point net drop course, and the next spring I did 3:00 on a normal loop course. So I managed to pretty much keep my fitness, and one might even argue that 3:00 on a loop course is better than 2:59 on the cheater course. Overall I was pretty happy with my test at mostly volume. Did not lose fitness, might even have gained a little, through winter, with very little chance of injury.
Now I'm trying something else, and hopefully continue improving, but I have seen people doing well on only volume, and getting injured when joining the "intervals" train with promises of how good they could become.