Forums >Racing>2017 Sub 3 Marathons...and beyond!
Must Go Faster
Awesome sub 17 Marky.
PRs: 5k: 16:45 (04/17) -- 10k: 35:48 (03/18) -- 10m: 58:04 (04/16) -- HM: 1:17:29 (03/18) -- FM: 2:47:11 (11/17)
Goals: 2:44 FM, 16:29 5k
Next Up: Cherry Blossom 10 (4/19), Boston (04/19)
Mmmm Bop
Congrats Marky, super impressive win and time on a tough course!
5k - 17:53 (4/19) 10k - 37:53 (11/18) Half - 1:23:18 (4/19) Full - 2:50:43 (4/19)
Thanks all, stoked with the race and it was a good week up until Sunday. I was planning 3 x 6km HMP tempo blocks and took it easy on Saturday so I'd be fresh. Humid conditions, wind, and I just wasn't feeling it. My goal pace was around 3:45-3:50/km, first block was about that mark but hard going, second block was into the wind and a bit slow, third block I was just feeling really tired so pulled the pin after 3km. I think just a bit of tiredness after Wednesday's race and a busy week at work - I did a 10km tempo at similar pace/faster last week with no issues, so I'll take a rest day tomorrow I think.
M: 9.1km easy
T: weights, 30 mins spin bike
W: 5.5km easy jog (AM), 5km race (16:43) (PM)
Th: 13.8km easy
F: weights, 30 mins spin bike
S: 11.5km easy
S: 25km incl. failed HMP tempo efforts
Total: 71km
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: Waterfront HM, 7 Apr, 1:15:48
Up next: Runway5, 4 May
"CONSISTENCY IS KING"
Mark - Great job on the race. I wouldn't worry too much about the HMP workout. That's a crap ton of distance at that pace. Have you done that workout before?
My week:
Weekly SummaryMonday, Nov 20, 2017 thru Sunday, Nov 26, 2017
The turkey trot was an 8k, which I did in 28:40. But I don't think it was quite 8k. Either way, I was pleased with it. This about the same pace I ran for a similar distance 2 years ago, leading up to my PR half. So hopefully I can get another PR this January. I'll start with some workouts towards that this week.
Upcoming races: Boston
RIP Milkman
Andres - Good tune-up race. How are you feeling now that you're getting pretty deep into half training? Also, what are you using to generate your half workouts?
Mark - You've done a lot of training post marathon, and just ran a PR. I wouldn't worry about that workout, it's not surprising at all.
Me - 30 miles in my build back up. After all my hemming and hawing, I've decided I'm going to run NYC again in 2018. This is my hometown race (if you can ever call NYC a hometown), I have a lot of friends that can support me throughout the course, family near by, and I have a qualifying half time. Who knows how much longer I will be able to qualify for the race through time given how difficult the standard is to other races, so I might as well run it while I still have all of these things working for me. Plus, it's always nice to roll out of your own bed for a race than a hotel. So what if I lose 2 minutes because it's a difficult course?
5K: 16:37 (11/20) | 10K: 34:49 (10/19) | HM: 1:14:57 (5/22) | FM: 2:36:31 (12/19)
Wow - congrats Mark. Way to smash right through that 17 min mark. Looks like you have some faster times ahead with some direct 5K training and/or cooler weather. Nice job and a well earned rest day!
Andres: Nice job on the 8K. Looks like you are rounding into shape. Hope you get good weather come January!
Here is my week. Had a slight set back early in the week with a minor tweak to my left knee and/or quad. It was runnable but cut the planned mileage, including riding the stationary bike mid-week to speed up recovery. Think the hot/humid half 3 weeks back impacted more than I care to admit. Didn't help that I ended up running 80 and 84 miles the past 2 weeks on top of that effort. Always learning! By Thursday/Friday things were feeling pretty good, but I had already decided not to "race" my scheduled half on Sunday just to be sure. Decided instead to run with and pace a good friend to a potential sub 1:22 half, which still isn't a walk in the park for me by any means. The good news is that the weather was great (upper 50's) and the knee felt pretty good and we ran a 1:21:03. With about 800 meters to go I knew we would be close to a sub 81 and I tried to pull him along, but we finished a few seconds above that time. He was able to PR by quite a bit anyways so it really didn't matter in the end. I think had I not raced in my humid death march 3 weeks prior and not tweaked the leg just a bit earlier in the week this "could" have been a day to run somewhere around 1:18 and change. Either way this was an excellent workout (18 miles for the day) for the full.
Weekly Summary Monday, Nov 20, 2017 thru Sunday, Nov 26, 2017
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)
Blazing 5k Mark! Congrats on the win too.
I shuffled my week around partially for the holiday and partially to line up a long run with a running buddy who is about 8 weeks closer to his goal race. Week 2 of Pfitz has a 16 mile long run with 8 @ MP for the long run. I did that on Thursday, rested on Friday and did 22 easy on Saturday.
For the MP miles, I don't know what to aim for really, but wanted to see if I could hold a 6:40 pace. I had thought about doing 9 miles just because that pace is 9 miles per hour, but decided to call it after 8 miles. My heart rate was hitting 87% (HRR) for the last couple of miles so I knew I was working too hard for that pace. I purposely chose a pretty flat road and just went out 4.5 miles and U-turned back.
Monday, Nov 20, 2017 thru Sunday, Nov 26, 2017
Nice Philly sub-3's. I ran that race in '14 and '15 and it's a good race (and I heard they actually improved it since then). And yes it was windy that Sunday (I wimped out and ran inside).
I'm still doing a mish-mash of running/indoor cycling. (I haven't taken a day off this month). It's amazing how shitty my legs feel on the bike after about 1 hour. Simply doing workouts based upon power and current FTP. HR is low stillHowever, I've kind of been happy with the running paces that I'm seeing. Even with weeks of 35, 23, 24, 29 the past 4. Ran a solo turkey trot on Thursday going 7:44 (134), 6:33 (156), 6:25 (162), 6:22 (164) and then my 11 @ 8:00 (139) yesterday. Might try to run an official 5k on Sunday and see if I can get sub-20 (or lower).
I'm definitely out of my league posting in this forum...
JMac - good call on doing NYC again. If I lived there, I'd have a hard time passing on it too.
As for my workouts, I'm pulling them from Hansons (their Half Marathon plan). It's essentially the same workouts that they do at the end of Full training, just switch out GMP for GHMP. So beginning this week I'll do the following (one each week):
1. 4x1.5m @ GHMP -10s w/~2min recovery
2. 3x2m @ GHMP-10s w/~3min recovery
3. 2x3m @ GHMP-10s w/~4min recovery
4. 3x2m @ GHMP-10s w/~3min recovery
5. 4x1.5m @ GHMP -10s w/~2min recovery
I did this 2 years ago leading up to my half PR, and I plan to repeat it. I kind of did it by feel with a rough goal time in mind, and worked the GHMP down over the weeks. Going over my Strava notes, this is what I ended up with for the 4x1.5 splits (first/last weeks): 6:00/5:47, 6:01/5:49, 5:59/5:50, 6:00/5:46. I did the 2x3mi in 17:40 and 17:57. All of that led to a half at 6:03 pace. The last two weeks leading up to the race didn't go exactly as I would have hoped, with a little bit of an injury scare that caused a big drop in mileage.
I'll let the workouts guide me to my goal when I line up, but my current, overly ambitious goal is to be able to get to where I have the confidence to try for 5:55 pace. Now I just need to do the work and stay healthy.
Andres / JMac- yeah I've done a similar workout before... 3 x 20 mins at HMP. That workout was tough but manageable and it was only the third block where I had to dig it in. This time I just felt off from the start so I guess just a bit fatigued... I'll just put it down to a bad day and enjoy having a day or two off!
Nice to see all the Turkey Trots popping up on Strava or in here!! That is a pretty sweet holiday tradition that we don't have down here in New Zealand unfortunately.
JMac - I can totally get why you'd shoot for NYC again!! I feel the same way about Auckland, which is my hometown race (big by our standards, but not big by international marathon standards). It's not the easiest course around and there are faster races in NZ but it's been good to me for both the half marathon and the marathon. And being able to drive 5 mins down the road, and catch a 15 minute bus to the start line is super-handy!
Only 46 miles for me last week. But I did run up three (little) mountains and rack up my highest gainz week in a long time, 6378 feet. That works out to 138 feet per mile. No wonder my legs are wrecked. And I managed to not gain any weight over the weekend somehow. Diet starts today. Gotta lose a few pounds before the next cycle begins. Good thing December is the easiest month for weigth loss.
Mark: Congrats on the awesome 5k PR and the win! Great race report.
Andres: Excellent 8k race! That's a great time a bodes well for your HM in January.
Weatherboy: A 1:21 flat from pacing a friend... I'm jealous! That should boost your confidence even more that your training is dialed in correctly. Hope the knee issue is resolved.
JMac: I can understand the attraction of sticking with your local race for your marathon. It does take a mental burden off when you don't have to worry about significant travelling to get to your race.
DCV: Good luck on the 5k if you decide to go for it.
Last week was only 43 miles for me. Travelling to MI and back took time and I decided not to force things. It was a week to recharge before starting the cycle for Ocean's Run.
2:52:16 (2018)
Week 17- St Jude Marathon next week!
Monday, Nov 20, 2017 thru Sunday, Nov 26, 2017
This was a good last week of training. I got a solid track workout in on Monday. The pace felt relatively easy and gave me a lot of confidence going into my last tempo. Wednesday was a 10 mile tempo at 5:42. This also felt great and I definitely could have pushed the pace some more. I ran into a pretty stout headwind for all of mile 9 and that slowed down my finish quite a bit. Overall, very happy with the workout. Wednesday marked my last real workout and the start of my 10 day taper. The hay is in the barn!
For those that follow on strava, you already know that I am still torn on my race pace. My 1:14 half 3 weeks ago was run solo, with no taper, and with relative ease. There is a guy that is sponsored by Skechers (Chris Raulli) coming down from New York for the race and it looks like he should be running between 2:30-2:33. I believe that on I perfect day that I could push down to 2:32, but that the more realistic goal is between 2:34-2:35. I think my goal is to start conservative and see what I have in the tank towards the end. But I know that I will have a very hard time holding back if he is always just a little ways ahead of me. I can't wait for Saturday!
Oh, and if anyone wants to track me you just got to : https://www.stjude.org/get-involved/at-play/fitness-for-st-jude/memphis-marathon/event-information/runner-tracking.html#/tracker
My Bib # is 3 and my name is Adam Higham.
Flash - Good luck in the race. Race smart.
My week 10/12 for Tucson on 12/9.:
Monday - 6 easy TM
Tuesday - 10 with 4x10 minutes tempo
Wednesday - 5 easy TM with some pickups
Thursday - 10 easy roads with some pickup
Friday - 6 easy roads with some pickups
Saturday - 15.5 with 2x2 miles tempo early.
Sunday - 10.5 trails
Total - 63 miles
I think things are coming together for my race. I'm not sure I'm quite in shape for my sub-2:49 (MM) goal.
Does anyone here give up coffee the week before your race?
Anyone here in the Western States lottery this weekend (I've got two tickets)?