Jmac - You have a point there with the dew point thingy. We’re in the mountains, and even though the weather forecast says 18c 65f it feels much cooler.

Watson - It’s great to see you back in action with a nice week. You were on the shelves for a long time and now the fitness is coming back nicely.

Steve - another awesome week. 

Coaches - I try to execute the workouts even when they don’t feel doable. I surprise myself often.

Other times I just can’t reach the paces. I think there’s some intuition involved in coaching as well.

You must trust the process, cause otherwise you’re limited by your mindset.

Me - A nice week though I’m pretty tired and I have asked for a cut back week next.

Weekly for period: From: 31/05/2021 To 06/06/2021

Total distance: 87.85km - 54.6miles - 7h28

Flavio - Nice one, building up nicely to show the sub 3 thread who's boss.

Also, you (and watson) are right - I will listen to my coach!  He's only run about 100 marathons and trained people for thousands...looks like he's updated my online document and this week looks more like 80 which is a decent drop.  Still a long midweek run but much shorter weekend run.

It's still 20 days to go but I feel like taper madness will be epic.  I'm already studying the weather to see if I can use the 10 day forecast to extrapolate out to 20...

Steve - have you identified several different weather services to cross-reference?  That's the next step.  Enjoy the taper!

Flavio - good week with lots of quality!

James - I'm glad to see the consistency.  Interesting comment on the little things that keep popping up.  For me that's honestly part of running - there's almost always something that I feel that has to be managed (and prompts regular deliberation of "should I run on this or not")  I'm curious to hear what others' experiences are.  And I'm guessing that in your case, these are more than just "wow, my quad is a bit tight today"?

Nice week Piwi- I want to run in a place called Papamoa.

Marky-Mark - congrats on beating the downpour (and not being hampered by the cold)

watsonc - that was a good steady performance in that 5K.  And congrats on the weekly distance PR.

***

Obligatory cicada comment.  So...I saw one of my running buddies this morning - he's from NZ and still a citizen - he now works at the World Bank or IMF (I forget which one) but returns to NZ regularly.    I asked him if they really did have cicadas like this in NZ.  His response was that yes, you have cicadas.   Normal cicadas.   Your cicadas are not like ours at all.  Specifically, you don't have swarms of them everywhere and flying into everything (it's become normal to get struck by cicadas several times during a run), and yours aren't as loud.

So there.  Our cicadas are superspecial.  

 

 

Coaches - I try to execute the workouts even when they don’t feel doable. I surprise myself often.

Other times I just can’t reach the paces. I think there’s some intuition involved in coaching as well.

You must trust the process, cause otherwise you’re limited by your mindset.

 

Even without a coach (previously), I always get through a full warmup and try the first rep. It's usually do-able if the workouts are tailored to you. This also feeds in to DW's point that there's always something (beyond general soreness) that has me questioning if I should run. Sometimes it's an achilles, other times the lower back or hamstring. Most of the time a small ache is ok but I try to determine if it's changing my stride.

The heat in the US is getting unbearable. I'll leave it at that but I miss the spring.

A good week. The 2x.1.5 was honestly quite difficult and if I didn't have water on my long run I would have struggled. My watche's navigation feature kinda sucks. I guess that's 46 miles of running.

Piwi - yep would've been a miserable day for that Mount Joggers Half.

Steve - I've challenged my coach on things from time to time.  The best coaches know when to listen and modify the plan accordingly (and when not to!).

Watson - decent week with a lot of quality there (and the usual healthy dose of elevation).  Not sure how I keep fluking elevation gain on track workouts!

Darkwave - sounds like miserable conditions for a long run.  Good job getting it done.

Flavio - another good week, I'd say not a bad time for an easier week tbh.

Zebano - nice week and welcome to weather complaining, which is our second favourite hobby on here after running.

"Running" a bit behind this AM.

I managed another decent week within my target miles range 30-35 hitting right at 32, a little less than last week but was recovering early in the week.  Feel good right now we will see how this week goes.

I've noticed the thigh soreness has gone now I think I just needed to hit a certain level and maintain it through and now I'm good.

Feet a bit sore not unusual for me it really comes and goes but I think it is time for some new shoes as I am right at about 400 on my current pair.

Weekly for period: From: 05/31/2021 To 06/06/2021

Total distance: 33.95mi

James - I remember when you were averaging 25 mpw. Really well done.

Steve - I agree with Piwi's point on the fitness gain being there regardless of what  happens. We sometimes put all of our eggs in one basket with marathons and then feel it was all a waste if it doesn't go well. This will be your first marathon and you have to be prepared for it to not go exactly as planned. However, heading into the spring you will be in top shape and can smash a bunch of PRs at other distances as well.

DW - I was watching the golf tournament this weekend in Ohio and I couldn't believe how bad these cicadas are. I grew up with them my whole life, but I never saw so many that were on people.

Zebano - I feel like we never get the 70s. It jumps straight from 60s to 80s/90s here in NYC. Agreed on the Strava challenges too: they're good for new runners to push themselves but otherwise don't help me.

Corey - I find my shoes usually go at the 350-450 mark, so that sounds about right.

Me - 5K sucked as expected. 17:44, so didn't even get my heat adjusted sub 17:30 I was pushing for. I won the race by a huge margin (it was a charity 5K with 50 person staggered starts), but I don't think that impacted me at all that I didn't have someone to run with. It was the heat plus humidity (according to the nearest weather station, it was 80F plus 66F dew point, or 27/19 for the weirdos), plus the fact I haven't done a V02 max workout since October! My legs were fine, I just couldn't breathe. I know that's usually the case with 5Ks, but this air sucking was way worse than normal. I know I'm in better shape than that time because I did a 6 mile tempo a few weeks ago around 5:50 pace, so I'm not too worried. I knew the race was in trouble when I saw the pink unicorn around the 1.5 mile mark, which was way too early. Piwi - I barely even deserve a participation certificate. They should have just given me swift kick in the groin and sent me home without a medal.

Still, it was fun to be out there racing again. Going to try to find another 5K to suffer my way through in 3-4 weeks. Also going to do a couple of V02 max workouts in the coming weeks to get that breathing fixed. CIM training won't really start until August so I can dedicate some time to the fast stuff now, which should be great base prep for marathon training.

ETA: I always remember what DW has said which is that even a bad race is a good workout. I gained some fitness by running this race, so I feel confident I can run a good race when I try again in a few weeks, barring another awful weather day.