Forums >Racing>2023 The Waltons: Racing & Training Thread
Mark - Nice week, especially with a sluggish start.
James - Smart idea to give your calf some rest with pool running. I hope today's run went OK.
Darkwave - Good job getting in some work so soon after a half. No problems from the spacers with chafing or blisters? I guess I don't know enough about them.
My race went very well today. I'll write more later, but the short story is my best time on that course was lowered from 1:54:53 to 1:54:02.
5k 23:48.45 (3/22); 4M 31:26 (2/22); 5M 38:57 (11/22); 10k 49:24 (10/22); Half 1:48:32 (10/22)Upcoming race(s): NYC Marathon, 11/5/23; Turkey Trot, 11/25
Glute Force
Mark nice week. Fred + DW congratulations on your races! I liked the report a lot.
My week was a disaster. Flew to FL for work and those 20 degrees Celsius difference plus the jet lag killed me. I had to do doubles at super slow paces, just didn’t have it in me to do longer runs. Oh well almost 8 hours on my feet and 8 runs. Next week I will have to resume my proper training schedule.
Yawn. I am so sleepy. I tried going to bed a little early last night and proceeded to "sleep" like crap. I hate the time change. Pick one. At this point, i don't care which.
My week:
Monday- rest day
Tuesday am:7.3 miles with 5 x 3 min 5k effort plus 1 mile tempo. PM; strength training
Wednesday 3.5 miles on the treadmill + strength training
Thursday 25 minutes very easy (treadmill)
Friday 5 miles with 6 strides
Saturday 3 easy
Sunday 10 easy-ish on a hilly loop
Mark, I hate people not sharing the sidewalk. Here it is less the cyclists and more walkers and some runners. That said, today when I ran through the county park, everyone was getting off the path to yield, which is unusual.
JamesD, that sucks with the calf issue. Hopefully the pool running helps.
dadrwave, eith Salisbury or Atlantic City. Both are the first weekend in April. Will likely pick AC to make a long weekend with DH. We may also use that as a way to drop off furniture at BIL's house near Philly on the way there since he has made no effort over the last 2 years to come get it.
A week of mostly tapering for me, capped off by Sunday's half marathon. 37.6 miles / 60.5km / 6:08:41.
E. Murray Todd Half Marathon
Hey all,
sorry I've been MIA. The bosses have been gone at work leaving me busy. I've also been struggling with injury but the oddity here is that it doesn't seem to affect my running but rather my swimming and planking. I am seeing a doc tomorrow morning to check it out.
I had a great weekend warrior week
M - short swim + 2 mile run
T - awesome swim but felt the injury in my abs.
W-F - off, minor freak out.
S - 8.8 miles of snowy trails w/ friends. Walked some of the uphills so it was super chill.
S - 14 miles with a buddy. I was great for the first 11 miles at which point my old calf/hamstring injury kicked in and I just focused on relaxing and moving forward.
Anyways, it's hard to call that progress despite that fact that I'm kind of happy my running is maybe viable? I'm at a point where after a referral to a PT I'm telling myself it's viable to just take an entire month off but honestly by Friday of this week I was going totally stir crazy.
1600 - 5:23 (2018), 5k - 19:33 (2018), 10k - 41:20 (2021), half - 1:38:57 (2018), Marathon - 3:37:17 (2018)
I also have Running Rewired - I recommend it. My right foot dextirity is poor, but it was much worse until reading his book. I probably need to do more of those foot excercise he recommends (I've done them, but probably need a bit more). The only problem with the book is that the strength workouts have too much volume and cannot be done in the time that he recommends.
This!! He says they take 15-20 minutes when in reality they take 40. It's just not even close.
Nice 17 miler.
James - "I guess the calf gives me the back-of-leg-injury bingo. " Yes, this sounds accurate. Mine started with hamstring but it's clear to me everything back there (including low back) is connected.
Darkwave - amazing race but that first mile is a big uh-oh for Cherry Blossom. I hope you can figure that out.
Mick - I don't understand how there are any runners in Florida.
Fred - great race!
HCK - I think I've heard something about the time change from 10 people at work so far. You're not alone.
E. Murray Todd Half Marathon, Lincroft, 3/12/23
(If you don't like all the intro stuff, skip to the 4th paragraph.) This was my 3rd running of "the Todd" and I really like it for several reasons. There are few half marathon options in NJ in the spring and many of them are late in the spring, risking too warm weather (technically this race is run in winter, since we've yet to mark the equinox, but I consider it part of the spring season). The race has been around for decades and attracts some really strong, fast runners. The top 4 this year ran in 1:15:54.9, 16:40.2, 16:47.0, and 16:58.8; I've run races where nobody breaks 1:20 or even 1:25. The 1:48 that got me 2nd in my AG in a race last fall would have put me in 15th in AG yesterday. I also like the race for it's down-to-business, no-frills attitude. No long speeches at the start, just get ready and we're off. Finally, there's the nice aspect of starting and ending right near a county college gymnasium, allowing runners to wait indoors until just before the start (with real plumbing) and providing a place to change afterwards.
In my first race here, I ran with the 2:00 pace group most of the way and took off with a few miles to go, getting what at that time was only my second sub-1:58. Last year I ran with the 2:00 pacers for 5 miles and then sped up, getting a 1:54:53 in a race that I was using as a tune-up for a sub-1:50 attempt later in the spring (I got 1:50:47 in the target race). Both times I really enjoyed the group chatter that the pacers kept going, so I decided yesterday would be a repeat of last year - run with the 2:00 pace group for 5 miles for fun and then push hard in the last 8 and see if I could better the 1:54:53.
The weather was great for the race day: 34º (1C) and sunny with a light wind (both the day before and the day after would be cold, rainy, and windy). I was on the fence about what to wear. I went for a ½ mile warmup run in a long-sleeved quarter zip, and decided I could do with less. I changed into a t-shirt with arm sleeves, a warm headband, and a tube scarf around my neck. I met up with the 2:00 pace group, chatted with the lead pacer, Adam, a bit (I've seen him at some other races and will again later this year), and got ready to go. The scarf came off after the second mile, easily wrapped around my wrist and thus no inconvenience. I was moving along easily - it really is relaxing when someone else is taking care of the pacing.
Just before I left the pace group, the route took a left turn from one road to another. There was a gas station on the corner and one guy ran through the gas station. About 20 people saw it and called out things like "What was that?" and "Course cutter!" The guy was wearing headphones so I don't know if he was oblivious to all the comments or used the headphones as an excuse to pretend he didn't hear. I said farewell to the pace group, took my headband off, and started targeting an 8:30 (or better pace), planning to keep track of how far ahead or behind I was.
Mile 6 was an 8:28, which wasn't bad after having been running 9:07, so I was +2 to goal. Mile 7, with some hill climbing was 8:29 so +3 now. Mile 8 also had some ups and downs and was an 8:30, so still +3. By this point I was feeling some rhythm, able to pick up the pace on the downhills and conserve energy on the uphills, and had also rolled down the arm sleeves so I was effectively running in a t-shirt. Mile 9, with more downhill was 8:26, so now +7. Then there was mile 10: a steep uphill followed by a longer, gradual uphill, but still tough. 8:48. Ugh. Suddenly I'm -11. I knew this would happen, but I still didn't like it. Mile 11 is a chance to make up for it with a lot of downhill, but I was tired and didn't know how I would do. Then: 8:12! Whoo-hoo! Back to +7. Mile 12 and I began to think I'd overcooked mile 11. I was hurting and kept falling off the pace. Focusing on runners ahead of me kept me going, but it was painful. 8:29. Then I saw my friend, Vitaly, who had also run the race (in 1:27:34) as he'd come back to run the last mile with me. It's mostly flat and downhill. My legs were seriously hurting me, but I was able to keep going and ran an 8:13, securing a new course record for myself. (And there was Vitaly, running backwards and sideways to take pictures while I'm struggling to run 8:10 going forward! Seriously, though, it was great to have him running along with me.) The final chute came along and I crossed the line in 1:54:02, close to a minute better than last year. I was quite happy with the result.
After the race, I hung out with Vitaly a bit, got to exchange few words with Adam, and headed to the locker room to change into the clothes I had grabbed from my dresser. It turns out I had happened to take a pair my son's briefs that my wife had accidentally put into my drawer, giving a whole new meaning to the term "tighty-whities."
Finish line video at the link below. I'm about the 5th person to cross, in red shorts. at 1:54:20 on the clock.
https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/E-1ERXjg1Os?start=2305&end=2330&autoplay=1
Fred - great job on the race and congrats on the course PB... those sound like my absolute dream conditions (I prefer the cold). Vitaly is a nice guy, he was in my team for the 2022 in 2022 game last year. I love how the race is referred to as "the Todd"!
MJ - I don't how runners survive in Florida, honestly. Rough.
Kathi - I hate the DST changeover in the direction you've just copped, but I love it in the direction we're gonna get in 3 weeks time. Aside from the fact that my HM has a 7am start literally the morning after the changeover, so it's going to be a VERY early start that day.
Zebano - very envious of those snowy trails.
Darkwave - that spacer sounds awkward! Good luck with it.
James - I admire your patience with the pool running.
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: Xterra Riverhead, 3 Sept, got super muddy.
Up next: Devonport HM, 1 Oct, goal: course PB.
"CONSISTENCY IS KING"
Hot Weather Complainer
Doesn't that make it essentially an 8am start? I had the other direction in Melbourne. 7am start became essentially a 6am start. I was up at 3am...
Fred - Congrats on yet another outstanding race.
5km: 18:40 9/23 │ 10km: 39:10 8/23 │ HM: 1:27:32* 5/22 │ M: 3:34:49 6/23
*Net Downhill. Flat course PR: 1:29:25 6/16
Upcoming Races:
Run Prix Half Marathon (Melbourne) September 24, 2023
Christchurch Marathon April 21, 2024
I think you may be right lol
Fred, nicec job with the race. Definitely sounds like a good race--I really like when they just get to the race, especially when it's cold. Hopefully the post race in DS's clothes wasn't too uncomfortable. Also, cool you got to meet Vitaly, I was also on his team last year.
Mark, I should like the fall back part of the time change, but that messes me up too. I get used to my lousy sleep schedule, I don't need something else to mess with it. There used to be a very local 5k the Sunday when the clocks got set back, that was mentioned very prominentaly on the race page.
Mark, Kathi - Agreed Vitaly's a good man. I've run 5 halves (I think) with him now and most of the time he's come back after finishing and run my last mile or so with me. I met him for the first time at the AC race where the wind turned into a gale, which I'm pretty sure Kathi was also at, though we didn't manage to spot one another.
As to the clothes, I just put the underwear back in my bag and wore my sweatpants "commando" for the drive home (then right into the laundry).
Mark - I also prefer the cold. The forecast for my 5k on Sunday is right around the freezing point. As long as it's sunny and the wind isn't too bad, that's fine with me.
Mick, Zebano, Mark, Steve, Kathi, DW - thank you.
Fred - good luck for the 5k!
Pretty good week of training all in all. Really felt like I started to hit a groove consistently through the middle of the week... probably the arrival of some very nice autumn running conditions helped, but it's always good for the confidence when you're hitting 4 minute k's without really trying and the heart rate is still comfortably in the easy zone. Saturday was a bit humid again, but still managed a decent set of progressive mile repeats on the track. Good confidence building week, and with races in 2 and 7 weeks, it came at a good time as well.
Fred: great video, super finish
Mark: I thought I could catch you this week from a km point of view but you are just so fast, there is no chance.
I have included a 6th running day, all easy except for a long run and one run with some tempo elements. I was almost able to finish the "workout" (Jack Daniels is the devils apprentice, responsible to torture hobby runners). 8h30 time on feet - have been moving above 8 hours for the third consecutive week now. So far not seriously injured, just have some niggles but all manageable. My marathon debut is in 5 weeks time, so I have 4 weeks of serious work ahead of me.