Forums >Racing>2023 The Waltons: Racing & Training Thread
JamesD
Another decent week, with six running days because my run-3/swim-1 pattern put the swim day on Wednesday. My knees seem to be handling the shoes with fancy foams a little better - I did Sunday’s tempo in the Endorphin Speeds and Thursday’s not-really-long run in the Nike Turbo Natures, and the knees were sore for just a day or two after each run, down from several days in previous weeks. I do think I run faster in both pairs than in the shoes I was using previously for tempos and long runs, and I plan to race at least 5Ks in the Endorphin Speeds.
I’m off next week for five days in Banff, Canada, some of which will include light hiking. That number of days off shouldn’t cost me too much fitness, but I wonder if it’ll affect my heat acclimation. I’m pretty used to the hot temperatures now, though I did stop 1.3 miles early on what was supposed to be a long run Thursday. Going too fast in the Turbo Natures may have contributed to that. Today's run was kind of fun - hot (95/35) at the start, but a light rain cooled things down after 5 miles.
Sun - 7.8 miles in park midday including 3 @ 7:05, temp 85/29, TDP 159
Mon - 7.5 miles very slow (60:25AM/36:00PM) on treadmill w/40-second walk breaks/6:00
Tues - 8.3 miles in park PM @ 8:46, temp 92/33, TDP 157
Weds - 46 minutes swimming
Thurs - 8.8 miles in park midday @ 8:25, temp 90/32, TDP 161
Fri - 7.6 miles very slow (62 mins AM/36 PM) on treadmill w/40-second walk breaks/6:00
Sat - 8.3 miles in park PM @ 8:45, temp 92/33, TDP 164
Total - 48.3 miles
YTD Average - 37.9 mpw
Post-1987 PRs: Half 1:30:14 (2019); 10K 39:35 (2019); 5K 19:12 (2017); Mile 5:37.3 (2020)
'24 Goals: consistency, age-graded PRs, half < 1:32
James - nice week. I'm glad the nice shoes help the knee. Have you consider purchasing the Endorphin Pro 3's for your race shoe?
My week was good, below plus one strength session. Wed workout was meant to be 8 sets, but I could only manage 6 sets. Looking at doing that run last year, I'd done it with the day before off, so I'll repeat on Wed (with Tue off). It will be one of my three key predictor runs over the next 3 weeks leading into the marathon on Aug 26. Sat was double day with ParkRun and later club run.
ParkRun was the quickest this year by 3s, on what is not the quickest course, although I'd much rather be doing 20:00 at this stage.
PRs: 5km 18:43 (Dec 2015), 10km 39:59 (Sep 2020), half 1:26:16 (Sep 2016), full 3:09:28 (Jun 2015)
40+ PRs: 5km 19:31 (Oct 2020), 10km 39:59 (Sep 2020), half 1:29:39 (Jun 2018), full 3:13:55 (Sep 2022)
2023 PRs (hope to beat in 2024): 5km 20:34, 10km 41:37, half 1:32:32, full 3:21:05
2024 PRs: 5km 20:25
Quick drop of the weekly. Coach said it would be a down week... ended up still covering a decent amount of ground, just less / easier workouts I guess.
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"
It's not so much that they help the knee, but that the knee is adjusting to them and they help me otherwise (I run faster, and I think the other parts of my legs feel better in them and recover quicker). As for the Endorphin Pro, I wanted to try the Endorphin Speed first because I wasn't sure how even its relatively flexible nylon plate would affect my already-troublesome hamstrings. So far so good, but I'll want to see how they do in races, especially my November half.
Waltons ThreadLord
I skipped ParkRun on Saturday as by the time it was to begin the temperature was in the mid-80's feeling like the low 90's due to the humidity (30C feels like 33C). I ran 8 much earlier that morning. Today was just beautiful. 65º (18C) with low humidity and a nice breeze. What a difference a day makes. A minor step-back week for me, mileage-wise. 45.8 miles/73.7km/8:22:11.
5k 23:48.45 (3/22); 4M 31:26 (2/22); 5M 38:55 (11/23); 10k 49:24 (10/22); 10M 1:29:33 (2/24); Half 1:48:32 (10/22); Marathon 4:29:58 (11/23)Upcoming races: Scotch Plains 5k, 6/12; Firecracker 4-miler, 7/4
Hot Weather Complainer
Watson - Nice park run, hitting form at the right time.
Fred - Wise move, that is silly weather for racing.
me - Solid enough week with some workouts at mid Zone 3 and sub threshold after the tough LT test last week, and before the 5km this week. Happy with how comfortable I felt at just below my goal half marathon pace for 40 minutes. I've been carrying a few niggles after that LT run, sore hammy and calf at times but not getting worse. Now into race week where I'm having a real crack at a PR+ (Keen please update my goal to 18:29). Hagley Park has been under water with the heavy rain of the last week. I hope it's good to go by Saturday, and the forecast is for no rain. It may just be a bit slippery like it was for the LT test.
<caption>Weekly Grid</caption>
5km: 18:34 11/23 │ 10km: 39:10 8/23 │ HM: 1:26:48 9/23 │ M: 3:34:49 6/23
2024 Races:
Motorway Half Marathon February 25, 2024 1:29:55
Christchurch Half-Marathon April 21, 2024 1:27:34
Selwyn Marathon June 2, 2024
Dunedin Half Marathon September 15, 2024
Mother of Cats
James - enjoy Canada!
Watson - it's good to see a positive trend in the Parkruns, even if it's not where you'd like to be.
Marky_Mark - your Strava title for July 27 made me cringe a bit.
Fred- I'm jealous of your weather - our cooldown was nowhere near that extreme. Today's run was in the 70s and 80s, with a DP of 69. So much better than the weather we had earlier this week, but nowhere near the bliss you experienced.
Steve - good luck this weekend!
***
I'll go ahead and post two weeks, since I didn't get around to it last week:
Week 1:
46 miles running,1000 yards swimming, and 3 hours pool-running.M: 90 minutes pool-running and streaming yogaT: 10.5 miles on the treadmill, including a workout of 10 minutes at tempo effort (8.5-8.7 mph), 4x3:15 at 9.1-9.3 mph, and 4x0:30 at 9.6-9.9 mph (4 minutes recovery after the tempo, 2:30 recovery after the 3:15 intervals, and 1:30 recovery after the 30 second intervals). Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming.W: 10 miles very easy (10:27) run commuting with backpack and streaming yoga.Th: 90 minutes pool-running and upper body weights/core.F: 8.5 miles, including some 400s, 200s, and 100s at 5K effort.Sa: 5.5 miles very easy (9:50)Su: 12 miles, including 5K race in 22:33 - followed with 500 yards recovery swimming.
Week 2:
57 miles running, 1500 yards swimming, and 3 hours pool-running.M: 90 minutes pool-running and streaming yogaT: 2.5 miles (10:03 - included some infield running), 6 miles (10:16 - included some trail running) and upper body weights/core.W: 10.5 miles, including a track workout of 2x3200, 2x200 in 14:16 (7:08/7:08), 14:14 (7:10/7:04), 49, and 48. Recoveries of 5:15 and 5:30 after the 3200s, full recovery for 200s. Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming.Th: 90 minutes pool-running and upper body weights/coreF: 10 miles, including 6 Iwo Jima hills (alternate version - 2:30 up, about 1:20 jog, 30 second stride, 60 seconds to bottom). Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming.Sa: 11.5 miles (10:10 - including some trail running) plus drills/strides, followed by streaming yoga.Su: 16 miles progressive, split as the first 7 miles averaging 9:30 pace, the next 5 miles averaging 8:19 pace, and the next 4 miles averaging 7:43 pace, plus a half-mile cooldown. Followed with injury prevention work and 500 yards recovery swimming.
The most notable parts of week 1 were a treadmill workout on Tuesday due to bad air quality and a lousy race on Sunday due to lack of fitness, getting stuck in traffic, and not handling downhill running very well. Race report.
Had to go into the office multiple times so that's my excuse for not posting that week (commuting time takes away from thread participation time).
Week 2 was solid but exposed that I need to do a lot more tempo work (which is what gets me in shape). I've also been subbing for my running coach this week while he's on vacation, so that's my excuse for not posting much this week.
I've been doing several miles of most easy runs either in grass, on an infield, or on a trail to build ankle strength and foot proprioception, and that's definitely slowed my easy runs a bit.
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.
My week:
Monday rest day
Tuesday am 6 miles with strides pm core & upper body
Wednesday am 7 with 5 x 3 min hard + 3 x 2min hard pm lower body stregnth
Thursday 20 minutes easy treadmill
Friday 7 with 4 x 200 + 4 x 400 4 x2-00 pm upper body strength
Saturday 3.5 easy + 20 minute yoga
Sunday 5 with 4 x 5 min tempo + 6 x 200-ish + lower body strength
JamesD, enjoy your trip. I guess you could always hike in extra clothes to try to maintain the heat acclimation, although that sounds like too much work for a vacation.
Watson, nice week.
Mark, yikes about the cyclist. Definitely don't need gloves here. I fully expect some of the fitness walkers tomorrow or Wednesday to be in jackets.
Fred, smart decision to skip the park run. I was surprised that Friday morning didn't feel terrible until around 7:45am when it really started heating up. It felt really nice out today, which I am sure we will pay for later.
SteveChCh, hope the race area clears out for your race.
Darkwave, going inito the office really cuts down on free time. I can follow along on my phone, but it's such a pain to put on readers to type on a phone. I'm with you, I didn't find the cool down as dramatic as Fred, but it was nice not to immediately start sweating as soon as I stepped outside.
Yeah... not a fun thing to see either. There was an accident with a group of cyclists, looked like a high school group with an older person leading. I don't know how it happened but the guy in front lost control of his bike without warning on a straight stretch of road and then there was a group crash and the others piled into / over him. He got knocked out cold so I waved down traffic while another runner (who had a phone, unlike me) called an ambulance. The rest of the group was very shaken up but no other injuries aside from one girl who had an injured leg.
I was worried for the guy, but also relieved he was wearing his helmet as I have no doubt that if he hadn't been, the consequences would have been far worse.
Mark - that incident with the bikers sounds scary. I hope the rider in question will be OK. Helmets can help, but don't protect against all head injuries.
Darkwave - Yes, I've been luck with the change in weather and my luck continued today when it was 66º (19C) for my track work this morning. Running on grass is an interesting form of strength work; makes sense once I think about it. Sorry your race didn't go well.
Kathi - Yes, I'm sure we'll get more heat this summer, but I'll take the nice weather while we can. I'm fortunate to be able to get out the door by 5:30 many mornings, so I'm often done, or in the later parts of my runs, when the sun starts warming things up.
Steve - Glad to hear you're feeling good. I hope the weather holds and the race goes well.
Looks like the good morning conditions will last through the weekend for me.
Mark, in a group, I'd assume wheels overlapped and when that happens, nothing you can do. Cycling in groups always made me nervous.
Fred, apparently the pay back for cool air is smoke. Both come from the same area, so back to haze. Air quality hasn't been awful though.
Happily, I'm not getting any pay back as our AQI is still good here in NJ and forecast to stay like that.
Hi all - I am posting with some delay, as I am currently dog sitting a small poodle and unable to run much. So I have been indoor cycling a bit more - and on the 2-3 days that I have someone taking over, I am able to go running. Not ideal, but I actually like it, as it gives me the opportunity to watch Netflix (currently 2022 Tour de France) and my legs feel much fresher - without much loss of fitness (yet). I can take the dog for short runs of 2 miles max, but I am not sure this is good for him, as he is so small. So I prefer not to risk his health.
Mark - every episode of the tour de france show has at least one nasty crash. The reason why I don't get out there on my bicycle much. Stationary is fine, I don't even wear a helmet for that
Fred - nice week! That looks very solid!
Darkwave - I don't know many people that run in Puma's but heard that they have some interesting shoes now! Bummer on the race, traffic, downhills. Did you beat the 22 minute guy i.e. did you end up in the middle of the two? With this amount of traffic, I would guess that the 18 minute guy also didn't achieve his goal.
HM: 1:47 (9/20) I FM: 3:53:11 (9/23)
2024 Goals: run a FM & HM + stay healthy!
Mick - it may not be ideal, but a still an OK week.
My week was fairly low volume, aka an epic fail if you're Hash.
Monday was indoor club training, I wrongly chose track mode rather than indoor track on my watch, so the GPS was very inaccurate. It was a hard session, basically interval variations with multiple breaks.
The plan was rest Tue and do my predictor workout Wed. But I was too cooked from Mon, so I went easy Wed and instead did it Fri. Fri went very well, so 3:10-3:15 in three weeks is very doable. Saturday was a small x-country race between a few clubs, which during my warmup it became obvious I couldn't race, so I just jogged it. One weight session today.
Pretty disappointing week, started getting a tickle in my throat on Thursday and by Saturday morning was pretty rough. Decided on Friday night not to race and during Saturday decided not to run at all. Same for today, hopefully I can have a shake out tomorrow and get back to normal during the week and start thinking about the 10km in 3 weeks.