Forums >Racing>2023 The Waltons: Racing & Training Thread
Steve - yusss!! Well done. Hagley Park is a great place to PR (especially given how often you run there).
Me - biggest week in over a year. A lot of it was fast and mostly it felt pretty comfortable. Couple weeks until Devonport HM which will be the real test of where things are at. It's a slow course with a lot of hills but I've run it before so it'll at least serve as a benchmark.
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"
Waltons ThreadLord
Steve - Great job on the 5k! Thanks for sharing the RR. Good work last week. Yes, 19C is headed in the right direction.
Mark - Great week for you. I look forward to seeing your HM result.
I had a good week. My 61.9 miles / 99.6km / 10:52:18 is tied for my second highest weekly mileage ever. My long run went really well today, with more elevation in 16 miles than I'll deal with in the full 26.2 of the NYCM. I strongly suspect my 6 miler tomorrow will be on the slow side, probably needing 2 - 3 miles just to loosen up. I'm loving the cooler temps we suddenly have.
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
JamesD
Enjoyed my third short track workout of the year on Thursday morning. It was a bit slower than the same one last month, but each of the four 800s was faster than the previous one, so that was good. I’m pleased that I’ve been able to do three this year without too much complaining from my hamstrings, as last year I didn’t feel able to risk any. About 20 high school hurdlers and long jumpers were warming up and working on technique while I was running (over an hour before school started), but they left lane 1 open, which I appreciated. I was a bit surprised to see them, as track is a spring sport and I didn’t know that fall practice was allowed. I would hear snippets of conversation as I went by them on each lap, mostly technical stuff about bending your elbow this way and pushing off here, etc. Sounded complicated.
Sun - 10.1 miles in park PM @ 8:37, temp 89/32, TDP 155
Mon - 6.5 miles very slow treadmill PM (78:25) + 0:40 walk breaks/6 mins
Tues - 8.3 miles in park @ 8:32, temp 93/34, TDP 156
Weds - ~52 minutes swimming
Thurs - 7.7 miles AM including 4x800 @ 3:04 w/2:15 walk/jog rest, temp 72/22, TDP 142
Fri - 7.5 miles very slow treadmill (45:25 AM/45 PM) + 0:40 walk breaks/6 mins
Sat - 8.3 miles in park @ 8:41, temp 76/24, TDP 145
Total - 48.4 miles
YTD Average - 36.8 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
Steve, Mark, Fred & James - nice weeks.Steve - congrats on the PR. Barring two bad marathons, you've had a really good year both training and racing.
I've done ParkRun time keeping a few times and it's a real PITA the people who don't finish properly, it gets really hard keeping track of who is in what order, giving them the correct token etc. I would have yelled out you too. So next time, just stop at the end, a properly wheeled course is more accurate than your GPS.
My week was OK, third week post marathon. I'll be looking for a proper week this week. Two strength training, plus one ParkRun on the 'D' course which is pretty slow. I also wasn't 'going to the well'. I also had it short, but the normal course and this course are tough on the GPS due to lots of turns, going through bushes etc. so there's often considerable variability between different peoples watches.
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
Correction - one strength session last week.
Hot Weather Complainer
Nice weeks Mark, Fred, James and watson.
watson - yeah, fair enough. I'd already taken some corners wide because most people last week measured 4.94km - they remind us it's measured by a wheel but it's always out in the same direction. In my defence, I got back and got my token after only one other person had crossed and I did apologise. I only thought about it in the last 20 metres so it was a bit impulsive. I think because of the start/finish area on the grass I won't do Hagley again if it's a serious PR attempt.
Thanks, it is shaping up as my best year ever. Man, in those days of constantly just missing 1:30 in the half I would have looked at this year and thought I'd be so happy with it (assuming the half goes well next week), but that marathon continues to niggle at me. I'm sitting down with the coach in a few weeks to plan the base/strength plan over summer.
Forecast for Sunday is back up to 25C (77F) which really just tells me to stop looking until 3-4 days out. The last few days have been pretty warm so I'll have minor acclimatisation if it's a warm one.
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 DNF
Dunedin Half Marathon September 15, 2024
Fred - great week, amazing work. Now just need to scale up the long run, and keep all else equal.
Mark - wow that is Keen kind of material. Your trail running will have helped to build the strenght needed to have a great HM with some elevation.
Darkwave - I have never heard of yogaworks, but will see if they offer a trial class.
James - that's a really solid week too.
My week was really not that great, as my leg was feeling funny and I cross trained instead. Am back at it this week, and the leg feels almost fully recovered, so I am glad I paired back a bit. 4h running, 2:42h on the bike:
HM: 1:47 (9/20) I FM: 3:53:11 (9/23)
2024 Goals: run a FM & HM + stay healthy!
Mother of Cats
53 miles running, 70 minutes pool-running, and 1000 yards recovery swimmingM: 70 minutes pool-running and streaming yogaT: 8 miles very easy (9:39) including some grass running and strides and upper body weights/core.W: 9 miles, including a track workout of 12x400 with 100 ~float (first two 400s in 1:46 and 1:47, then 1:42-1:43 for the rest; 100 floats in 33-34 seconds) plus 2x200 with full recovery, each in 47 seconds. Followed with injury prevention work and 500 yards recovery swimming.Th: 7 miles trail-running (10:17) and streaming yogaF: 7 miles very easy (9:37) with some grass running plus hill sprints and strides, followed by upper body weights/core.Sa: 3 miles very easy (9:29).Su: 3 mile warm-up, and then a half-marathon in 1:34:45, followed by a 2 mile cooldown. Followed with 500 yards recovery swimming.
Ran a half-marathon yesterday as my tune-up for the Chicago Marathon. Wasn't happy with the time but was happy with the execution. Race report is here.
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.
Mick - that's not how my training works, so let me stick to my plan rather than directing me what to do, thanks. Sorry to hear your leg was bothering you.
James - Good to hear you're getting more comfortable testing your hamstring.
Watson - Nice progress on the recovery. What is the "D" course at ParkRun? Do you have several options at one event? I learned one of the biggest hurdle ParkRun has with expanding here in the US is many towns & park systems are accustomed to charging a fee to issue a permit and since ParkRun has no money, they have trouble finding a place to hold events. It's rather sad.
Steve - As an inveterate weather stalker, I know what you're going through. Good luck.
Darkwave - Sorry the weather foiled your HM a bit. Interesting strategy for early passing.
Raining rather heavily this morning and since I don't care much for running in the dark & rain (mostly because it makes it harder for drivers to see me), I've decided to hold off on today's run until midday even though it will be warmer by then.
Wow Fred, that reads like you were offended. Won't happen again, although this forum has been used for some feedback on training etc. so I don't feel too guilty here! But agree with you, for me the 19/20 mile runs with 80km+ weeks are a good base - but that will be different for everyone.
Darkwave - great execution. You carried a water bottle, that probably cost you some seconds. But I like your take on the arm coolers. And I wonder how to pre-tear the gels, I thought you staple them to your shorts? But I will probably do that as well next time, as I use gels that are really hard to open and I am always at risk of cutting myself doing that. And lastly - rolling my ankle is my biggest fear for whatever reason. I have sprained my ankle so many times, it always hurts like I broke something. And I hope I don't ever have to endure that feeling again....
Mick - I'm not offended or angry, which I tried to show with the smiley face, but sometimes things are hard to express online. I'm just carrying some sensitive scars from another forum in another time. I know your heart's in the right place.
Glad your execution was good anyway. When I'm on a cambered road, I try to run in the absolute center, because it seems a little flatter there. I guess on Rock Creek Parkway with all the curves you'd have the problem of the center being so far from the tangents.
Darkwave - nice RR. Why the water bottle for the half? Is it hard to grab cups due to foot traffic? Also, I didn't realize you had the Adios Pro 3, interesting that you find it better at MP rather than HMP, as Adidas advertizes it as a half-full shoe with the Takumi Sen for 5-10km. Why did you go away from the Edge+ as I thought that was your preferred shoe? My next race shoe buy is probably either the Edge+ or Adios Pro 3 so I'm quite interested here.
My week in the books. As usual approaching a race, coach followed up the peak mileage week with lower volume but a lot of workouts. Wednesday's tempo workout felt great, 45 mins at ~3:35 mins/km effort. Did it on rolling terrain and felt very controlled until the last 10 mins or so when I cranked it up a notch despite feeling a little tired at that point.
Looking forward to next Sunday... it's a hilly course and it's changed a bit since I last raced it in 2018, but it'll be fun to be road racing again.
I was disappointed to find out that the course for next Saturday’s 5K, which is my goal 5K for the year, has been changed slightly. The longtime course is a loop that ends a block or so short of the start. This year, the start and finish have been moved to a different point along the loop to be near a park where there will be some sort of military display, I believe helicopters. The loop has also been closed, and the organizers’ mapmyrun map says it’s 3.18 miles rather than the usual course’s 3.12, so I expect my time will be about 20-25 seconds slower than it would have been. I will have run the same three 5Ks this year as last, but all of the courses have changed so I can’t really compare times. I’m also planning to run in November the same half as I did last year, so maybe that course won’t change. To be fair to the organizers, it is a military-themed event, and I imagine only about 20 of us out of the 1,000 or so runners care about our times that much, and probably many more will like the helicopters.
Since I have the same 5 weeks as I did last year between my August midnight 5K and next weekend’s 5K, I’m trying to duplicate last year’s training, which seemed to work out ok. The main change has been replacing one tempo run with last week’s 4x800 track workout. My times for both tempos and easy runs have been slower than last year’s, though. We’ll see in a week.
Sun - off
Mon - 10.1 miles in park midday @ 8:48, temp/TDP not worth mentioning (TDP<140)
Tues - 6.5 miles very slow treadmill (45:25 AM/33 PM) + 0:40 walk breaks/6 mins
Weds - 8.3 miles in park PM @ 8:47
Thurs - ~46 minutes swimming, stopped w/R hamstring cramp
Fri - 6.8 miles in park AM including 3 @ 7:14
Sat - 5.8 miles very slow treadmill midday (69:25) + 0:40 walk breaks/6 mins
Total - 37.5 miles