Forums >Racing>Competitive Jerks Racing and Training - 2023
Hot Weather Complainer
Mikkey - That's gold. It's safe to say there was a quiet celebration in my household, not that we've ended up with anyone better (yet).
Also, I like how you can crowbar your achievements into almost any conversation
My week was good, pretty solid finish after keeping it light midweek with the surgery. I found yesterday to be quite hard work - I had 3 12 minute repeats with HR supposed to be 160-172. The sun came out quite suddenly around the start of the third - it had been about 18C at the start but with high sun and 25C it did turn into hard work (note: not complaining!). I couldn't get my heart rate down to 172 in that third repeat, even when I eased off the pace a bit, and during the cool down it stayed around 160 when I was wanting it down at 140. Not a complete disaster, but a bit more stress on the body than expected. Legs were good though, with no threat of cramp despite losing a lot of fluid (and only drinking 400ml which may have been a mistake). I've got another base week before a down week then 2 higher volume weeks. I spoke to the coach on Thursday who said the idea for the half is to go in with only a very small taper, on somewhat tired legs as it's only a B race. I'm still hoping for around 1:30 depending on weather. It's in what is usually the peak of summer with a 9am start so I may have to adjust expectations.
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
Selwyn Marathon June 2, 2024
Dunedin Half Marathon September 15, 2024
Mmmm Bop
Looking at this image gives me a very pleasant tingly sensation in my body. ❤️
5k - 17:53 (4/19) 10k - 37:53 (11/18) Half - 1:23:18 (4/19) Full - 2:50:43 (4/19)
Intl. correspondent
A nice week, the workouts went well. 2 weeks to go!
PRs: 1500 4:54.1 2019 - 5K 17:53 2023 - 10K 37:55 2023 - HM 1:21:59 2021
Up next: some 800m race (or time trials) / Also place in the top 20% in a trail race
Tool to generate Strava weekly
Problem Child
Even when you’re going downhill you’re going uphill. You might drop 25 meters on a hill then follow it with a 17 meter climb then drop 20 meters and climb 10. I really don’t recall there being a big drop at mile 3 or any steep climb at 7.
Many of us aren't sure what the hell point you are trying to make and no matter how we guess, it always seems to be something else. Which usually means a person is doing it on purpose.
VDOT 53.37
5k18:xx | Marathon 2:55:22
My Strava elevation chart. It’s more reflective of the reality—continuous little ups & downs. No question the net downhill helps, especially in the final 10k, and you can run a fast time on this course. But you do feel the uphills and all the rollers make it tough for some people, depending what they’re accustomed to. Or if they’re lured in by the slightly misleading chart on the website. I was given a heads up going in, by others I know who ran it (including RP).
Dave
RIP Milkman
I think Mikkey is just trying to troll Cal to come back here. This usually does the trick
5K: 16:37 (11/20) | 10K: 34:49 (10/19) | HM: 1:14:57 (5/22) | FM: 2:36:31 (12/19)
Week of 1/16-1/22
Week 3 of build-up. I was happy to get the mileage to mid-80s. Think I'll stick to 70s and 80s for most of this cycle to focus on a couple of quality workouts each week. I've been running most of my runs without looking at my watch. During workouts I admit that I peak for mile splits but I'm trying to learn to run by feel and not obsess on the pace. So far so good.
5K 18:36 (2023), 10K 39:40 (2022), 1/2 1:24:37 (2023), full 2:58:36 (2015)
Mother of Cats
20 miles running and 7 hours and 20 minutes of pool-running.
M: 90 minutes pool-running T: 60 minutes pool-running. W: 90 minutes pool-running. Th: 90 minutes pool-running. F: Streaming yoga and 6 miles very easy (9:37) Sa: 10.5 miles very easy (9:23) plus drills and two hill strides; followed with upper body weights/core. Su: 3.5 miles easy (9:36) plus drills and two strides, followed by 1:50 pool-running.
The first half of the week was recovery, with just social pool-running. I recovered really quickly from Houston - I suspect a lot of that is because my neurological issues were the limiter rather than my aerobic system or legs. I wasn't able to max myself out, and so I bounced back faster than I would otherwise have.
Starting on Friday morning I swapped neuro meds - I had been on the generic version of a drug called Sinemet - a blend of the drugs carbidopa and levodopa. I swapped to a drug called Rytary, which is also carbidopa and levodopa, just a higher dose and delivered as extended release (meaning it doesn't wear off as quickly). I have only been on Rytary a few days, but it has felt amazing from the first time I took it. I'm pushing off with my calves and toes when I run again, and my legs feel ridiculously bouncy. I can mostly tell where/when my feet are relative to the ground again, which makes running a lot easier and more enjoyable. So I'm really excited for what this means for me both generally and running-wise. We will see what this week brings.
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.
Steve - I'm glad you came through the surgery well. I hope you get decent weather for your half.
Flavio - some nice running there!
FIshyone - your decision to look less at the watch and run off of feel gets a big thumbs up from me (not that you need my validation).
IN terms of other things I'm not sure about, I am about 4 weeks away from the marathon, and 9 weeks away from the 40-miler. I don't know yet whether the marathon will be a PR attempt or just a training run, but assuming it's a PR attempt, I may never get a chance to practice a 50k (unless I did it between the marathon and the ultra- don't know if that's a good idea?). I was thinking about doing 50k next weekend, the 28th, which is when I have a 20-miler planned anyway and a 15k the day before that. My coach thinks the 15k + 20-miler is sufficient prep for both the marathon and the ultra. She cited this study too, which I'm not quite sure what to make of: Outside article . I think it's worth doing the 50k and having an easy day before and after. What do you all think?
Honestly, I know little about ultra running. I do think that if you want to practice the 50K, and your coach has shot it down, I think that is a good reason not to do the 50K.
Steve Interesting that you are training by HR like that. I always have a hard time accurately tracking mine. Anyway, I've got you under 1:30 for -120 assuming the weather is reasonable.
Fishy Nice big negative split LR and great weekly mileage. Is sub 3:09 still the goal for Boston? That looks conservative to me but then again Boston can be unpredictable so I hear.
Krash I know you're not around much, but if you happen to see this, I just found out that my favorite park near my parents house in Maryland has an 8 hour endurance event on a 4 mile loop this weekend. It's not on the agenda for me this year but boy... that sounds oddly tempting to try some time soon!
My Week: Time: Miles: Kilos: Pace/mi: Pace/kilo:
1/16: Easy 8 all on grass
loop 1:01:15 8 12.9 7:40 4:46
1/17: Cross training day,
20 miles stationary bike +
5k on rowing machine
1/18: Easy 7 on treadmill,
leg strength later 59:30 7 11.2 8:30 5:17
1/19: Easy 9 on mill with
some incline, upper body later 1:14:00 9 14.5 8:14 5:08
1/20: Easy 8 on treadmill 1:05:00 8 12.9 8:08 5:03
1/21: 3 mile w/up, 3.5 mile
tempo on track: 21:35, 1 mile CD 54:19 7.5 12 7:15 4:31
1/22: Progressive treadmill
(short) long run 1:33:16 12 19.3 7:47 4:50
Total: 51.5 miles, 82 kilometers, 6:47:20
The track tempo was all feel, no watch checking. Felt WAY less aerobically difficult than the 3 mile tempo on the treadmill I did at 9.6 mph with 1% incline. Hip flexor still bothers me during strides and the foot issue still flares up after, but not during runs. I guess that's progress. I'm starting to feel the itch to register for the Salisbury marathon.
Dorothea
Flavio, I saw your post just before I started eating the bowl, and stuck it back in the fridge to enjoy after the run. It was quite good! All those vitamins also seemed to join well with the vitamins + remedies I’ve been taking to fight off an impending cold. I am excited to try out some other varieties. Looks like you had a good week with two workouts. Hope you’re at about where you want to be, all things considered.
darkwave, I agree there’s a difference between fast running and sprinting. The power for sprinting comes from different muscles and a different stride and gait. Also in response to: “I generally like to keep my strides very unstructured. I do them on the street in front of my house - no prescribed distance or pace. Just smoothly accelerate up to a speed that feels really smooth and fast and run - like you are showing off to everyone. And then when it starts to feel like work, smoothly slow back down to a jog.” I do the same thing. Sometimes it’s 60m, sometimes 110, it depends on how long it takes to build up to that smooth fast feeling. I found when I’m on a track though, that it’s easy to make that intuitive thing extend to the full length of 100m. Cool that the recovery from Houston has been good, though it does, I guess, reflect not being able to go full power. Your response to the new meds sounds so promising! It must be an incredible feeling to have that awareness of the ground again… I hope it continues that way for you.
Mmerkle, that sounds interesting. Was there advice re: stone bruise as to how long something like that usually lasts? Hope you can get some more non-treadmill runs soon. That feeling of a treadmill workout being harder than any workout outside with the wind and changing sights is one of the main reasons I rarely do treadmills. And thanks re: 50k question. You’re right about “Is the possible takeaway from the study that doubles separated by 4-8 hours and/or back-to-back long days is more effective for bone strength development/maintenance than one longer hard session?” I think that’s exactly the point my coach was trying to make… but either way I wouldn’t be doing my runs 4-8 hours apart. But I’ve decided with input from the ultra group and the other feedback (thanks darkwave) that I am not going to do a 50k next weekend. It’s good to have people catch one’s stupid ideas. Also, going to remember this: “skipping strides is like skipping flossing lol. Gotta do em.” :-) And I’m definitely no barometer for how training is going, but if it were me, I would just sign up for Salisbury!
Steve, our long-run workouts this week have that similar trend of it all-a-sudden getting quite warm and making the effort harder. I wouldn’t worry about the HR not dropping down during the CD. Were you able to see how far it dropped in the minute after you ended your run? That is usually the indicator to me if I worked too hard.
Re CIM: looks like a nice total drop in elevation, but there are definitely enough hills in there to make a flatlander like myself hate running it.
My week was fine, all things considered. It was less volume with faster efforts and while I had my second toe injury in about as many weeks and am aggressively fighting off cold symptoms, the workouts all went well beyond the stupid planning I did. The 15 miles with 9 @hme did not go as it should have, but the parts where I wasn’t stopping to drink water, I was able to hold the goal pace, so I am happy about that.
Weekly for period: From: 01/16/2023 To 01/22/2023
Date
Name
mi
km
Duration
Avg/mi
Avg/km
Elevation Gain
in ft
01/16
Afternoon Run and Strength
3.53
5.67
00:34:20
09:44
06:03
59
01/17
6 x 6 + 4 x 2
8.36
13.46
01:17:15
09:14
05:44
43
01/18
Mid-long run with 3 miles beach
10.62
17.10
01:35:21
08:59
05:35
417
01/19
Late Lunch Run
6.21
9.99
00:50:04
08:04
05:01
01/21
Long Run Workout
15.26
24.55
02:11:54
08:39
05:22
10
01/22
Easy Breezy Recovery
6.48
10.43
00:58:05
08:58
05:34
138
Total distance: 50.4 running, 31.5 cycling
Qualifications: I like to run. In Florida. In the summer. At noon.
Last race: Community 5K, March 2nd. Speed test run with 2 walk breaks. Went pretty well.
I was in Las Vegas most of the week for our company sales meeting, I ran there Tues-Fri. Hence the lower than usual elevation gain. Although I thought it was completely flat, it’s not quite. I was in one of the big hotels; I couldn’t figure out anything else other than running up & down the strip. Which was fine—normally it’s packed with people, but it’s pretty empty 6-7 AM, other than a handful of folks stumbling in from the night before. I did see a few other runners, but just 4 days already got me Strava local legend for a short segment, lol. The main problem was that due to street crossings and pedestrian bridges, it’s not very conducive to any kind of workout. So I just kept it easy. Anyway I was happy enough just to get it in every morning, after being up late schmoozing and drinking every night.
To make up for lack of midweek workout, I figured I’d try to add some fast finish miles to my Saturday LR. I met up with my usual group. Someone was doing 6 easy + 6 at their MP of 7:26. That sounded interesting! It’s way too early in the cycle for an MP workout—14 weeks till race day and I haven’t even started my training plan yet—but what the hell. We nailed it, actually coming in a bit faster: 7:22, 7:20, 7:27, 7:23, 7:23, 7:18, then I added 4 cooldown. The MP miles actually felt pretty good, we were chatting the whole way, and it was over before I knew it. I’ve had the crazy notion in the back of my mind that maybe a 3:15 marathon is possible, and that’s about the pace I’d need. I realize one workout doesn’t mean too much, but with the way it felt, maybe it’s not so crazy.
Re: strides—I am the opposite of darkwave and keep things very rigid. I am under no illusion that it makes a difference, I just feel better applying the structure. I do 5 per mile, usually 10 total so I start with 2 miles left in my run. I count the number of steps that roughly correspond to 100m, then recover till the next 0.2 on the watch, then go again. No idea what kind of pace I hit; I rarely do any very fast / very short workouts, so my acceleration is terrible and I can barely get to top speed in 100m anyway.
Darkwave- Appreciate the thumbs up! The input from you (and others) is very helpful. Watching folks like you train with consistency is super motivating to find ways to get faster. Funny I don't miss the instant feedback so far
MMerk- Now you're channeling your inner "Mikkey" There's gonna be plenty of time for me to rethink my goal for Boston. That said my paces in training are closer to 3 than 3:09 lately but there's a LONG way to go!! I thin the New Bedford half at the end of March will give me a really good idea of the shape I'm in. Boston is such a fickle weather race I've already signed up for a May marathon "just in case" we get a really warm day.
DK- Nice week with 2 Q workouts. The 15 with 9@HME is a serious workout, especially in the heat!! I can't tell you how much I enjoy going out for a long run without worrying about water/hydration. One sleeve of shot Blocks and I'm on the road.
Steve Glad to hear the surgery recovery seems to be going well. No glasses or contact is amazing. I remember a couple of long runs where I either lost a contact or just moved it off my eye and having to run many miles with one eye working. Talk about distracting.
Flavio- Nice week and workouts. Anything special in the next 2 weeks?
The CIM weather interests me as much as the profile. December in California is sounding pretty nice. Jmac- Were you planning the NYC then CIM double? They are quite a few weeks apart so it seems doable.