Darkwave - wow... that sounds... serious.  "Normally associated with someone who is not physically capable of running"?!  I feel like you should probably have posted the whole list just for posterity!

Mark - Finally a taper you can go into with 100% confidence that it will end with a race.  Looking forward to seeing some taper craziness.

 

Haha but it's not 100%!  There's still a chance of another outbreak in the next 2 weeks.  I mean, it's small but the last one would tend to suggest it's definitely non-zero.  Let's call it 95% for now.

Anyways I definitely think the mental side of things is important and often overlooked.  There were some good ideas on some of the earlier Rogue Running podcasts on this, but it is quite individual.

Congratulations, Piwi!  A PB is great, especially on a tough course without having tapered, and first place is great too.  Getting a PB without anyone to run with near the end is doubly impressive.

I had a very good workout today, maybe my best this year.  On alternate Sundays recently I’ve tried to run 2x3 miles on the track @ 6:45, which seems like a reasonable HM goal pace.  Rest is 200 meters walking and 200 meters jogging, which works out to 3:30-4:00.  Four weeks ago, I ran the first three miles at 6:39 average pace, was close to that for the fourth mile, but faded to 6:53 for the fifth & stopped.  Two weeks ago, I ran the first three at 6:41 pace and faded badly, averaging 6:59 pace for the second three, though I at least I did finish.  Today, I ran the first three at 6:37 pace and the second three at 6:40, so much stronger.  I paced this one much better too - all of my 800s were between 3:16 and 3:22.5, with my fastest ones being the first and last of each three-mile interval.  Also, I only took 3:35 for my rest lap, compared to 3:43 and 3:51 the other times. 

I think the main reasons I did so much better this time were that I was in better shape after doing the two previous workouts and others recently and that the TDP was in the low 140s compared to the low 150s earlier.  It may also have helped that my warmup included two 200-meter easy-to-moderate strides followed by 10 minutes rest rather than four shorter, faster ones followed by 5 or so minutes rest.  PodiumRunner had an article recently that suggested longer, slower, and fewer strides with 10-15 minutes rest afterwards could lead to slower starts and better endurance.  Seemed to work for me this time.

The first thing I’m going to do is take it easy the rest of this week, because my legs have felt tired on easy runs for a couple of weeks, and today’s run was certainly faster than I had expected, though I don’t feel particularly wiped out.  After that, though, I’m wondering how to build on my progress when I do this sort of workout again in two or three weeks.  I want to slow down a little, because I really want to lock in the 6:45 pace, so I probably shouldn’t just repeat the same workout.  The options I see are:

1. Continue running 2x3 miles, going a little slower but with a little less rest.  Walking 100m and jogging 300m, which is what I did between my 800s a week ago, would cut the rest from 3:30 to about 2:45.

2. Try to go a little slower but a little longer, maybe 2x3.25 miles and build up if that feels ok.  

3. Get the extra volume by adding a third interval, maybe 3+2+2 miles, also going a little slower.

Any thoughts?

Thanks, and sorry about the eaten response.  Does it matter that this is intended to be a HMP workout rather than a lactate threshold one (as I understand the term)?

Got it, thanks.

Piwi - thanks for telling me about the prize.  I had no idea, I've justed checked the site, it does state a prize, but not what it was.

Rotorua numbers were low this year.  The changing of dates, no Aucklanders and all the uncertainty meant numbers were down.  Oddly, there were more in the full than the half.

Darkwave - with your serious injuries and being alergic to almost evertyhing, it's amazing you can run around 1:25 for a half and 2:59 for a full.  Great week for a cripple!

Flavio - nice week.

Steve - good week.

Re warm-ups - I personally find a shorter than normal warm up works for me.  For my 10km last week I just did 2.5km warm up with a few strides.  For my half, I just did a very easy 2 minute warm up.

James - I'm not sure the complete rest is a great idea.  Personally I like to keep running just to add a little volume.  Although I'm not retired so time is precious for me.

Steve - so, I would trust my wife to manage any two of the following three jobs during the race (this is not being mean she is just not a great multi-tasker):

• Put my Maurten at the drink stops
• Look after our 3 y.o.
• Update the forum

Bear in mind that although my wife is a great supporter, she is not a runner and therefore unlikely to be able to add much detail (other than 'he looked good / OK / dead'.

Watson - those AG prizes are often sponsor merchandise/product.  One year I got an AG prize at Auckland half, if I recall it was an Asics bag, drink bottle and socks.  Nothing amazing but decent enough.

James - I'd second DW's wisdom on the recoveries - always go for jog recoveries.  I remember reading a good explanation as to why in a book (may have been Pfitz's Faster Road Racing?) which I can't specifically remember (sorry).

DW - that's impressive.  But yes I agree if it's been that way since 2014 (and with how many races since then?!) it's hard to believe it's anything that serious.  Sometimes I wonder if doctors get a little more excited about the diagnosis than about the actual implication (or the solution).

Piwi - heck of a race effort especially on a boardwalk. Way to kill it.

Mark I hope that taper pays off and you actually get to race!! Fingers crossed for you. 34 weeks is an absurdly long time to train for, way to stay consistent!

DW - looks like you're back to a full running load, that's awesome. That ankle sounds serious, but with no pain, I'd certainly keep training. I hope the MRI is illuminating.

Steve - good week. If money isn't an issue, is there a downside to see a psychologist?

James - I will pile on with the walking recoveries are not very good... but I feel like I turned a big corner in 2018 and if not for a couple of injuries in 2019 and 2020 would be considerably faster now. The primary things I've changed are  that

1. I rarely do cruise intervals anymore, unless it's an intentionally easy week (done a lot of base but no workouts, raced recently or otherwise tired) instead I try to do a  20 minute continuous threshold and occasionally a 2x15 min tempo with a 2-4 min jog in-between, and over hills, by effort.

2.  My primary workouts on the track are now at CV/CP pace instead of VO2  and I really focus on form. Before if I was having a good day I would really try to gut things  out a few seconds faster and now I really just lean into things and try to run relaxed and focus on having amazing form.

3. I do a lot of workouts where I'm essentially just trying to cruise at MP - MP + :60 and occasionally surge to 5k/10k effort. Learning to recover at faster than easy pace makes me feel strong.

Standard disclaimers: 1. sample size of 1. 2. I'm not very fast compared to other dedicated distance athletes. 3. I can't seem to stop getting injured so taking advice from me ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

My week was yet another swimming week, but a little less than the week before because I went camping over the weekend and helped clear invasive species of trees from some sand dunes. I was meticulous about doing all my strength work 4 days that week. Best of all, after 4 hours of clearing trees I played some pickup football with 3 takeaways:

1. running in a mask is terrible

2. running backwards and cutting are things I am not physically prepared for

3. My knee didn't hurt at all, and it hasn't hurt walking around for a few days.

Doc told me I can ease back into things today, so I'm going to test the knee tonight. Wish me luck.