The Waltons aka Advanced Half Marathon Training Thread - 2022 edition (Read 444 times)

zebano


     

    Here's how you tell us apart:  Corey is a man in his 50s who peaked in late 2018 & 2019, whose mile PR is 5:38, who races in South Carolina, and whose son graduated from Clemson with a business degree last year.  I'm a man in my 50s whose post-high school peak was in 2019, whose grownup mile PR is 5:37+, who has cancelled hotel reservations for four races in South Carolina in the last couple of years, and whose son started at Clemson as a business major last year.  See?  Easy.

     

    Thanks for clearing that up for me!

    1600 - 5:23 (2018), 5k - 19:33 (2018), 10k - 41:20 (2021), half - 1:38:57 (2018), Marathon - 3:37:17 (2018)

    ccoakley


      James, HA! I didn't realize you two shared so much in common.

       

      Flavio, I really do try to get 50mpw consistently.  Looking back at Strava my down weeks were recovery from 50k, taper for 5k, recovery from 5k, vacation.  It's a big part of why I don't like races, all the tapering/recovery throws everything out of whack.

       

      PRs....I view these as races you're really proud of what you ran that day and want to share with the world.  That someone else would say no that isn't good enough I don't acknowledge your achievement seems very petty and small of the other person.

       

      Managed 4 x 1 mi w/ 2:30 walking this morning and so far the calf still feels great!  This might be my best identify the issue/shut it down just long enough/come back slowly cycle yet.

      5k 24:53 (2020) |10k 52:24 (2021) |HM 1:57:14 (2019) |FM 4:24 (2007) |50k 5:57 (2022)

       

       

      Marky_Mark_17


         

        Of course Mark is the baseline for this as the only time he ever got injured was when he dropped a weight on his foot and he never catches colds either (if you can run through it it does not count as a cold). But Mark is not human, so we can't use him as an example 

         

        I would love that to be true... but it's not.  I've had a few bugs the last few years.  I've often had colds which I stupidly ran through when I shouldn't have, plus a nasty one last year that I took a couple days off for.  Had a couple sinus infections.  Was sick most of November 2020 after that damn marathon.  But I do think since I reduced drinking alcohol a lot, I'm getting sick a lot less, and generally it's just a minor sniffle that I can run through OK.

         

        I did wake up this morning with a headache and an unusually high HR though, hopefully that's just taper madness messing with me.

         

        Caitlin - good to hear the calf is improving.  Flavio does make a good point about not varying your mileage too much from week to week.  In your case it's probably partly due to managing that calf and taking a few mental health days off from running, but it's a good principle to bear in mind.

        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: Maraetai HM, 10 Mar, DNF

        Up next: Waterfront HM, 7 Apr

        "CONSISTENCY IS KING"

        JamesD


        JamesD

          Not much noteworthy last week as I prepared for Sunday’s 5K except that I managed to run four days in a row (starting with a tempo the previous Saturday) without much of the hamstring trouble I had the last time I did that.  Friday’s hotel treadmill faced a wall with a horizontal pattern, so I could really tell that I was bouncing up and down while doing my slow jog.

           

          Sun - 5.7 miles very slow TM (66 minutes) + 0:40 walk breaks/6 mins

          Mon - 7 miles in park @ 8:19

          Tues - 26 minutes swimming

          Also Tues - 3.9 in park including strides & 2x200 in 45, 44

          Weds & Thurs - off driving to Omaha

          Fri - 5 miles very slow hotel TM (60 minutes) + 0:40 walk breaks/6 mins

          Sat - off at Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting

           

          Total - 21.6 miles

           

          Invest in Yourself 5K, Sunday May 1, 2022, Omaha, Nebraska

           

          This 5K is part of the annual shareholders’ meeting of Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffett’s holding company that owns Brooks.  DW, who hadn’t done a race in 8 years, convinced me that we should do it together even though I wasn’t in racing shape & Omaha was likely to be too cold for me.  The race was downtown, starting and ending next to the 40,000-seat convention center where the meeting was held.  We drove in from our hotel but couldn’t get to the convention center parking lots so parked a mile away.  With the forecast in the low 40s (~6) and 20+ mph (30+ kph) winds, I was planning to be bundled up like an Arctic explorer, especially since it’s been in the 80s (almost 30) at home recently.  When I got out, the temperature was a little higher and the wind a little less (mid-40s & 15mph), so I didn’t put on my third shirt or my neck guard and “only” ran in heavy tights, shorts, a base layer long-sleeved shirt, a short-sleeved shirt, a beanie, and gloves.  I jogged a mile while DW, who was planning to walk, stayed in the car.  We then headed to the start line, and I did strides while the Brooks CEO spoke to the crowd.

           

          I had no expectation of a good time for several reasons.  Because of my hamstrings, in the last 7 months I had run a total of 6 miles of ~7-minute pace tempos and no real hills or speedwork.  Also, as most of you know, I loathe anything colder than 50 (10) degrees & run much slower in it.  The course had 16 right-angle turns, and with over a thousand runners there would be a lot of opportunities for crowding.

           

          I started off steadily but not fast at what felt like slightly harder than tempo effort.  Other than a few people who stormed past me in the first hundred yards, nobody passed me until the end, and for the whole race I was gradually easing past people.  I didn’t notice any mile markers, so I never looked at my watch; my effort felt about right, and I thought that pushing harder might risk hamstring trouble.  There were a few gradual hills into the wind, but nothing too bad.  There were a couple of straight stretches of 600 yards or so, but mostly we would turn a corner, run two or three blocks, and turn another corner.  Coming around each corner, I would see about a dozen people ahead of me and pass three or four of them before the next corner.  In the later part of the race, I ran behind and eventually passed a young guy dressed like Harry Potter with a robe and a wand.  During stretches where there were slower runners on the other side of the street heading the other way, lots of the others cheered for “Harry.”  About 600 meters out, Harry came back and blew by me and the guy ahead of me, and I thought shifting gears might risk hamstring trouble, so I kept my steady effort through the finish line.  Pretty sure that’s the first time I’ve lost to someone in a costume.

           

          I finished in 20:04, 24th/1228, 1st M55-59.  I did a cooldown loop around the outside of the baseball stadium that hosts the College World Series every year, along with some Brooks employees who were in town for the meeting.  A materials procurement guy said their delivery times from overseas had increased from ~25 days to ~75 since the pandemic.  When I told him I had owned several Pure Flows, he said they were planning to introduce a shoe next year that he thought I would like.  He tactfully didn’t mention the Nike Pegasus Turbo 2s I was wearing, and I tactfully didn’t tell him that speedwork in Hyperion Tempos had aggravated my hamstring trouble.  At least the shirt I was wearing from a hometown race had a prominent Brooks logo.

           

          DW had planned to walk, but everyone around her started out running, so she felt like she had to as well.  She does spinning and bodypump-type classes five mornings a week, so she’s in decent aerobic shape even though she hasn’t run in years, and she kept a steady pace and finished in 36:17.  She was sore afterwards but is talking about doing another 5K.

           

          I had read that age group awards would be mailed, but the announcer mentioned an awards ceremony, so we hung around.  Big mistake, as it got colder and windier and it took us a long time to warm up afterwards.  We were pleased to see that the male winner was a nice young guy from Brooks HQ in Seattle who had sold DW a pair of Ghosts at the expo on Friday, and the female winner was a Brooks saleswoman from Louisiana who had talked with me at the local running store later on Friday while DW was buying a sportsbra.  

           

          My goal had been a Personal Worst, and I was surprised that I failed to achieve it.  This race was so different from most of my races - with my lack of speedwork, the cold weather, the amount of clothes I was wearing, the many turns, and only running once in the four previous days - that it’s hard to figure out how much the various factors helped or hurt my time and what kind of shape I’m in compared to other years.  I’ll take it, though, and it was fun.



          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

            Mark sounds like covid 

             

            Flavio my wife knows I got a bargain as they threw in a 2nd shoe for free 

             

            James great job. Racing without checking your watch is badass. Man I might have to try that. It's a scary thought though.

            My hamstrings were a little achy this week. I've never had a hamstring injury in my 12 years of running.

            55+ PBs 5k 18:36 June 3rd TT

            " If you don't use it you lose it,  but if you use it, it wears out.

            Somewhere in between is about right "      

             

            JamesD


            JamesD

               

              James great job. Racing without checking your watch is badass. Man I might have to try that. It's a scary thought though.

               

              It wasn't as badass as you think.  My watch is a dumb (and cheap) watch, so since I didn't see any mile markers and didn't have more than a vague idea of where I was on the course because of the number of turns, looking at it wouldn't have given me much useful information anyway.  Plus it was just a 5K, and a rustbuster.

              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

              SteveChCh


              Hot Weather Complainer

                James - Nice race report and race itself.  Running without your watch probably means you ran your best possible race without your mind messing with you.

                 

                Mark - I had a blah short workout yesterday and my Achilles got really sore on my recovery run for 2km this morning, then went away but is now so sore I need to ice it.  I'm going to assume it's taper madness. It feels so sore right now that's hard to believe it's just in my head, but I've been here before...

                 

                Finally got on top of a project at work, only have a half day tomorrow then it's off to Queenstown.  Looking forward to another long weekend with hopefully the bonus of a good race.  Forecast is looking very good, light nor-westers.

                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

                flavio80


                Intl. correspondent

                  Mark - I can see how you'd be confused. I also don't find the fact I can reach the higher shelves on the supermarket a super power.

                  However, if you can run through a cold it means a) you still had plenty of energy and b) you didn't get way worse due to that. I have also tried to run through colds and ended up with laringitis, forced to take 10 days off. With injuries it's the same, apart from that one week of self imposed rest after your marathon, and that other time you dropped a weight on your foot, I don't remember you ever being forced to take a whole week off due to injury. It may not look like that to you, but that is extraordinary strength and health. Just look at this board: On the last year alone every one of us was forced to take a week or longer off here and there, except for you and perhaps Keen.

                   

                  Steve - I also have a niggle at the bottom of the right foot. I'm also tacking it on the taper madness shelf for now.

                   

                  Piwi - I'm assuming that extra shoe was a gift to your wife then 

                   

                  James - Thanks for the race report, it sounds like you did very well given the conditions. Kudos to your wife for running it all.

                   

                  me - The taper seems to be working, I'm starting to feel lighter and that is usually a great sign.

                  The weather however is gonna be crap with the sun high for the 9am start and temps between 60 and 70 and obviously high humidity since the race is by the ocean. Whatever, I'll go there ready to race and see what happens.

                  PRs: 1500 4:54.1 2019 - 5K 17:53 2023 - 10K 37:55 2023 - HM 1:21:59 2021

                  Up next: no idea

                  Tool to generate Strava weekly

                  Fredford66


                  Waltons ThreadLord

                    Just look at this board: On the last year alone every one of us was forced to take a week or longer off here and there, except for you and perhaps Keen.

                     

                     

                    Disclaimer:  I've been on this board for just over 4 months.  I haven't had anything more than a mild sniffle since I stopped going into the office 26 months ago.  Being away from the crowd of desks and not riding mass transit has kept me healthier than I've been in years (at least in terms of colds).  I hope I haven't just jinxed myself....

                     

                     

                    James - I'm glad you were able to run the 5k without hamstring issues.  Nice race report and smart running of the race.  Congrats on the AG win.

                     

                    My forecast has soured.  Initially, I was seeing rain starting early Friday, going all day Friday and Saturday, and ending early Sunday morning (pre-dawn).  Now the rain is supposed to start in late morning on Friday and there's a 40% chance of rain all during the time of the race with temps in the high 40's (8-10C) and windy.  I'm thinking of going with my LS light smartwool shirt since the wool will help keep me warm even if wet.  You know, for a race I'm giving myself as a "reward," it's sure starting to look like less than favorable conditions.  At least I may have something to remember it by...

                    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: RunAPalooza (Asbury Park) HM, 4/6; Clinton Country Run 15k, 4/27

                     

                    Marky_Mark_17


                      Mark -It may not look like that to you, but that is extraordinary strength and health. Just look at this board: On the last year alone every one of us was forced to take a week or longer off here and there, except for you and perhaps Keen.

                       

                       

                      OK that's probably fair.  I have been pretty lucky I guess.  But in hindsight there were also times I ran through colds when I probably shouldn't have, it was just stubbornness on my part.  Also, I agree with Fred, it's remarkable how spending less time in the office results in less getting sick.

                       

                      Piwi - surprisingly I think it was actually dehydration.  Don't think I drank enough water on Wed for various reasons and paid for it Thurs morning.  Pretty tired today but an evening flight to Queenstown and then a nighttime drive over the Crown Range will do that!

                       

                      Weather looking fairly good here for tomorrow.  Would still like it a few degrees colder but there's a mountain range that'll cut the light NW breeze off.  Man I love Wanaka in autumn, the colours of leaves on the trees are just incredible.

                       

                      Good luck Flavio, Fred and Steve (see you at the race!!).

                      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: Maraetai HM, 10 Mar, DNF

                      Up next: Waterfront HM, 7 Apr

                      "CONSISTENCY IS KING"

                        Mark/Steve all the best for tomorrow.

                        55+ PBs 5k 18:36 June 3rd TT

                        " If you don't use it you lose it,  but if you use it, it wears out.

                        Somewhere in between is about right "      

                         

                          All those racing this weekend, enjoy - enjoy - enjoy!!!

                          50+ age-group PBs:  Half Perish 1:24:24 (June '23 Road Race) - 10km 37:52 (2022 Local Road Champs) - Track 5km 18:49 (Aug '22) - Perish Run 3:17:42

                          2024 Goals: Boston Perish Run Sub 3:15 - Road/Track 10km Sub 37:30 - 5km Sub 18:20

                           

                           

                          zebano


                            Mark, Steve, Flavio, Fred(?) go run fast yall.

                             

                             

                            Hey Fred - I've been meaning to ask what instrument do you play? or what are you doing as adult  musician? I started playing trumpet again for the first time in 20 years to play some duets with my kids and wow, I'm bad.

                            1600 - 5:23 (2018), 5k - 19:33 (2018), 10k - 41:20 (2021), half - 1:38:57 (2018), Marathon - 3:37:17 (2018)

                            Fredford66


                            Waltons ThreadLord

                              Mark, Steve, Flavio, Fred(?) go run fast yall.

                               

                               

                              Hey Fred - I've been meaning to ask what instrument do you play? or what are you doing as adult  musician? I started playing trumpet again for the first time in 20 years to play some duets with my kids and wow, I'm bad.

                               

                              I currently play the bassoon in a couple of community bands (I used to play the oboe).  It's strictly a hobby for me.  Saturday night's concert is with the Rutgers University Alumni Wind Symphony (ruaws.org), which will be streamed at https://www.masongross.rutgers.edu/nicholas-music-center-stream/ starting at 7:30 EDT.  (Thanks for letting me get in the free plug. )

                               

                              My forecast may have bottomed out.  The chance of rain for Sunday morning has decreased, though the wind velocity is up.  Part of me would prefer a light rain to a heavy wind.

                               

                              Good luck to Mark, Steve, and Flavio.

                              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: RunAPalooza (Asbury Park) HM, 4/6; Clinton Country Run 15k, 4/27

                               

                              Marky_Mark_17


                                Went out PB or bust and… bust. 3 mins slower than last year despite training better so something was definitely off. Daughter woke up with a very sniffly nose and I’ve felt a bit off the last few days so maybe I’m battling something.

                                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: Maraetai HM, 10 Mar, DNF

                                Up next: Waterfront HM, 7 Apr

                                "CONSISTENCY IS KING"