UM 45 Ohio 23
I ran 6 this morning followed by 12 minutes on the bike then PT for glute and hammy work. Although my right hammy tendon is still a bit sore, both legs are much improved with the PT strength work and some light stretching. And, "leg flossing" that LRB mentioned a year or more ago when I had a flare-up. Cautiously optimistic I can manage this over a training cycle, hence the interest in a training plan to keep me from screwing it up!
To Dave and Onemile (and anyone else who has bought a custom McMillan plan): Are the workouts pretty varied? Are paces provided or is it just intervals at 5K or HMP but not actual paces? Is the plan designed by a human from his team or just some computer algorithm based on your data?
To Dave and Onemile (and anyone else who has bought a custom McMillan plan):
Are the workouts pretty varied?
Are paces provided or is it just intervals at 5K or HMP but not actual paces?
Is the plan designed by a human from his team or just some computer algorithm based on your data?
It depends what you mean by varied! IIRC they just tell you the type of pace, then you use the McMillan pace charts to tell you what that means for you. I think it's designed by an actual human, but IDK for sure. You do have the opportunity to email with an actual human if you have questions about any of it, or if you want to adjust things for whatever reason. And on the initial questionnaire, you can request anything you want. Like, "I want varied workouts!" What they'd do with that, IDK. But you certainly include things like other races you're doing during the cycle, planned vacations where you might not be able to run as much, etc.
If you want to PM me your email, I can send you what they actually provided me, as well as the questionnaire, so you have an idea. I think if you don't mind spending a little money but don't feel quite ready for a coach, it's a worthwhile option. I do know one person from RA who was very disappointed - she was roughly around your level, and they sent her basically a super-beginner plan. She complained, and I figured they'd re-do it for her, but they just refunded her money. I thought that was weird.
Dave
The noise from roofing is about the same as siding. The siding replacement made a mess inside--so many nail pops in every damn room.
wolvmar, I got the whitish-light bluish Wave knits last summer. They didn't stay that color for long. I also discovered that something in sunscreen creates rust colored stains on things like shoes and socks.
sdWhiskers, I did the McMillan run club for 1 HM. That used a template plan, on the message boards McMillan would respond to posts. It was not for me. I could never quite figure out how the paces were determined, aside from it assuming you got faster every week (both workouts & easy), cause I don't think I hit them for a single run (easy or workout). There was some variation to the workouts. If I remember correctly, the first few weeks seemed easy, workouts were like 8 x 1 minute and I think the long run was 90 minutes to 105 minutes. Then it went to 5 x 1 mile at 5k pace and I think something like 3 x 2 miles faster than HM pace. I would update the plan with recent races and I think I even used the calculator to make my HM goal "match" the 5k. I remember I had done a tough 5k where I could barely get under 9mm and the 1 mile repeats were supposed to be right around 8mm. It was that point that I started questioning the plan. I did get a repsonse from McMillan about that workout, because I asked if one, was it correct and two, if I should scale it in anyway. He said it was to test fitness. I completely tanked the goal HM too.
ETA, one positive about the McMillan plan was that the website provided a strength training plan that went along with it. I did like that it gave me some ideas moving forward on how to tweak strength trainign to a training cycle. It started with more balance based (think single leg work), then strength, then power.
Yeah super beginner plan isn't what I want. I'm slow but not looking to Just Finish.
I was thinking about hiring a coach but with this still being a weird Covid year wasn't entirely sure I wanted to drop that kind of money yet. So was looking for an in between option. The thought of following a plan like Hanson's for 18 weeks does not make me excited. And since running a marathon is such a crapshoot, the journey to it needs to keep me interested. (Is that too much to ask?!)
My friend who coached me before has been injured a ton in the past year (multiple stress fractures) and isn't in a good mental relationship with running. I know if I asked for her help again, she'd do it but I don't think that's good for her. Maybe I'll just recycle the training I did for CIM 2018 that gave me my PR.
My friend who coached me before has been injured a ton in the past year (multiple stress fractures) and isn't in a good mental relationship with running.
I would not want to be coached by someone who keeps getting injured. To me it's an indication of someone who pushes too hard, and then has to live setbacks. I prefer a slower but steady progression. Personal preference.
I agree. However, that's not the case here--she's actually more conservative than I'd like some of the time.
I do not have a history of disordered eating issues.
When was your last sussecful cycle? Success as in you toed the line.
Waltons ThreadLord
+1 I have a friend who keeps urging me to do more hard workouts yet he has spent more than half of the past three years not running due to injuries.
5 miles easy effort for me today.
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: Greta's Run 5k, 5/19; Scotch Plains 5k, 6/12
I am happy to send you the plan I got from them too if you want it. I was happy with it and it "worked" for me. I do feel like it was customized to my preference and ability level and didn't feel repetitive.
My thought on coaching is that the coach's personal running accomplishments/struggles should be completely indepdent of their ability to coach. I think too often (this was definitely on display on RW) someone who has success running thinks that if others do exactly what they did, they will see the same pattern of improvement. I'm pretty adverse to the idea of having a coach, because I really don't feel like answering to someone else if runs suck, if I have to skip a few workouts because life shit comes up, etc.
Bill Belichick is not a hall of fame football player but he is probably considered one of the best coaches. And yes, I know having Tom Brady helps.
Bill Belichick is not a hall of fame football player but he is probably considered one of the best coaches. And yes, I know cheating helps.
sdWhiskers, I'd add coaches like Tomlin, Harbaugh and Arians. None are Hall of Fame players, but they seem to be able to motivate their teams. Harbaugh makes some questionable decisions, but I'm pretty sure LRB would take the entire Ravens organization over those running Detroit any day.
It’s pretty true across all sports that playing ability and coaching success have no correlation. A negative correlation if anything.
The only exception I can think of is
Yogi Berra won a pennant in each league as a manager. That said, there are exceptions to all rules and I agree with the general case stated earlier.