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Well folks, apparently nobody wants to talk to about their training or racing this year.
Mine was pretty good in Dec/Jan-Feb, but March with school hotting up hasn't been kind. Still gotten in some sessions and probably treading water, but no real jumps. Same for nutrition/weight, still sitting at 77kg or so.
Did finally open up with a pair of races though out in Lawrence, Kansas. Day 1 was a criterium race (basically a less than 1 mile loop course, usually defined by several corners) and day 2 was a road race defined by a half mile or so power climb at about 6% average, but really i's like 10% bottom, flattish middle, 10% kick to the line.
Race 1 Report + Show Spoiler +Crits are usually rough for me, because I struggle hard with nerves around corners when people start really smashing it and taking risks through turns. First couple laps I was nervy as hell since it had been a year since I raced, and we were in a mixed Collegiate B/4/5 category race (5's are beginning bike racers) so there was some sketchy racing going on with people doing dumb stuff in corners (imagine being shoulder to shoulder in a large group of riders at 30mph cornering hard and some guy changes his line such that now you're about to collide with him, but you can't really change yours because your about to be leaning into someone else). Lots of leaning on shoulders and jostling, but after a while it settled down a bit both my nerves and other people doing sketchy things. Eventually during a crosswind section another collegiate guy from USAFA went up the road, and I attacked and joined him. We had a decent gap of perhaps, 5 to 6 seconds, and I was here for a hard effort so I committed to the move and started driving hard. Luckily, the AF guy was willing to work with me so we were swapping turns for a bit, but I was definitely doing the heavy lifting. Held the gap for a few laps but then the pack reeled us back on a lap with a prime sprint. Bad news for me because I'd been working very hard on the rivet in the break, and now as soon as we rejoined the group attacks started flying for the prime. I didn't have anything to respond with and fell off, wondering if my race was over. Took a minute to recoup, then put my head down and TTed it for a few laps and was fortunately able to catch back on to the group as everyone was fairly gassed from the prime. Race chilled a bit from there, took one more flyer off the front that also didn't go anywhere, and then settled in for the sprint. Was toward the back though, and due to lack of race skill/confidence I didn't really move up the group as I needed to in order to be in good position for the final corner, which was with about 200m to go. Came through the corner in about 20th wheel or so, but about 40m back from the front wheels. Had a solid sprint, moving up to 9th...but no way are you making up 40m over a 200m sprint.
Result was 2nd collegiate and 9th OA. Not bad, got what I came for...some practice, confidence, and a hard effort.
Race #2 Report + Show Spoiler +Race #2 was the Perry Dam Road Race. 7 laps of a 5ish mile circuit. On paper, this is an ideal Eric race. Punchy half mile 6% finish that basically means a 90s finishing kick effort. I wasn't sure exactly how I would go though since I'm way "fatter" than last time I raced, about 9kg heavier. It was also a tougher field being mixed with the Collegiate Bs/3/4. No beginners though which was nice.
Race started off downhill on a very cold day, and again it was the first time I'd been at high speeds, 40+mph/70+kmh in a bunch. I just sat at the back tagged on, and eventually got a little more comfortable. A couple people tried to attack, but everyone was fresh so those were easily chased down and served as a nice warm up. As we came into the final climb for the first lap, I realized there was a little curve thrown into the mix...you turn onto the climb with a sharp 100 degree turn, the inside of which was very chewed up and gravely. Not good for someone lacking confidence in corners. I was on the inside, which means I had to take the most gravely line, so I had to scrub off most of my speed to feel/be safe. As a result, I came out at about 5mph, with the guys taking the cleaner, wider line being able to carry closer to 20mph. This meant I needed to sprint full gas for the first 15s to get back to the front in case action happened on the climb. Had someone gone REALLY hard, I might not have been able to respond. Fortunately, no one did. We went hard, but not ridiculous. The equivalent of running perhaps 1200m-1500m pace for 700m or something. Down the backside and onto the dam for lap 2. The dam was an interesting spot, being highly exposed with large drop offs on each side and a fairly strong 15mph crosswind coming across, with a bit of head component. In theory, with a few guys going for it and guttering intelligently, both across the dam and the return leg (after the dam, you basically did a 180 and went the exact same direction as the dam) could have been a spot to put some serious hurt on anybody caught out. Either nobody was aware of this, which seems unlikely, or no one had the desire or confidence to try. Basically this resulted in the race being quite easy (somewhere between a walking effort and a MP effort) the entire time except for the occasional chasing of an attack, or going up the climb. Laps 2 and 3 went by uneventfully, with the climb being taken at the same relatively easy pace. This told me one of two things: most of the field was hurting, or some guys were really saving it for the end. Fourth lap I decided to put in a dig on the climb and try to make things harder, I went at something more akin to 800m-1000m pace for a bit, and quickly had a gap back to the field of about 20m or so, except for one guy struggling to reach me. I backed of a smidge to let the guy working his way across bridge up to me, and try to see if we could get a break going. Wasn't to be. He was too gassed, and could only offer a token pull, at which point I decided it wasn't worth it and sat up and waited for the bunch to catch me across the dam. Lap 4, 5, and 6 rolled on with little happening. I wanted to make the climb harder, but nobody wanted to follow me so I just rode in the group and chilled up the climb, knowing that it's still an ideal finish for me.
Last lap, we came across the dam, around the 180 ish turn, and back on the downhill run and people started attacking and drilling it. I don't know why. Most of the drilling was done at just a hard/very hard pace...which doesn't accomplish anything. Everyone else just sits on the wheels going moderate. If you want to get away you have to start with a sprint. But we had 3 or 4 guys just pedalling hard at the front, much to my chagrin...as I had made a lapse in positioning and found myself toward the back of the group. This hard pace served to lock down the field, as if you want to move up, you have to swing into the wind and put in a pretty damn big effort to move up, just a few minutes before the final climb. If I'd have been in third wheel it would have been awesome because I would have been nicely kept right there in third, but as it as I was stuck at the back. People stayed on the gas all the way to the final kicker. I'd also made the mistake of positioning myself on the inside this lap...not good given the nature of the final corner. I was finally able to move up on the inside gutter, but was still stuck on the inside. The gravel of that final turn had me sketched out, and I did a similar thing to the first lap, losing most of my speed, and coming out of the turn in about 15th wheel, a good 30m/6-7s down and going 10mph slower. FUCK. I knew my chances of winning were probably shot, but I just put my head down and went as hard as I could the next minute and a half. Ended up picking off everybody but two guys, my teammate who won and a KS dude for a 3rd place finish, 2nd collegiate.
Overall I'm pretty satisfied with both races. A pair of 2nds collegiate, and 9th and 3rd OA aren't a bad start heavy and a year removed from my last race. Admittedly a little annoyed to have taken myself out having a chance to win either race by bad positioning. Second race especially was a nice affirmation of fitness, since heavy Eric finished much faster than anyone else including my teammate, who is a very very strong soon to be Cat 2 racer.
More racing and bike handling confidence will go a long way, so it's basically a question now of to what extent I can do that.
Some pics:
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Congrats, L_Master! That seems like a great pair of efforts, even if you felt like you were treading water beforehand. Are you up at CSU now full time?
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I am. Fort Collins is a dream man.
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Way late to the party here, but I wanted to pipe and say thanks for writing those up, L_Master. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about your races. As a runner, I find the amount of tactics involved in bike racing mind-boggling. Don't think I'd be smart enough to be a bike racer.
As for me, I'm still continuing to chip away at my fitness. I've come to appreciate more and more, returning from my Achilles injury, how far I have to go to get back to where I was. Some days it even feels like I'm going backwards but most of the time it's pretty fun. I try to focus more on the process and less on the outcome.
I found out recently that I'm moving from Alberta to BC. We're living right next to the US border in one of Vancouver's endless suburbs. The racing scene around here is pretty strong, which should be fun. Just need to find a new group to run with.
I've also just set my race schedule for the rest of season. It looks like this:
May 6: BMO Vancouver half. Doing this just for fun, really. I haven't done much half-specific stuff for the last six weeks so I have no idea what I'll run. Hoping to at least scare 1:15.
July 7: Sin Seven Ultra. I'll run this as part of my usual relay team, assuming we get our act together on the organization front. No idea what leg I'll run, but it's always a great weekend.
July 15: Fort Langley Half. Another one just for fun. Some friends in the lower mainland are doing it so I'm going to tag along. Hoping to convince my girlfriend to sign up for this one; she hasn't run in years but keeps expressing interest in it.
August 18: Edmonton Half Marathon. Always a fun race. Hope to be in at least 1:13 shape here so I don't embarrass myself in front of my old running friends.
October 7: Victoria Marathon. I gather this is not a super-fast course, especially if the wind blows against you, but since I won't be able to run very fast maybe we'll be a good match. I'd love to get as close to 2:35 as I can here, but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.
And that's all I've got planned.
Anyone else running out there? Mentat, nony? L_Master, any more bike races on tap?
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Right now it's just surviving finals, my fitness has gone to hell in a handbasket over the last month, but that's how it often goes with finals. It's just a month though so it pops right back after I get a couple weeks of solid training back in.
Summer plans remain to be seen, I'll definitely be working and taking a class, beyond that it depends on how much outside engineering stuff I need to do. If I can ride around 10 hours a week or so for solid training you'll probably see some racing out of me and more frequent posts in the thread as I get excited about my fitness, but it's also possible this will be a busy summer with me being more just a guy riding a bike for health reasons and to not get out of shape.
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Looks like you've got a solid running scheduled mapped out. Time to do some race damage and see exactly where that fitness is at. 2:35 and 1:13 wouldn't have you terribly far of your previous best form, so hopefully those races turn out strong for you and you're ready to think about potential fall or certainly spring 19' PRs.
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8716 Posts
I'm taking a bit of off-season time. My wife's due date is May 20 so this summer will be tough training with a newborn around disrupting sleep, etc.
After I ran a 1:10 half in early December, I was getting coaching for my next goal race, which was intended to be Cherry Blossom 10 miler. But the training I was given was just way too hard for me. I was giving feedback saying it was hard, thinking we'd back off if it looked like a problem to my coach, but we never backed off. I was completing workouts at good paces, but they were progressively more difficult. Like the start of the workout would feel like the middle or final third of a race. Eventually I went out for a workout and couldn't complete it, had to walk/jog home. Fired the coach, then took several weeks of barely running to recover and feel fresh again. I ran Cherry Blossom anyway after 2 months of ~30mpw jogging and managed a 55:01, which I was happy with. It's a pretty big step back from a 1:10 half, so I kinda wasted 4 months, but worse things could have happened.
Since then I'm back on a structured base-building schedule. Just gonna do some easier base building training throughout the summer and possibly the fall as well. Next race is San Jose Rock n Roll Half, October 7. Then I'm at Disney Wine and Dine Half in early November (can probably win this), then a Thanksgiving 10k, then I'll probably run a relay at CIM. After all that, I'm planning to shift gears to 1500m training for the winter and spring. No real goals for all that except to build aerobic fitness as much as possible ahead of the 1500m training.
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1:20, or a scintillating 3:49/km. If you don't count the first half I ever ran, when I had no idea what I was up to, this is my slowest ever by seven minutes. It's also 10 seconds a kilometre *slower* than I averaged back in February for that 11 mile race in Hawaii, which was on a tougher course with way fewer people to run with. The last four months have training have made me way worse, it seems.
The best part was this chunky dude with a man bun, who told me he was trying to break 1:17 or something, giving me all this unsolicited racing advice. "Don't yoyo like that, you're wasting energy. Here, I'll lead this hill, then you take turn." I was moments away from murdering him when he passed me, so at least I was spared 25 years in jail. Then again, that would be 25 years with no racing, so maybe I'd wind up ahead of things.
A list of others who dropped me would be too long for the Internet to contain. Their teeming ranks include old ladies, balding fat plumbers, cripples, children, and triathletes.
Starting to wonder if the window on running fast has just closed for me. My body just doesn't seem to respond to training anymore. Maybe my birth certificate is wrong and I'm actually 50 or something.
Race walking here I come.
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Sucks. Damn
Also...Jesus! That guy would have pissed me off sooo goddamn muchl, especially mid race. It's weird though that a tubby guy running sub 1:20 is giving advice like that. He's either been around running long enough to know that shit would be annoying and stupid...or he's pretty damn talented and doesn't know it. Either way though...I probably would have killed him.
I can't tell to what degree this RR is in jest. I'm sure there is a lot of frustration there, but that's obscenely negative. If it's just venting some frustration than I can sympathize with you, because it was a terrible race for you and being used to running the times you have, I'm sure it felt more or less embarrassing.
Of course, you've been around the sport long enough to know that bad days happen. Occasionally even shit days. Clearly you didn't do anything stupid race wise/pace wise, so it's a question of what has the training been like since Hawaii? Did your workouts progress and you have felt okay in training? If yes, chalk up to a bad day, vent, move on.
If you feel like your workouts haven't gotten better...then it's time to ask, have you felt okay in training? Normal levels of fatigue, recovery, etc. Have life stressors been similar, good sleep, etc. If something is off there, I think it's worthwhile to check that rabbit hole first.
If you've felt like normal Bonham, but just slower, and your workouts haven't been getting better, then I'd say it's time to sit down and wonder if something is off.
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8716 Posts
I've had my share of races when I'm out of shape or training through a race and people "slower" than me are trying to help me have a better race. Not fun at all. In the 10 miler I just did, I was trying to run as hard as I could but my fitness was in kind of a weird place. My legs never got really tired and full of lactic acid but my heart rate was really high and I was breathing hard and using a lot of effort so I was afraid to rev up before the very end. Basically I felt like I wasn't running hard enough but I was also afraid to push harder. Anyway, I was drafting off a guy for a long time and then remembered a race where a guy drafted off of me and then had a ridiculous last mile, so much faster that it made it obvious he wasn't really trying throughout the race. And yet he was a pussy that drafted off of me for the entire headwind section of the course. So I vowed not to be that guy and I took the lead in a headwind for a while before I abandoned all caution at the end and finished a lot faster. Just a random story that came to mind on the topic of people running races while in a weird place or having weird goals in them.
Anyway, it might be that you need a slower build-up. Or just more patience. It's easy to underestimate just how many components need to be brought back up to speed before you can have a successful training cycle and race. I think that veteran runners have an expectation of particular variables of performance that come and go through typical cycles of training hard and training light. But when a serious injury requires a lot of time off, there are more variables that come in to play than normal, things that a somewhat consistent runner takes for granted. So it takes an extra long time to get back into the groove while those overlooked components get back up to speed. Making sure you keep a positive attitude will certainly help. Of course it's fine to feel down for a bit after a disappointing race but I hope you can get back into a mindset of growth soon.
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Thanks for the words of wisdom, y'all. I was pretty frustrated with myself yesterday.
On reflection, I think that was due to not really knowing how fit I was. I jumped in this race just for fun, with no real build. I haven't done anything HM-specific since February. My coach has given me two workouts a week, usually one with two tempos ranging in length from 15 to 25 minutes apiece, and another with a bunch of hill running. That's good for building very generalized running fitness, but with no extended LT-type runs, it's not hugely useful for a half marathon.
Of course, I knew this going in. I was also battling a cold I picked up on a trip to NYC in late April. But, in the face of uncertainty, I overestimated my fitness and told myself, hey, maybe you can run 1:15. In retrospect I should have set more modest expectations or tried to do that zen thing and have no expectations.
That said, if I'd known I was going to run 1:20, I might not have gone through with the whole ordeal. When I realized, in the middle of the race, that 1:15 was totally not on the table, instead of accepting that and trying to grind out a 1:17 or whatever, I tilted and my morale collapsed and I just phoned it in.
In retrospect, this race reminds me of another half I ran two or three years back. I wanted to challenge 1:11, which was pretty ambitious. I probably could have run 1:12-mid on race day, but when I realized 1:11 wasn't happening, I felt very disappointed and shuffled home to a 1:13-high. I also got out-kicked by a bunch of people down the stretch, much like yesterday.
NonY, as you say, I need to do a better job of maintaining a growth mindset. Finding the balance between caring about running enough to want to do it as well as I can and not caring so much that a bad race throws me into depression is a challenge. Patience and perseverance will eventually out. I need to give myself (and my body) time.
L_Master: he wasn't that chubby. His BMI was probably in the low 20s. I was just grumpy yesterday.
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This thread seems to have fallen into a summer slumber. But it will never die in my heart! Here's a quick update on my training for the Victoria marathon in October.
Things are looking up, on the whole. It's hot as stink here in BC right now so you can only really run fast in the morning. My fitness is coming around and I'm in the midst of my peak mileage for this training cycle (100 miles a week for six of eight weeks; one week down and seven to go). More importantly, I'm focusing more on enjoying the process and not getting so hung up on results.
Last week, I had my first marathon pace workout since coming back from injury: 20x1k @ MP, with 60 seconds rec. I surprised myself by running very comfortably under 3:40/k for the whole workout, which felt very aerobic. Average pace was a little under 3:37, with the last two in 3:32 and 3:26. That works out to sub-2:35 for a full marathon. I don't think that's tenable at this point, but I think sub-2:40 is realistic, and maybe scaring 2:35 is possible. But then Victoria has lots of rolling hills and can be windy, so who knows.
I only have one race left before Victoria, the Edmonton half in August. I'm trying not to think about what I might run there; my only goal is to race hard and have fun.
Somehow a good chunk of the summer is already gone! I hope all y'alls are having a great time running in the heat and getting ready for some fall races. If anyone has time for a training update, I'd love to read it!
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My training hasn't been the most consistent this year so far but I did manage to PR in a half back in April. I ran a 1:43 and change which is a pretty major improvement considering my previous half PR was 1:56 from 2016. I know it's pedestrian compared to some of your times, but for me it was huge.
The crazy thing was I felt like I left time on the table running that 1:43 too. I was happy with the time, but my splits were kind of all over the place and I didn't run a very even effort. After five marathons I feel like I actually know exactly what I need nutrition wise to get me through longer runs (10+ miles) feeling great, what to eat on the run and when. Huge improvements from my first marathon(2013) when I literally ran with slices of banana in a bag in my pocket for 20 miles and when I tried to eat it got everywhere and was an utter disaster. Not sure if I ever posted a recap here but I'm still riding my high from the NYC marathon last year, it took five marathons for me but I finally cracked the 4 hour mark which felt awesome!
If I ever actually get serious and start doing structured workouts instead of just running 4-5 days a week at easy/medium paces I feel like I could definitely turn a corner with a number of my PR's. I have another half in late September and I'm hoping to run well there maybe another PR if I can keep up some consistency for the next couple months and train sort of how I trained for my last few full marathons but race a half. Also I STILL have not managed to crack 20 minutes for a 5k after all these years, I have come tantalizingly close multiple times (20:15, 20:30 etc) but mostly in the 21 minute ranges. But I can't expect to crack 20 for a 5k when I do literally zero interval training at the paces required, I have always focused my builds around marathons the last few years instead of really working out the speedy short stuff.. My excuse this year is the track near my house has been under renovation for the past couple months and I hate doing 400/800's on roads...
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Honestly I'm not sure if that's the case for 5k. I'd be most curious to hear about how your overall mileage, workout paces, and workout volume has change over the last couple years.
From the sound of it, I get the impression you generally go out and run without any real structure. Perhaps in your marathon training you're adding some longer, harder repeats in there...but are you really progression the workouts consistently over time?
That's a huge improvement in the half, but it's hard to know where it came from. Was it due to better pacing (even if it could still be better), was it due to a little more time spent at higher mileage, was it due to a better engine etc. How did your overall mileage and workout paces change between the 1:40 low and 1:56?
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I knew I was going to obliterate my half PR, pretty much all of those aspects you mentioned I improved upon, even just going two years straight injury free helped, but I also was running more mileage, and not only that but my shortest weekly runs now tend to be at least 5’miles, compared to a few years ago most of my runs were shorter, under 3 miles at a time for the most part outside of once a week longer run on weekend. Even just knowing what to expect now on longer runs makes training and racing 10+ mile distances better. And I ran two full marathons between that time so I was running quite a bit just wasn’t focused on racing the half distance.
I think one of the biggest things was I was also able to carry some of my big mileage from last fall (50-60miles a week)through the winter relatively well even though my actual running mileage wasn’t as high the whole time I was still doing twice a week core work and eating well.
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Given that, especially if you've been able to run faster times during your actual HMP/MP work or other repeats, you should be able to crack 20', or be exceptionally close to it right now.
I'm not sure what you mean by carrying mileage through the winter. To me that means you kept running 50-60 miles per week. I think what you may have meant was that you managed to carry some fitness through. In all honesty though, the good eating definitely doesn't make a difference. If anything, it would allow better recovery which means that the 50-60 mpw you did before with a poorer diet was a greater stressor than it would be with a perfect diet. Combine that with less mileage like you said and the stress of winter running was much less. This might lead to fresh legs and better feelings while running, but you probably gave away a small bit of "fitness".
Core work I don't have a huge opinion on. I'm not sure it really makes a difference in most cases. It's very hard to quantify though because peoples training is always changing so if they do core work and improve it's hard to pin whether that was on core work on their training working.
You should let me coach you for a 5k sometime
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As far as my training goes. It's been pretty spotty since about March.
Some racing here and there, mostly crits for the bike handling and race work. All the major good road races are in spring. Summer only has hill climbs (which are expensive, and pure tests of w/kg with no real tactics) and crits. Obviously skipped the hill climbs since I'm not in shape to be competitive, and don't want to lay down $70 when I haven't been training well and know on a good day I probably couldn't get within even 10% of old PRs.
Basically nothing resembling training until the last 4 weeks or so. Powerwise, I seem to be about 5-10% off my peak fitness and lacking the endurance I would have, which is expected given I've been doing 3-5 hours a week as opposed to 10-15 a week. Going to try and keep something going until September on the bike, and then if I can shed a few pounds do a running cycle from late September into early December.
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On July 26 2018 08:39 LuckyFool wrote: My training hasn't been the most consistent this year so far but I did manage to PR in a half back in April. I ran a 1:43 and change which is a pretty major improvement considering my previous half PR was 1:56 from 2016. I know it's pedestrian compared to some of your times, but for me it was huge.
Hey man, PBs are PBs! Unless your name is "Kipchoge" or similar, we're all ultimately puds in the grand scheme of things. Sweet moves out there!
I'm not as knowledgable as L_Master about the nitty-gritty of training, but I can say with confidence that running a workout on occasion can make a huge difference. If you're interested in running faster but don't want to engage with the hassle/expense of finding a coach, there are lots of great books on training theory out there. Lots of people swear by Hansons Marathon Method. I can personally vouch for Pfitzinger's Advanced Marathoning. There is also a road racing version that focuses on the 5k, 10k and half marathon.
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On July 27 2018 05:10 L_Master wrote: As far as my training goes. It's been pretty spotty since about March.
Some racing here and there, mostly crits for the bike handling and race work. All the major good road races are in spring. Summer only has hill climbs (which are expensive, and pure tests of w/kg with no real tactics) and crits. Obviously skipped the hill climbs since I'm not in shape to be competitive, and don't want to lay down $70 when I haven't been training well and know on a good day I probably couldn't get within even 10% of old PRs.
Basically nothing resembling training until the last 4 weeks or so. Powerwise, I seem to be about 5-10% off my peak fitness and lacking the endurance I would have, which is expected given I've been doing 3-5 hours a week as opposed to 10-15 a week. Going to try and keep something going until September on the bike, and then if I can shed a few pounds do a running cycle from late September into early December.
Glad to hear you're keeping a hand in! I can totally relate to the "man I'm not going to PB here what's the point" feeling. For me, I think it's ultimately not constructive to think that way. If I only raced when I had a good shot at a PB, I wouldn't race until 2019! I'm trying to tell myself that PBs will come, if they come again at all, with consistent, sustainable training.
R.e. running, have you picked a specific race or distance for December? I sometimes think beyond my fall marathon and wonder what I should do in the winter. I'm committed to doing something over the cold months, but I haven't decided what yet. I now live somewhere that only gets a light dusting of snow two or three times each winter, so keeping up training should be easier. But a spring marathon still seems kind of intimidating. We live about a mile from a very nice track, and I sometimes wonder whether a good chunk of 5k training might eventually pay dividends in the marathon....
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Definitely 5k stuff. Honestly would love to do mile but that doesn't really exist. There is the CSU Homecoming 5k in mid October that I always like, and tbh that would be the race I would most like to target but I'm not willing to start dropping off on the bike in July to have 3-4 months of a cycle for a peak in October.
Usually the YMCA in my hometown has a 3 week race series on Halloween weekend, Thanksgiving, and then a Jingle Bell early December race so probably those three + maybe a crack at a flat, faster one in mid December if such a race exists near my area and I get into near PR shape.
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On July 27 2018 05:07 L_Master wrote:Given that, especially if you've been able to run faster times during your actual HMP/MP work or other repeats, you should be able to crack 20', or be exceptionally close to it right now. I'm not sure what you mean by carrying mileage through the winter. To me that means you kept running 50-60 miles per week. I think what you may have meant was that you managed to carry some fitness through. In all honesty though, the good eating definitely doesn't make a difference. If anything, it would allow better recovery which means that the 50-60 mpw you did before with a poorer diet was a greater stressor than it would be with a perfect diet. Combine that with less mileage like you said and the stress of winter running was much less. This might lead to fresh legs and better feelings while running, but you probably gave away a small bit of "fitness". Core work I don't have a huge opinion on. I'm not sure it really makes a difference in most cases. It's very hard to quantify though because peoples training is always changing so if they do core work and improve it's hard to pin whether that was on core work on their training working. You should let me coach you for a 5k sometime
yeah I meant carry the fitness through to some extent, or at least it felt like it because I wasn't running as high mileage (dropped to like 20mpw) but I still felt good on my long runs and when I started building the mileage back to 30+ things came easier than usual and I had one of my best springs ever all things considered.
I have a 5k on Sept 15th that I'd really like to go for sub 20, I ran it two years ago in 20:58 with a disaster of a 3rd mile, that was during the midst of marathon training through with little to no speedwork focus which doesn't have to be the case this year https://www.strava.com/activities/715281557
What sort of workouts would you recommend for the next 6 weeks for honing some 5k speed? I'm planning on keeping up at least 30 miles a week between now and then but could bump it up more if needed. I went to the track for the first time in 3 months earlier tonight and ran 8x400 with all of them in the 6:15-6:30/mile range but I wasn't pushing too hard on any of them and I'm also a good 10-15 pounds overweight from what I'd consider my ideal racing weight. I think if I start doing 1-2 workouts a week and lose the extra weight I might have a decent chance.
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