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Ran a 10k - Official Thread (4 Viewers)
- Thread starter Ned
- Start date
mr. furley
Footballguy
https://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-marathon-cheating-allegations-frank-meza-20190621-story.html
"Is this 70-year-old marathon runner from East L.A. a record setter, or a cheater?"
"Is this 70-year-old marathon runner from East L.A. a record setter, or a cheater?"
gianmarco
Footballguy
tri-man 47
Footballguy
Looking at the LA course map, it's easy to see how someone could cheat in the first 10K ...the course from mile one to five is a very tight U shape. That's where they recorded the unusually fast 10K split (36 minutes) ...a sub-6:00 pace. (5K splits do not appear on the LA Marathon site.) The course is rather straight after that, so not sure how he'd cheat. But maybe that gave him the extra time he needed for the time he wanted to achieve (his subsequent pauses might have been to control his overall time).
From Athlinks, his times are all eerily similar, though historically very fast. But it's odd and unusual that his 5k, 10K, and HM paces are the same as his marathon pace. Through 2014, he seemed to be at a 6:50-7:05/mi marathon pace ...superb for his age (then 65). However, in March, 2015 he popped a 6:35/mi pace at the LA Marathon. After that, his times bounce around. I'd guess he started cheating at that 2015 LA Marathon and then got better at doing so over subsequent years and/or finding marathons where he could do so. His fast marathons - LA, Phoenix, Long Beach, Santa Clarita - all have opportunities to cheat.
Weird stuff. He does seem to have been a very fast AG runner, but something appears to have driven him to shave time.
One old-timer, ruining it for the rest of us. 
AAABatteries
Footballguy
My buddy who I hike with texts me a couple of days ago about getting out this morning on the trails. We almost always hike but occasionally will do a slow run on one of our flat routes. So, I ask run, hike or both? He says hike-ish, not sure he’s in shape to run. So, I decide to get out and do 6 slow miles miles last night thinking I’m just hiking this morning.
Wrong, get there and he’s in running gear with his phone carrier around his leg, obviously prepared to run. I’m in my hiking tennis shoes with tired legs. But off we go - and while we are going so slow it would drive you guys insane it was pushing me. We do a ~4.75 miles at the lake with lots of hills. But my legs warm up and are feeling great. He has to leave after we finish but I needed to kill some time before going out on the lake with some friends so I decide to do the loop again. Ended up doing 9.5 miles total and now I’m dead. I’m currently in a hammock too tired to get up and get a drink - need to
Wrong, get there and he’s in running gear with his phone carrier around his leg, obviously prepared to run. I’m in my hiking tennis shoes with tired legs. But off we go - and while we are going so slow it would drive you guys insane it was pushing me. We do a ~4.75 miles at the lake with lots of hills. But my legs warm up and are feeling great. He has to leave after we finish but I needed to kill some time before going out on the lake with some friends so I decide to do the loop again. Ended up doing 9.5 miles total and now I’m dead. I’m currently in a hammock too tired to get up and get a drink - need to
tri-man 47
Footballguy
I knew after the swim that this was a C goal day, but I definitely had fun throughout. 
the moops
Footballguy
My wife and I did our first sprint triathlon this morning. 400 yard swim, 10 mile bike, 2 mile run.
Signed up for this 4 weeks ago, and not surprisingly, found a 4 week training program. I enjoy swimming, but I am not good at it. I bike nearly everyday either to and from work or for pleasure. I hate running.
Focused most of my training on swimming, for I feared drowning. Would go to the Y during lunch a few times a week and just make sure to swim at least 400 yards. Never did any lake swimming though, so that scared me a bit. Training got a little messed up for my wife and I did the MS 150 mile bike ride 2 weekends ago (which as an aside was an awesome experience and I would highly recommend this - super fun).
Anyway - it was fun this morning. Was hard, no doubt. They did a staggered start where one person went into the water every few seconds which seemed way less hectic than a massive free for all. Don't have my exact time yet, for I started ther swim near the back of the pack but overall timer started when first person went into water. Looks like it might be just over 1 hour though. In my rough calculations before I assumed 18 minute swim, 40 minute bike, and 18 minute run. So somehow, I crushed all those expectation. Curious where I did way better than expected. Should get final results sometime tonight.
My wife and I started at the same time, and she came in just 3 minutes behind me. She is an excellent swimmer and ran cross country in school and still runs a lot these days. She is slow on the bike though. I saw here about 1/4 mile from the turnaround on the run and half expected her to catch me in the last few hundred yards.
Don't want to say I am hooked, but I have already though about doing another one this summer.
Signed up for this 4 weeks ago, and not surprisingly, found a 4 week training program. I enjoy swimming, but I am not good at it. I bike nearly everyday either to and from work or for pleasure. I hate running.
Focused most of my training on swimming, for I feared drowning. Would go to the Y during lunch a few times a week and just make sure to swim at least 400 yards. Never did any lake swimming though, so that scared me a bit. Training got a little messed up for my wife and I did the MS 150 mile bike ride 2 weekends ago (which as an aside was an awesome experience and I would highly recommend this - super fun).
Anyway - it was fun this morning. Was hard, no doubt. They did a staggered start where one person went into the water every few seconds which seemed way less hectic than a massive free for all. Don't have my exact time yet, for I started ther swim near the back of the pack but overall timer started when first person went into water. Looks like it might be just over 1 hour though. In my rough calculations before I assumed 18 minute swim, 40 minute bike, and 18 minute run. So somehow, I crushed all those expectation. Curious where I did way better than expected. Should get final results sometime tonight.
My wife and I started at the same time, and she came in just 3 minutes behind me. She is an excellent swimmer and ran cross country in school and still runs a lot these days. She is slow on the bike though. I saw here about 1/4 mile from the turnaround on the run and half expected her to catch me in the last few hundred yards.
Don't want to say I am hooked, but I have already though about doing another one this summer.
AAABatteries
Footballguy
To me, sprint tris are just about the perfect individual sport for people who aren’t one sport junkies and not looking to put a ton of time in to them. 400-600 yard swims aren’t too bad as long as you are a competent swimmer and then just anybody can bike 10 miles and do a 5k if they do any kind of working out. Congrats
The Iguana
Footballguy
I lived in pools and lakes growing up and can swim. But I've never been a "swimmer". Even "just" a 400-600 yard/meter swim seems like forever to do at once, nonstop. One of these days I'll finally commit to trying a sprint tri but I have to both commit to doing the swim and get myself a "real bike" to ride...
Congrats. If you were predicting a 9 min run pace and had recently ridden 150 mi your bike time was closer to 30 min
The Iguana
Footballguy
Here in a bit I'm going out for my first run in a little over 2 weeks. Hoping all feels good. It's about time to start getting serious to prepare myself for 26.2... Keep second guessing if I am "ready" for it but if I don't do it now, it will likely never happen. I was good with that thought a year ago, now not so much...
The Iguana
Footballguy
Meh... You could say the same thing about 5k runs... More work/time to get to and from them than you actually spend racing but still has plenty of value, IMO.
Well you are right about 5ks being a pretty big waste of time. A sprint Tri is just treblebthat at a min. I did a 10 race series a decade ago and by race 6 I was dreading getting up at 4:30 for an 8 am start for wave one and not going off for 45 min after that.
Did a 10 mi bike time trial series that was about as bad if not worse. The event would take me 22 minutes. Setting up the trainer for the 30 min warm up took close to 22 min
AAABatteries
Footballguy
Zasada
Footballguy
Dude, you crushed all of your goals thus far. You'll own this one too. Can't wait to see you do this!
The Iguana
Footballguy
Kind of a "karma" moment today... Also decent chance someone scheduled this like that on purpose since there is some link between the races, I think. I sat down this afternoon to map out my training plan for doing the Monumental Marathon. It is 20 weeks from yesterday. Using some resources designed around running the magical 4 hour marathon, I mapped out my long runs, etc. I have been considering doing the Fort Ben 1/2 marathon as well but wasn't sure how it would fit in... It is scheduled on the weekend that the plan I have has me running a half marathon at race pace. Someone I work with mentioned that there is apparently a special medal/award for doing both so I'm sure it's not really a coincidence but still kind of cool...
Mental and physical prep for this starts in earnest in about 10 minutes when I go change for a run. Still have several vacationy things planned for the summer and almost all of them fall at ideal times for the plan - i.e. On weeks that have a back down run or whatever you want to call it. Only week that will really take some creativity to stay on task is a fun week in Vegas that is planned... Odds I get a 17 mile run in that week are slim, IMO... I'll likely sub in a 17 hour poker session instead.
.
Mental and physical prep for this starts in earnest in about 10 minutes when I go change for a run. Still have several vacationy things planned for the summer and almost all of them fall at ideal times for the plan - i.e. On weeks that have a back down run or whatever you want to call it. Only week that will really take some creativity to stay on task is a fun week in Vegas that is planned... Odds I get a 17 mile run in that week are slim, IMO... I'll likely sub in a 17 hour poker session instead.
.
The Iguana
Footballguy
By the way, this thing seemed a long ways off until I sat down today to map this out and then it was kind of a "hey, you better get your butt in gear!" kind of feeling...
bushdocda
Footballguy
The Iguana
Footballguy
I'm all ears... Felt great to get out there tonight... First run in over two weeks. I really did miss it. I have all kinds of things I'm overthinking... What else are you going to do on an "easy 5", shake the rust off kind of run?
went out trying to go about as easy as I could just to see how things felt. Felt like I was going pretty slow, and wasn't putting up blazing numbers or any thing but my 5 miles went 9:23, 9:21, 9:17, 9:15, 9:04... And felt awesome. Goal for 11/9 is sub 4 hours... Will be my first marathon. While 3:59:59 would be satisfactory, I don't want to settle for too little, if you know what I mean. A half is my longest run so far, I have a map of getting ready for 26.2 with sub 4 being the goal...but the overthinking starts with "how far sub can I reasonably aim?" Well, technically the overthinking starts with "is this possibles?", but I know it's possible, just have to be ready to commit to the work... That's just a lot of,work, IMO...
The basic roadmap I have from some online research and such is this:
monday- training run at 8:45ish pace, distance says to start at 3 miles and goes up to 7 miles but is usually 4-6. 5-6 is what I expect to do most of the time.
tuesday - speed day, it recommends doing 800m repeats at 7:40ish pace. Number of repeats increasing over the course of the plan. I picture me mixing in some 400s or maybe a fast 5k or something for variety/fun
wednesday - cross training, will likely do some class stuff at the gym at work for this. Will be a nice change of pace.
Thursday - training run, basically a repeat of Monday's activity
friday - rest day. Probably will do some weight work for arms, etc but will take day off running
saturday - long easy runs for the most part. Few of them tagged for race pace but mostly just miles, miles and more miles here:
7, 8, 9, 6, 11, 12, 9, 15, 16, 13.1, 17, 18, 14, 20, 13.1 (fort Ben race?), 21, 15, 12, 8, 26.2!
Sunday - rest day. Other than walking my dog, I'm all for a day off, IMO.
Disect it, break it apart, reassemble... I'm hear to learn....
went out trying to go about as easy as I could just to see how things felt. Felt like I was going pretty slow, and wasn't putting up blazing numbers or any thing but my 5 miles went 9:23, 9:21, 9:17, 9:15, 9:04... And felt awesome. Goal for 11/9 is sub 4 hours... Will be my first marathon. While 3:59:59 would be satisfactory, I don't want to settle for too little, if you know what I mean. A half is my longest run so far, I have a map of getting ready for 26.2 with sub 4 being the goal...but the overthinking starts with "how far sub can I reasonably aim?" Well, technically the overthinking starts with "is this possibles?", but I know it's possible, just have to be ready to commit to the work... That's just a lot of,work, IMO...
The basic roadmap I have from some online research and such is this:
monday- training run at 8:45ish pace, distance says to start at 3 miles and goes up to 7 miles but is usually 4-6. 5-6 is what I expect to do most of the time.
tuesday - speed day, it recommends doing 800m repeats at 7:40ish pace. Number of repeats increasing over the course of the plan. I picture me mixing in some 400s or maybe a fast 5k or something for variety/fun
wednesday - cross training, will likely do some class stuff at the gym at work for this. Will be a nice change of pace.
Thursday - training run, basically a repeat of Monday's activity
friday - rest day. Probably will do some weight work for arms, etc but will take day off running
saturday - long easy runs for the most part. Few of them tagged for race pace but mostly just miles, miles and more miles here:
7, 8, 9, 6, 11, 12, 9, 15, 16, 13.1, 17, 18, 14, 20, 13.1 (fort Ben race?), 21, 15, 12, 8, 26.2!
Sunday - rest day. Other than walking my dog, I'm all for a day off, IMO.
Disect it, break it apart, reassemble... I'm hear to learn....
tri-man 47
Footballguy
With my tri out of the way (race report pending), I start my 18 week marathon prep this coming week.
Ulitmately, the goal is dependent on my training, but I'm hopeful to be in the low 3:3x range. (PR is a 3:28:59 on 1/1//16.) As to your training plan:
- be flexible. I know I'll be shifting around some long runs to fit other things. As long as you're getting in a few 20 milers and a number of other double digit runs, you'll be OK.
- Saturday is your only slow-paced run? I don't like that! If you're building in two rest days and a cross training day, then you're only running on four day. Two for sure, and probably three of those should be slow and easy. You might add some cross training on a lower-mileage, slow-run day, which would allow five runs per week.
- you could alternate a speed day with a hill workout day from week to week.
JShare87
Footballguy
You’re going to learn a lot about yourself and distance running along the way. Use this forum to ask questions. Stick with it and do not underestimate 26.2. It is nothing like any of the other shorter distances. You can do this if you stick to your plan.
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MAC_32
Footballguy
Run a 5th day, eliminate a something of substance run, build up to 20 sooner. The first build up to 20 is hard, need time in between build up's to experience benefits - physical and mental. And most importantly, mentally prepare for failure. You will. Race day success depends on your ability to bounce back from failures and learning the lessons taught. You're gonna learn a lot about yourself.
Juxtatarot
Footballguy
Nothing wrong with your plan, but honestly, the particulars don’t matter all that much. Just make sure to run. Over and over and over again. And maybe run really long once a week or so. As long as you do that, you’ll be fine.
tri-man 47
Footballguy
Twin Lakes Triathlon Report
700 yd swim / 14 mile bike / 4.5 mile run (more than a sprint)
1:44:46 ...114th of 298, 6th of 11 in AG
This is the third year of targeting a June tri as a way to kill time by cross-training during the winter/early spring months, thereby keeping me in good shape while keeping some mileage off the legs until I gear up marathon training again. The race is a smaller suburban race, so the field is not as competitive (=not nearly as many high-end bikes) as some other tris. My bike is a 20-year-old Fuji, so I can do OK here.
Winter/spring training was OK. Not enough consistent swimming (due to a crowded pool at the club, causing me to go late a night just a couple times a week), not getting my bike outside early enough in the spring; and not enough true strength work. The intent of a solid six weeks of training starting early May (end of university's spring term) was shot by a trip to Cuba and subsequent stomach flu, which caused me to drop several pounds. My hope was a great two week blitz recently would sharpen me up. Ultimately, though, it clearly wasn't enough.
I pushed final training into the past week, hoping a modest taper would be sufficient. I did get caught with some home repairs on Fri/Sat for a few hours ...not sure if that had any detrimental effect. Slept pretty good on Saturday night. I actually woke up earlier than planned (3:30 AM), but felt good. Went ahead and got up and went right out for a one mile neurostim run. Got home, had some oatmeal, took care of a little business, loaded up the car, and was on the road a little early (4:40 AM). Race start was 6:30 AM Before leaving, I checked weather and watched two bad storm fronts heading toward the race site. Too bad ...the past two mornings were beautiful.
Arrived at the race site around 5:15 AM. Parked, and then biked down with my bucket of gear to the transition area. I didn't need to get there that early, though. Yet, it allowed me to get the end slot in my assigned bike row. Went to pick up my chip and get body marked, then did a little more business. By about 5:45 AM, though, the storm clouds were moving in. I'd brought an old shower curtain, which I draped over my bike, and an old plastic rain coat, which I draped over me, and walked over to a gazebo area to wait out the rain, slipping in a couple of pee breaks while waiting. The worst of the storm (with lightning) missed us, and the rain became very light just before 6:30 AM, so game on! I ran a few accelerations to elevate the HR, since the pre-race swim was cancelled. I also dashed for one more pee stop. I got back to transition, grabbed my swim cap and goggles, and scooted to get in line. It turns out my wave was wave 3 out of maybe 8 or 9. Weird, because I didn't put down a fast time. Within 30 seconds, I was due to enter the water. One thing I love about this race is they start two swimmers every five seconds ...no mosh pit/big wave start.
Swim: 20:02 ...92nd percentile ...9/11 in AG
I saw this time as I exited and just laughed. How pathetic! Who knows why I was so slow. True, no wetsuit, but that's a small piece. True, I stayed a little wide, but I wasn't off-course at all. I did a straight, comfortable crawl stroke the whole way, even giving some specific focus to a quick cadence. Too much of a runner's upper body from the steady run schedule in 2019?
So much for my top goals.
T1: 3:37 ...64th percentile ...5/11 in AG
I didn't push this at all, given the awful swim time.
Bike: 45:08 (18.6 mph) ...44th percentile ...5/11 in AG
The roads were still wet from the rain, and the course had a lot of turns, so I was probably overly cautious. The course also had a number of undulations. But other than one AG speedster, only two others narrowly exceeded 20 mph (my original goal). I just wasn't strong enough to push more or hold a high gear. I did start snacking on a Clif Bar early in the bike leg, but it was a bit of an inconvenience, and I thought to myself that this is kind of nuts ...it's not even a two-hour event, so no need to get crazy trying to grab calories. I did have Accelerade in my bottle for the bike.
T2: 1:12 ...15th percentile ...1/11 in AG
Just dropped off the bike, dropped my helmet and bike gloves, grabbed a gel, and took off.
Run: 34:49 (7:45/mile) ...21st percentile ...1/11 in AG
A bit of explanation: A good friend of mine lives very near the course and regularly does this event. He's a former FBG - Wraith, whose mom hosted the crew for the Bourbon Chase some years ago. We'd talked briefly before the race, and just as I took off on the run, I heard a "hey, brother" from alongside me. So in an unusual move, I cruised over to him and ran an easy 3/4 mile as we chatted for a bit. But that was too slow for me, and too fast for him, so we parted, agreeing to catch up more after the race. But still, odd of me to do that mid-race. My mile splits reflect this: 8:53 ..7:32 ..7:23 ..7:19 ..7:01 (final half mile). I ran steady, but didn't really slam it.
Speaking of FBGs, it was awesome to hear @Brony call out as I came in from the bike and then again as I drove to the finish! He lives the next town over and decided to come out and see a tri. So neat of him to pop over like that. Good to chat with him afterwards and introduce him to Wraith (Greg).
So a disappointing time, for sure, especially with the puzzling swim. A sub-1:35 would have yielded 2nd place (I did 1:33+ last year). A sub-1:39 would have been good for 3rd place! Obviously it wasn't meant to be. But on the positive side, my mental attitude was great through the whole race. I wasn't feel down over the lousy swim nor frustrated with the overall slow pacing. I didn't have any feelings of just wanting to be done. I was having fun out there, and I did a solid job on my specialty, the run ...AARPing a lot of other runners. And afterwards, I felt fine. Time flew by on all three legs. So I'm inclined to do it again next year - cross-train through the winter (after the October marathon), race again in June, then again go full steam on the running in summer, 2020 and beyond.
700 yd swim / 14 mile bike / 4.5 mile run (more than a sprint)
1:44:46 ...114th of 298, 6th of 11 in AG
This is the third year of targeting a June tri as a way to kill time by cross-training during the winter/early spring months, thereby keeping me in good shape while keeping some mileage off the legs until I gear up marathon training again. The race is a smaller suburban race, so the field is not as competitive (=not nearly as many high-end bikes) as some other tris. My bike is a 20-year-old Fuji, so I can do OK here.
Winter/spring training was OK. Not enough consistent swimming (due to a crowded pool at the club, causing me to go late a night just a couple times a week), not getting my bike outside early enough in the spring; and not enough true strength work. The intent of a solid six weeks of training starting early May (end of university's spring term) was shot by a trip to Cuba and subsequent stomach flu, which caused me to drop several pounds. My hope was a great two week blitz recently would sharpen me up. Ultimately, though, it clearly wasn't enough.
I pushed final training into the past week, hoping a modest taper would be sufficient. I did get caught with some home repairs on Fri/Sat for a few hours ...not sure if that had any detrimental effect. Slept pretty good on Saturday night. I actually woke up earlier than planned (3:30 AM), but felt good. Went ahead and got up and went right out for a one mile neurostim run. Got home, had some oatmeal, took care of a little business, loaded up the car, and was on the road a little early (4:40 AM). Race start was 6:30 AM Before leaving, I checked weather and watched two bad storm fronts heading toward the race site. Too bad ...the past two mornings were beautiful.
Arrived at the race site around 5:15 AM. Parked, and then biked down with my bucket of gear to the transition area. I didn't need to get there that early, though. Yet, it allowed me to get the end slot in my assigned bike row. Went to pick up my chip and get body marked, then did a little more business. By about 5:45 AM, though, the storm clouds were moving in.
I'd brought an old shower curtain, which I draped over my bike, and an old plastic rain coat, which I draped over me, and walked over to a gazebo area to wait out the rain, slipping in a couple of pee breaks while waiting. The worst of the storm (with lightning) missed us, and the rain became very light just before 6:30 AM, so game on! I ran a few accelerations to elevate the HR, since the pre-race swim was cancelled. I also dashed for one more pee stop. I got back to transition, grabbed my swim cap and goggles, and scooted to get in line. It turns out my wave was wave 3 out of maybe 8 or 9. Weird, because I didn't put down a fast time. Within 30 seconds, I was due to enter the water. One thing I love about this race is they start two swimmers every five seconds ...no mosh pit/big wave start.Swim: 20:02 ...92nd percentile ...9/11 in AG
I saw this time as I exited and just laughed. How pathetic! Who knows why I was so slow. True, no wetsuit, but that's a small piece. True, I stayed a little wide, but I wasn't off-course at all. I did a straight, comfortable crawl stroke the whole way, even giving some specific focus to a quick cadence. Too much of a runner's upper body from the steady run schedule in 2019?
So much for my top goals.T1: 3:37 ...64th percentile ...5/11 in AG
I didn't push this at all, given the awful swim time.
Bike: 45:08 (18.6 mph) ...44th percentile ...5/11 in AG
The roads were still wet from the rain, and the course had a lot of turns, so I was probably overly cautious. The course also had a number of undulations. But other than one AG speedster, only two others narrowly exceeded 20 mph (my original goal). I just wasn't strong enough to push more or hold a high gear. I did start snacking on a Clif Bar early in the bike leg, but it was a bit of an inconvenience, and I thought to myself that this is kind of nuts ...it's not even a two-hour event, so no need to get crazy trying to grab calories. I did have Accelerade in my bottle for the bike.
T2: 1:12 ...15th percentile ...1/11 in AG
Just dropped off the bike, dropped my helmet and bike gloves, grabbed a gel, and took off.
Run: 34:49 (7:45/mile) ...21st percentile ...1/11 in AG
A bit of explanation: A good friend of mine lives very near the course and regularly does this event. He's a former FBG - Wraith, whose mom hosted the crew for the Bourbon Chase some years ago. We'd talked briefly before the race, and just as I took off on the run, I heard a "hey, brother" from alongside me. So in an unusual move, I cruised over to him and ran an easy 3/4 mile as we chatted for a bit. But that was too slow for me, and too fast for him, so we parted, agreeing to catch up more after the race. But still, odd of me to do that mid-race. My mile splits reflect this: 8:53 ..7:32 ..7:23 ..7:19 ..7:01 (final half mile). I ran steady, but didn't really slam it.
Speaking of FBGs, it was awesome to hear @Brony call out as I came in from the bike and then again as I drove to the finish! He lives the next town over and decided to come out and see a tri. So neat of him to pop over like that. Good to chat with him afterwards and introduce him to Wraith (Greg).
So a disappointing time, for sure, especially with the puzzling swim. A sub-1:35 would have yielded 2nd place (I did 1:33+ last year). A sub-1:39 would have been good for 3rd place! Obviously it wasn't meant to be. But on the positive side, my mental attitude was great through the whole race. I wasn't feel down over the lousy swim nor frustrated with the overall slow pacing. I didn't have any feelings of just wanting to be done. I was having fun out there, and I did a solid job on my specialty, the run ...AARPing a lot of other runners. And afterwards, I felt fine. Time flew by on all three legs. So I'm inclined to do it again next year - cross-train through the winter (after the October marathon), race again in June, then again go full steam on the running in summer, 2020 and beyond.
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ChiefD
Footballguy
Welcome to the marathon training club. If I were you:
Do the Hanson marathon plan. If it can change the marathon life of a guy like me, you will absolutely kill it with that plan. It is 6 days a week, but your mentality can handle it. And with your talent it should honestly be no problem.
You are gonna rock this thing my friend. So excited to follow your journey.
Zasada
Footballguy
I concur with other folks here, try to run 5-6 days if your schedule can handle it.
Since you have 20-milers in your plan, it appears you're not going with Hanson.
If you decide to go with Hanson, I can send you the plan I paid Luke Humphrey Running to customize for me. It's 5x weekly. But I also wouldn't give it an A+ endorsement since my marathon ended-up being much harder than I expected given the training I put in (didn't miss or cut short a single run). Not sure if that's a fair assessment but take it FWIW.
Zasada
Footballguy
Running on the strip sucks btw. Too many crowds. If you get the motivation and have the time for a run, I found the Clark County Wetlands to be very nice. Lots of trails. You'd have to take an Uber there but worth it.
The Iguana
Footballguy
Good luck!With my tri out of the way (race report pending), I start my 18 week marathon prep this coming week.
As to your training plan:
- be flexible. I know I'll be shifting around some long runs to fit other things. As long as you're getting in a few 20 milers and a number of other double digit runs, you'll be OK.
- Saturday is your only slow-paced run? I don't like that! If you're building in two rest days and a cross training day, then you're only running on four day. Two for sure, and probably three of those should be slow and easy. You might add some cross training on a lower-mileage, slow-run day, which would allow five runs per week.
- you could alternate a speed day with a hill workout day from week to week.
flexible - this is a must for me. Between vacation stuff, work, family, there's not way I follow the plan exactly as written. you can bet there will be adjustments made along the way.
I thought the plan laying out only 1 slower pace run seemed odd, but to be honest, it kind of appealed to me doing that. The Monday/Thursday runs at a pace of like 8:45 would be a happy run pace for me for 4-6 miles. I could easily see Friday's being some cross between rest and a slow shorter run. Didn't really plan to have it be a rest day but the plan mapping it out that way kind of fits my schedule so who knows.
the speed day is mapped out as being all 800 repeats. I actually want to vary that. Hills are definitely something I want to add in.
Thanks for the input!
The Iguana
Footballguy
I'd love to see it. I've really just built this from doing some google searches for plans and trying to see what fits my schedule for the most part. More resources = more info, IMO.
Zasada
Footballguy
PM me your email address and I'll send it over. But in short it was:
- Mon: Rest
- Tue: Easy 10K (12K near the end of the plan)
- Wed: SoS ("Something of Significance"), intervals usually
- Thu: Easy 10K (12K near the end of the plan)
- Fri: Rest (sometimes I would do an easy 10K here as a bonus)
- Sat: Easy 10K (12K near the end of the plan)
- Sun: Long Run / MP long run
The Iguana
Footballguy
pm sent. thanks!
Brony
Footballguy
Good catching up @tri-man 47! Nice effort but it wasn't your day.
This was the first time that I've been to a tri. First impression is that the swimming distance didn't look too bad. Second is that there is a lot of tight clothing. I don't even like taking off my shirt at the beach. I would need a few years in the weight room and a couple of years with a therapist to get myself to the starting line of one of these.
The Iguana
Footballguy
by the way... got up this morning - left calf feels perfect. right heel - tight and sore as a sonofa... loosening up as the day goes on but that was pretty disappointing - ran 5, all felt great. stretched, walked the dog, felt great. watched tv/played rocket league, still felt great when I went to bed. got up this morning and oof!
SteelCurtain
Footballguy
Finished my highest weekly mileage ever by running 102 miles last week.
Pretty crazy numbers and I know volume really helps make things faster for me.
However, as pumped as I was in getting to 100+ miles in the week, I remembered @SFBayDuck does it in a day!
Pretty crazy numbers and I know volume really helps make things faster for me.
However, as pumped as I was in getting to 100+ miles in the week, I remembered @SFBayDuck does it in a day!
MAC_32
Footballguy
Couple things - the need for flexibility probably confirms that something as structured as hanson's isn't for you, I think there can be some juggling but those that have done it can speak more to it. From a distance the sequencing seems important because if those workouts get too close to one another the injury risk goes up and it isn't as effective. But if you're intending to do as many something of substance workouts per week as you mapped out I'd give thought to not stretching the peak length to 20 like what hanson does. Also, I get that 8:45 sounds like a slower happy run pace, but come early September it isn't going to be that way. You're gonna get slower between now and then as the miles pile up. And that's okay - you're supposed to.
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tri-man 47
Footballguy
I was going to mention that, too. If anything, vary by making them longer. E.g, mile repeats, or ladders (such as 800; 1200; 1600; 1200; 800, or half mile increments from 1/2 mile to 2 miles).
MAC_32
Footballguy
It wasn't fun, but running through the neighborhoods east of the strip was at least effective. If you don't have the time to go to a place like the wetlands just keep in mind this is an option. Just be willing to adjust your route as you go because some of those traffic lights are long waits. It's kinda hard to get lost since you're...y'know, in a desert and just need the ability to see a buncha 30+ story buildings.
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The Iguana
Footballguy
Dr. Google says I'm likely experiencing Achilles tendinitis so I have a plan for treating it for now. I feel almost back to normal now after a little walk around work. Kind of worries me a bit as I'm ready to get started on this journey but should be ok, I think if I treat it effectively.
The Iguana
Footballguy
I appreciate the help so far... keep it coming! As @gianmarco can testify, I'm kind of pig-headed sometimes so even if it is just repeated info, I need some of these things beat into my head to stick!
tri-man 47
Footballguy
You might want to consider keeping your running to three days a week (no consecutive days) for two/three weeks to avoid stressing it much further. Marathon training plans exist based on three runs (such as Higdon's Marathon-3) - an easy run; a hard run (tempo, hills, or intervals), and a long run - plus some cross-training. So it's not a far-fetched idea. You don't want that issue to be hampering you a couple of months from now.
MAC_32
Footballguy
You're describing a lot of what I've been going through lately. A part of me thinks I'm making more of it than I should, but unlike you I don't have any priorities on my radar. I wrote about it before, but it first became a problem about 6 weeks ago - about 10 days before the 5 mile race. It was better, but not 100% 5 days later so I decided to do one more something of substance workout before the 5 miler. It was effective but it was also angry again after. Then the same timeline repeated itself before the 5 miler, so I went for it. It was worse after the race than before, but that just led to a longer timeline before it started feeling not bad again. So I decided to just manage it between the 5 mile race and relay, feeling confident I could race one more time but knowing some sorta break followed by a period of easy runs would be necessary to fix this problem. I expected it to worsen after the relay and while it did it wasn't nearly as bad after the relay as it was after the 5 miler. I took 8 days off and went out for the first time yesterday despite it still not being 100%. Just took it easy and it went fine. Rest of the day was fine, including yard work last night. A little tighter this morning than any day last week, but nothing hindering or worrisome. Tentatively plan to easy run Tuesday and Thursday and hopefully do a back-to-back Sat-Sun. Then re-assess.
I have no clue if any of that helps, but thought typing out what I've been doing may help answer some of the questions you're probably asking yourself right now.
The Iguana
Footballguy
Thanks. It helps a ton and kind of reinforces what I've found about it - seems to match almost exactly. I've had some discomfort on and off for awhile, but it kind of peaked when I was on vacation. I ran through it some then. Once my calf flared up too, I decided a little time off wouldn't be bad.
I thought the 2 week or so break had "done the trick" until I got up this morning. I thought I was basically back to normal until then. Did my "one on one" meeting as a walk around outside and felt great by the time that was over. But I know it isn't entirely "right". I've had tendinitis issues in other parts of the body before so I'm hopeful that I can work through this one too...
The Iguana
Footballguy
was able to nurse the "hip bursitis" thing back to normal with some rest but also a lot of stretching/strengthening exercises along the way. Hoping I can kind of do the same thing here.
gianmarco
Footballguy
I had the same thing a few weeks before the relay and freaked out. Luckily, I got on it early and it went away in a few days.
3 things I did that I think all made a big difference:
1) Eccentric heel drops -- Stand on a stair with your heels hanging off. Lift yourself with your good foot, then drop down slowly over 3 seconds with the bad ankle. Raise again with the good foot. Do at least 20 of these a couple times per day.
2) Ice it
3) Massage the calf on that side. I have one of those hand held massagers and just tore into it.
Good luck.
MAC_32
Footballguy
Yep, to all of that.
The calf raise exercise I do is probably more of a heel drop than a calf raise. I use the leg press - drop the heel then do the calf raise. It's a pain, but I get up throughout the exercise switching the weights for single leg vs. dual leg. I don't do it every day though - 2x per week.
The post relay race chiro said ice the achilles and heat the calf. Then find something (I use one of my kid's hot wheels) to roll against each side of each calf. I should do more of all that, but it feels like it's helping when I take the time to do it.
gianmarco
Footballguy
I would caution against using weight to lift the calf. For the above, they explicitly say not to use the bad Achilles to lift back up. Just my $.02
MAC_32
Footballguy
I think it depends case-to-case. If one's consistently worse than the other then I think you want to do as much as you can safely do on the bad one then just do the same on the good one - even though it won't seem like you did anything of substance. That's how you re-calibrate and balance. But if it varies day-to-day which one's worse that's where I think what I've been doing is effective. I can quickly tell if one of them is having a worse day, so I'll work on it then balance with the other. If both of them are fine then I'll also mix in the non-iso lift.
But if you've not been using weights for your calves now's definitely not the right time to start. If you've been using weights? I think you can probably keep using them, but you need to decrease the weight - and certainly not every day (48 hours rest, minimum). If using weights irritates it then bail though.
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bushdocda
Footballguy
@The Iguana Lots of good nuggets shared already regarding easy/workouts/long runs. Use some of the pace calculators online to help set the right parameters on your runs for long term success. Double digit mileage runs are key and while I get the desire for flexibility, there is no way around the 6 or more hours per week you’re going to be running. Also buy a bunch of shoes. Not sure if you’re a heart rate guy or not but I find it to be very useful to make sure I’m in the right ranges and not racing my training runs.
