ILX running running thread

i illegally downloaded jack daniels' running formula and it's pretty helpful to look at, f. hazel

Workout tonight was fun. 2 easy, 2 at MP + 20 seconds, 4 @ MP, 2 at HMP, 2 easy. Actually, it was hard, but not too hard. One of those workouts that you feel like wow, I did something tonight.

62.2 mile week! Feeling fantastic.

Thanks for the lowdown, Jeff. Only one day off a week! As noted, I'm doing three days of running, one day of some other activity like biking or swimming. And I will have a look at that, harbl! When I worked at a bookstore I spent my breaks reading all the running books they had, and used that knowledge to develop a 12-week training program for myself.

So happy I'm back up to doing five-mile/hour-plus runs now... and last night it was actually less than 90 degrees out!

261.8 miles for September, most ever. I have peaked and now begins the taper. 3 more weeks.

what event are you tapering for?

got the first cold front of fall, so I delayed my long run until tonight in order to enjoy it... eight miles in deliciously cool air. dry, cool air makes such a massive difference... 70 degrees instead of 90... my pace was about 30 seconds/mile faster but my heart rate was 15bpm lower than normal!

wow jeff, that's a hell of a solid month!

Grand Rapids Marathon.

I'm so nervous about it. I've definitely put in the training. However I fear weather and potential GI issues.

i love this, can't stop watching it http://www.nbcchicago.com/video/#!/news/local/Dennis-Kimetto-Talks-to-Stefan-Holt/227580531

Ha, he has no idea what he is saying.

Still amazed every year that I spectate how amazing it is to watch the elites fly by.

2:55 per km for 42.195 km is beyond amazing

I could hold that pace for... maybe 100 meters?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5o55R06vr8

Did you guys see the end of the Berlin marathon where Kipsang set the world record? 10 metres before the line, some dickhead advertising a porn site or something like that jumps out of the crowd and takes the tape ahead of him. What a hateful thing to do, really boiled my piss watching that.

Yeah kind of shocked he was able to do that. Seems like security should have been better at a world major marathon.

So had a call with my coach last night to come up with my race plan for Grand Rapids on Sunday:

-Line up with the Billy Baldwin racers pace group (http://grandrapidsmarathon.com/information/pace-teams/)
-Stick with them for 5 or 6 miles. They'll be running right in the middle of my pace range and this will help me not start out too fast.
-If I'm feeling good, then gradually speed up to the lower end of my pace range, around 7:50 mile/min. Stick with it until mile 20/21.
-Go for it the last 5 or 6 miles. Ideal scenario will have me finishing around 3:25.
-Beer.

good luck! hope you get good weather.

Race start temp should be in the 40s. May be some light rain to contend with but I can handle that.

For a moment I thought that was celsius.

40s F is pretty nice.

i found an insane new place to run near my new house. it's the back way into a park i used to run to at my old house. first it has a longish steepish hill that i thought i'd puke on. then yesterday i ran all the way up it and a little beyond. then today i ran up it and kept going, which leads to a loooooooooooong downhill. i could not run back up so i just did 1 min walk/run intervals all the way home. it's like a new project. running is fun again. i need to learn to run downhill though.

my local trail has been closed due to weekend flooding... I was gonna take the week off anyway!

Running downhill is hard! Tough on the quads.

I've been running terribly since I started again after the heat died down. Slow pace, and even then having to stop every 4 miles or so. I'm running a 10K in a few weeks, which would have been no problem back in May but now I'm a little nervous!

Are you going for a specific time?

solution: run slower

earlier this year i was going to try to aim for 50 minutes (about 8 per mile). at the time, i was able to run a 8:30 pace for 6-7 miles and thought i should be able to bump it up to 8:00 by october. but then i accidentally forgot to run for the entire summer.

when i started back up i went at a 9:15 pace (which feels really, really slow to me - i'm not good at slowing down on purpose and it almost hurts), and even then i'm just worn out.

anyway, no big deal, the solution is just to keep running regularly until the 10K, but man oh man it feels awful right now!

3:36:23. I bonked hard on this one and ended up walking about 10 minutes. Marathons are hard to do. Very happy with the results though. 55 minutes faster than my PR.

Good work!

Marathons are hard to do.

This is never false.

Massive PB!! Well done Jeff! (full report when you've recuperated plz)

Z S, you'll be fine in a few weeks. I started running regularly again in September and only felt my legs getting used to longer distances again after a couple of weeks of regular running.

Jeff, congrats!
Don't think I'll ever do a marathon. Running >3 hours doesn't appeal to me at all. I'd love to do half a marathon though. Somewhere in the next year I think I'll give it a go.

They're kind of crazy things to do. You just get to this dark place where everything in your body is like STOP RUNNING YOU FOOL. You've got to put yourself way outside your comfort zone.

I think more than running a marathon, I just like the routine of marathon training. Day after day after day of getting out there and running and getting your workouts in. I can honestly say that the last 10 months of training have been kind of amazing.

I'll probably do another, but not in 2014. My marathon progression has been 5:40, 4:31, DNF, 3:36. My BQ time would be a 3:10. That seems like an insurmountable 26 minutes, but I think if I spend next year getting faster at halfs and keeping my base mileage up, then I can try again in 2015.

Thought about this race A LOT.

I won't go into a mile by mile recap, but my downfall seemed to have been caused by me running above my ability in miles 6 through 16. I came to my senses in miles 17-20, but the damage was already done. Miles 20-24 were a complete slough, with a lot of walking. For the last two miles I was able to pick it up some and run it in, but not very fast. Everything else went almost perfectly for me. Weather was ideal, I stuck to a strict nutrition plan, no GI issues, no injuries or other acute pains to deal with.

So a 3:30 was probably good time to go for. However when you're running a marathon, you breeze through those early miles, it's easy to make the wrong decision in regards to your pace. After 16 miles I was on a 3:22 pace. At 20 miles I was still in a position to finish in 3:25 to 3:28, but I was almost completely depleted. Anyway, what's done is done, learn from your mistakes and race again.

You're not the first person to go out too fast and you won't be the last. I usually have a conservative-ish goal for the 10 mile point and I do my best to stick to it but I always come in 30-60 seconds under. As you say, it all seems so easy...until it doesn't.

If you were walking at 20, then you were losing minutes per mile - with better planning there's definitely scope for a faster time next time.

I am going for a run now! My single goal at the moment is to string together a few three-to-four day weeks and get my mind into a place where running is part of my routine. I've basically forgotten how to train - making an hour for it every day does not come naturally to me.

Good thing is that pace is an easy thing to do something about and it won't be haunting your next attempt like the experience of some other physical problem might. How is the recovery going?

Great so far, just a little soreness. I've felt much much worse after my previous marathons. Not running until Monday though, a whole week off!

cor, luxury!

Phew, just finished my first 10K race! 54:10, which is decent for me! The last .2 miles were this steep uphill curve seemingly designed to make people barf, and I had enough left in the tank to sprint (well, run faster at least) past a bunch of people, including a group that I had been using as my pacesetters for most of the run.

Feeling pretty good!

Nice job, nothing like the rush of a good performance at a race. 10K's are tough to me. Always think I can run them at 5K pace.

Back to running today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The last time I went a week without running was March 2012, so I'm pretty eager to get back at it.

i think it might be time for me to explore intervals? i've never been into them before because i like to zone out and not have to think, but my usual run has felt a bit too...easy lately, and i want to push myself. are they feasible without any sort of timing device though? i don't really know how to go about them beyond the basics of "run really fast for a bit then slow down for a bit, repeat" - not sure how long either of those bits should be

I don't do much in the way of intervals -- I mostly do the light version where I'll go for a normal jog, but sprint up most hills (barring really long ones, obv)
I no longer run with a timer, which has resulted in a lot more varying of my tempo during a run. It's fun!

Some decent clockfree options:
Count steps -- sprint for a certain number of steps, then jog for a certain number of steps.
Count lamp posts -- sprint for a number of posts &c

Hill intervals: sprint up a hill, jog back down, and repeat. That's more of a single exercise though -- not really something you can throw into a regular longer jog like you can with the other two (unless you're a total badass)

I'd start with something that isn't too structured, just some strides thrown into the middle of an easy run. 5 or 6 100 meter strides, speeding up to a fast but comfortable pace and then tapering down at the end of the 100 meters. Just guess on the distance, but it's not very long. Recover for a minute and repeat.

Then I'd switch to time based intervals. You can just use a regular watch to time these. Do something like 4 x 20 seconds with a 30 second recovery in between each. Again up to a fast, comfortable pace but run at speed the whole interval this time.

Then I like to vary the paces. Something like 3 minutes at an easy pace, then 2 minutes at half marathon pace, 2 minutes easy, 1 minute at 10K pace, 1 minute easy, 30 seconds at 5K pace, then repeat 2 or 3 times. All these paces are on perceived effort. You may not exactly know what you should be run, but just step up the effort each time.

After that you can get up to your more traditional distance intervals 200/400/600/800 meter intervals. Then mile repeats. And if you don't hate speed work by this point, then you haven't been running hard enough.

First real winter run of the season yesterday. 28 degrees and windy. It was quite miserable. I trained all last winter though, and I can do it again this winter.

do you have to cover your mouth and nose when it's below freezing? I can run in temps in the upper 30s if I have gloves and my ears covered, but I remember my sinuses freezing when I lived in Montreal and it got below freezing.

Typically no. I'll only break out the balaclava once it gets way down in the teens or single digits. My main winter running attire is tights, wool base layer, windbreaker jacket, hat, gloves. My hands get the coldest, so I'll wear two pairs of gloves and stick handwarmers in the mitten section of them.

http://shop.craftsports.us/warm-crewneck-mens.html

This is one of my favorite winter running shirts. Paired with some tights I feel like I'm in Tron.

10K run in 47:16.
Felt pretty good though my meal 1.5-2 hrs before the run was a liitle too much I think.
Ran the second half with what felt like a ball in my stomach. Still, I aimed for a time below 50 minutes so I'm quite happy with the result.

Awesome time, quite a bit under 50 minutes.

Ran 80 easy minutes yesterday. First run over an hour since my marathon.

Wow, nice run willem!