Forums >Racing>2024 The Waltons: Racing & Training Thread
Fred - nice race.
Darkwave - nice week.
Mm - you're putting in big weeks consistently. How much bigger is this than the past?
Mark - how are you recovering? I cannot remember if you're KPMG or PWC now? Are you based at the PWC Tower on Customs St West? I'm there next Tue for the day, it's a packed visit so I have no spare time, sorry.
PRs: 5km 18:43 (Dec 2015), 10km 39:59 (Sep 2020), half 1:26:16 (Sep 2016), full 3:09:28 (Jun 2015)
40+ PRs: 5km 19:31 (Oct 2020), 10km 39:59 (Sep 2020), half 1:29:39 (Jun 2018), full 3:13:55 (Sep 2022)
2023 PRs (hope to beat in 2024): 5km 20:34, 10km 41:37, half 1:32:32, full 3:21:05
2024 PRs: 5km 20:25
Seems to be tracking OK thanks Watson. Improving day by day. Yesterday's easy run was a bit of a slog but today felt better.
I'm at EY now. That new PwC building is pretty cool though. One of the few things I miss about PwC to be honest.
3,000m: 9:07.7 (Nov-21) | 5,000m: 15:39 (Dec-19) | 10,000m: 32:34 (Mar-20)
10km: 33:15 (Sep-19) | HM: 1:09:41 (May-21)* | FM: 2:41:41 (Oct-20)
* Net downhill course
Last race: Runway5 / National 5k Champs, 16:22, National Masters AG Champ!
Up next: Still working on that...
"CONSISTENCY IS KING"
After my races coming up in early April (Waterfront HM) and May (Runway 5k), I was trying to figure out what to race over winter, and somewhat infuriatingly just about every road race option clashes with either an Xterra trail event (which I already signed Miss 6 and I up to do together), or a planned family trip away for our 10th wedding anniversary.
Looking like probably something late August and then there'll definitely be stuff in September. That winter training grind felt pretty normal for the last few years but weirdly after having frequent series races again, it's gonna be odd going 3-4 months without a race.
Waltons ThreadLord
Upcoming Races
03/16 watsonc123 - Trentham ParkRun
(Sorry for the whining on adding the race times. I realized it would not be a matter of going through all the pages, but rather looking at the date of the race and then just scanning for a posting shortly after that.)
Thanks, folks, for the kind comments and support on my race last Sunday. 35.3 miles for the week.
E. Murray Todd HM
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: Running is Back 10k, 5/12; Greta's Run 5k, 5/19
Fred - thanks for adding the results. I think Mark's race was a DNF as he did start the race.03/10 MarkyMark - Maraetai Half Marathon - DNS
Yes Watson is right. It was a DNF, not a DNS.
Got it.
I still felt average on Tuesday but got progressively better over the course of the week. Kept it mostly pretty easy apart from a few shorter efforts on Friday. Legs still a little sluggish but everything else seems back to normal so it's time to put in a big couple of weeks before Waterfront HM in 3 weeks time. Would really love to go under 1:15 there.
Hot Weather Complainer
Half Crazy - Before I got sick I felt ready to hit the biggest 4 weeks of the training block. Now I feel like I'll be ready to train hard again in about 2 weeks when the taper is supposed to begin.
My week included 2 rest days and mostly easy running, easier than usual, as I try to get back to full health. Yesterday I had 90 minutes at the lower end of Zone 3 pace wise, although it was mid zone HR. It felt like hard work but not complete hell. My legs have felt pretty beaten up even with easy runs, I assume it's the remainder of the virus.
I'm leaning heavily towards changing my goal to the Selwyn marathon on June 2 and doing the half at Christchurch as part of a training run, like the Motorway Half. It feels like that would take the pressure off a lot. The downside is it's a much smaller race.
5km: 18:34 11/23 │ 10km: 39:10 8/23 │ HM: 1:26:48 9/23 │ M: 3:34:49 6/23
2024 Races:
Motorway Half Marathon February 25, 2024 1:29:55
Christchurch Half-Marathon April 21, 2024 1:27:34
Selwyn Marathon June 2, 2024
Dunedin Half Marathon September 15, 2024
JamesD
Steve - Switching goal races seems like a good idea despite the smaller race. Would the weather also be colder (better for you)?
I knew I was going to miss some days this week because of the arrival of our first refugee family, but I didn’t think it would be this bad. I had also underestimated the cumulative effect of stress, but now that we’ve found a permanent house for them (we move them next Friday), things should get a bit calmer. It helps that they’re nice people, but I hope they can learn some English quickly enough to not depend on DW and me for too long, as we’re the only Spanish speakers in our group. Google Translate helps. The second family arrives the week after next, but their issues shouldn’t be as stressful. With all that, today's workout of 3 miles at a bit harder than tempo effort was only a second per mile slower than the same workout 13 days ago. I guess the unplanned taper balanced out the loss of fitness.
Sun - off
Mon - 2.5 miles slow TM (30:10) + 0:40 walk breaks/6 min
Tues - off, refugees arrived
Weds - off
Thurs - 5 miles slow TM (60:20 PM) + 0:40 walk breaks/6 min
Fri - off
Sat - 8.3 miles in park PM including strides, 3 @ 7:04
Total - 15.8 miles
YTD - 36.8 mpw
Post-1987 PRs: Half 1:30:14 (2019); 10K 39:35 (2019); 5K 19:12 (2017); Mile 5:37.3 (2020)
'24 Goals: consistency, age-graded PRs, half < 1:32
Steve Switching races might not be a bad idea if it puts you in a betterhead space. Just think long and hard about it.
watsonc123 I've done blocks like that before with maybe slightly less mileage, so that was only a little bigger than in the past.
My Week
Chalk this week up as a big loss. Woke up Monday feeling fatigued so I took off to be on the safe side. Tuesday morning I realized it's a cold of some kind. Took off. Wednesday I felt ok. When I do get sick, which is very rare, it never lasts much more than 24 hours so I ran. Thursday morning I woke up feeling like death and the same goes for Friday. Saturday I forced a run in but I really had to push. No energy. Today was much better but still not all the way there. This was easily top 3 most sick I have ever been. I didn't get myself tested for anything but I think it's the flu. The symptoms match. I've had covid twice and it wasn't even remotely that bad.
So now I'm a bit confused. I can't tell what's still worth doing. I think I'll try to get one more ~ 70 mile week in with a medium length long run, and lots of tempo work over the next couple weeks.
Mother of Cats
Half-Crazy - regarding the treadmill - don't they usually offer to haul away the old treadmill when you get a new one?
James- good on you for helping the refugees!
My week:
72 miles running, 1000 yards swimming, and 90 minutes pool-running.
M: 8 miles very easy (9:34) and streaming yoga.Tu: 11.5 miles, including a track workout of 7x800 in 3:36, 3:36, 3:30, 3:25, 3:21, 3:17, 3:14 (recoveries mostly at 2:1x-2:3x; one outlier at 3 minutes). Followed with leg strengthwork. Sports massage in afternoon.W: 90 minutes pool-running, 500 yards swimming, and upper body weights/core. .Th: 9 miles very easy on trails (9:52); streaming pilates in evening.F: 10 miles, including a tempo on the track in 28:06 (7:12/7:04/6:59/6:51), followed by a relaxed 2x200 in 51 and 50 seconds. Then leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming.Sa: 12 miles very easy (9:12) followed by upper body weights/core.Su: 21 miles progressive, split as the first 7 miles averaging 9:17 pace, the next 7 miles averaging 8:21 pace, and the next 7 miles averaging 7:35 pace, plus a 1/2 mile cooldown. Followed with injury prevention work.
This was my peak week of Boston training, and I was pretty happy with it, especially the Friday and Sunday workouts, both of which felt smooth and controlled. I'm only doing one 20+ mile long run this cycle, but I honestly think at this point I only need one. And I really believe that as we get older it's really important to only do as many workouts as you need.
I was particularly happy with Sunday's long run because that marathon pace section was run as 2 miles uphill, and then 5 miles downhill. Normally that would be a "cheat" but one of the things that I've really struggled with is running at anything faster than a jog downhill - I just have stability problems that make it very challenging - especially when wearing supershoes. To the point where earlier in the year I was running faster on the flat for a given effort than on a 2% decline. But today I ran downhill in supershoes and ran decently (while dodging walker with dogs and kids on scooters) - which really builds my confidence that I will be able to run the downhills at Boston at something close to what I would run on flat pavement.
Also, because I'm sure it will get some questions - Tuesday's interval workout was not intended to be that sharp a cut-down. It's just that the workout started on an unlit track before the sun rose, and I find it really hard to run fast in the dark. As the sun rose, my splits got faster.
Everyone's gotta running blog; I'm the only one with a POOL-RUNNING blog.
And...if you want a running Instagram where all the pictures are of cats, I've got you covered.
03/24 Frederick - Spring Distance Classic 5k
03/24 Kathi B&A HM
Rough week. I was really sluggish all week. Hoping it was the time change or going heavier with the weights (not the smartest idea)
Monday short mobility workout
Tuesday am 5 miles wth strides, pm upper body strength
Wednesday am 6 miles with a failed attempt at HM pace, pm lower body strength
Thursday rest
Friday pm 8 easy followed by lower body strength
Saturday 30 minutes easy followed by upper body strength
Sunday 9.7
Mark, I'm guessing with more moderate winters, you have pretty good choices for races? Here it's slim pickings, mostly because the weather is so unpredictable. Plus it's harder to get volunteers in bitter cold. Seems like you are on the mend.
Steve, yea, I'd guess the beat up feeling is covid. I really felt that when I had the suspected case in 2021. It's probably the wise move to switch goals.
James, our neighbor's up the street are Chinese and the parents speak basically no English, so Google translate comes in handy.
mmerkle, damn, hope you are feeling better.
Darkwave, I didn't see haul away as an option. I've been looking mainly at Costco due to their generous return policy. They don't seem to offer haul away. If I put it off until early May, we can take advantage of the twice yearly bulk trash pick up. Nice week. Ugh on dodging kids on scooters, I went to a closing Walmart (this was not wise) and 2 teens were riding scooters around the store. It's already a very small store with narrow aisles.
I was able to train more this week, though I still cut short one treadmill day and missed a crosstraining day. Glad to get in another 13-mile run and get back to pool running after an unplanned three-week break. Our second refugee family arrives on Wednesday, so next week will be another down one, but their issues shouldn’t be as stressful as the first family’s. Trying to decide whether to do a half in Chicago in mid-May despite less-than-ideal training. I’m leaning towards registering, as this may be my only opportunity for a half this year, and a big race sounds like fun after my 58-person half last November.
Darkwave, you’ve run in Chicago, right? Any experience with the Chicago Springtime Half? It’s a mostly out & back south and north course on the west shore of Lake Michigan (I think on the Lakefront Trail), so am I correct in assuming that wind might be an issue? Outside Online had a list of the top six Chicago races in its article about the top U.S. running cities and didn’t mention this half, which might not be a great sign.
Sun - 8 miles slow TM (96:25 PM) + 0:40 walk breaks/6 min
Mon - 8.6 miles in park PM @ 8:28
Tues - off
Weds - 13.2 miles in park midday @ 8:34
Thurs - 3.2 miles slow TM (39:00 PM) + 0:40 walk breaks/6 min
Fri - 8.6 miles in park in moderate rain PM @ 8:39
Sat - 75 minutes pool running
Total - 41.6 miles
YTD - 37.2 mpw