Forums >Racing>2024 The Waltons: Racing & Training Thread
Hot Weather Complainer
James - Pretty solid week with everything else you've got going on.
My week - Decent bounce back week with a couple of broken tempos which were hard but nowhere near the red line. By the end of the week things are starting to feel almost normal again. My HR is still a touch high but I'm not hating every run now.
Made the call during the week to downgrade to the half for Christchurch, and do the Selwyn marathon on June 2. Fred please update these races if you see this.
04/21 Steve Christchurch Half Marathon
06/02 Steve Selwyn Marathon
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
Kathi - yeah you would expect there would be a lot of races around in winter given the conditions here, but there really aren't. Pretty much all the big road events are in March/April (autumn/fall) or Sept through November (spring), with only one or two exceptions. It seems bizarre to me as the winter weather in Auckland is ideal for running marathons or HMs. Only risk is rain but spring races have exactly the same risk.
Steve - not hating every run is good lol.
Me - pretty good week of training in the bag. Trying to jam a lot into this week and the next one. I ran 2 doubles for the first time in I-can't-remember-how-long and had a really good HMP workout on Thurs morning. Probably needed to dial it back a little more on my long run this morning though.
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"
Mm - taking the time off to get better from sickness is a good idea.
Darkwave - nice week (before last).
Half - strength work can be tricky to fit in.
Steve - Nice week. I'm not sure I understand why the race switch? If you anxious about the marathon, then doesn't delaying it increase the anxiety?
Mark - nice week.James - nice week (before last).
Sorry, I had a very busy work week, so posting here didn't happen.
My last two weeks:
Week before last was meant to be a ParkRun on the Saturday, but I had a bad sleep so canned it. And decided to have a rest day. Two strength sessions plus below. So it ended up a cut back week.:
Last week was good. Two strength sessions. I had Tuesday off due to a work trip to Auckland (in a building Mark used to work in) and back, so that was a long day. Saturday's hilly long run at a moderate pace went very well.
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
I'm not deferring it because of anxiety, it's because I've missed the biggest part of my training cycle because of Covid, and my breathing is still quite laboured at easy pace. I just don't have enough time to get back the lost fitness. I know I have a big base and could probably give it a crack with reduced expectations but with my history, I want to give myself the best chance.
Mother of Cats
Watson - two solid weeks for you. Very smart decision to sub in sleep for the Parkrun - that may pay big dividends in a future race.
Marky_Mark - I'm late here, but echoing the surprise at the lack of winter races. Are there any orgs that would be receptive to starting an additional race?
Steve - sounds like a smart decision to swap races.
Half-Crazy - I am surprised about the lack of haul-away, but I guess bulk pickup will substitute (except that you presumably have to get the treadmill to the curb....)
James - I have run in Chicago and I have run the Chicago Marathon, but I am not otherwise familiar with races there. I do have a friend who lived and raced there, so I'll ask him about that race. I would think that any race on the lake would have wind potential, but I have experienced calm days on the lakefront.
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.
58 miles running, 1000 yards swimming, and 2.5 hours pool-running.
M: 1 hour pool-running.T: 8 miles very easy (9:30) plus upper body weights/core.W: 12 miles, with a track workout of 3x3200 in 14:14 (7:12/7:02), 13:57 (7:02/6:55), and 13:44 (6:56/6:48). Recoveries of 4:42 and 4:50 between. Followed with leg strengthwork.Th: 9 miles very easy on trails (10:05) in the morning; streaming Pilates in evening.F: 12 miles very easy (9:24) plus drills and strides, followed by upper body weights/core.Sa: 17 miles, including a marathon effort workout of 2x5 miles at marathon effort with one mile float between. Splits were 38:39 (7:44 pace) and 39:19 (7:52 pace) with a mile in 8:23 between the two. Followed with leg strengthwork.Su: 90 minutes pool-running and 1000 yards swimming.
Just two workouts this week - long intervals on Wednesday and a marathon effort workout on Saturday. The long intervals went decently, confirming that I'm pretty much where I wanted to be fitness-wise at the end of this cycle.
Saturday's long run was in pretty tough weather conditions - steady to heavy rain and 45 degrees, with a brisk wind. But...it could be like that on race day, so I sucked it up and did the workout.
Unfortunately, I figured out about 20 minutes into it that my raincoat was no longer waterproof. And of course, once I was soaked, I just got colder and colder (marathon effort is not enough to keep one warm) and the run suffered.
The paces were not what I had hoped for during this last workout. On the other hand, I run this workout at marathon effort - and I'm pretty sure that I'd be happy with the paces I held during that workout if I was racing a full marathon in that type of weather.
Despite the above, I'm still happy I did the workout on Saturday instead of waiting until Sunday. IMHO, there's multiple reasons to run marathon pace/effort workouts, including both fitness and practicing the skills needed to run a good marathon. Managing bad (but safely runnable) weather is a very important skill to have and to reinforce via practice from time to time.
Sorry, I skimmed over the previous post where you wrote about you sickness.
Re heavy rain - I generally find wearing less is the best option. With some taping to avoid chaffing. When the rain is heavy, even with a good jacket, it's inevitable that I get soaked as the rain will just drip in via the neck etc.
All good! If I deferred because of anxiety it might never happen...to be honest, until I got sick I was looking at the marathon with excitement given how training was going. That became apprehension as the days ticked by and I either couldn't train, or any training felt really hard. That's why there is some relief about being able to push it back 6 weeks.
I forgot to mention I was watching a DGRS meet at the local track on youtube on Friday night. It's a meet set up to allow the likes of us to compete (there's a "community" 5000 metres with runners from 18-25 mins) alongside the A and B local club racers. In the women's A race there was a 60 year old runner, Sally Gibbs, and with 2 laps to go the commentator finally said that she was going for a 60-65 masters world record but was playing it close to her chest to the point where the commentator only wanted to mention it when it was within reach. She smashed it by 10 seconds in 17:50. So inspiring.
darkwave - If it is freezing rain I'll wear my waterproof running jacket but if it's not cold I'll just wring my shirt out every 10 minutes or so on the move. It can be very hard work doing a long run when you're drenched from the start. I don't mind so much if it starts raining during the run.
Waltons ThreadLord
My last two weeks are below. ParkRun went well for me - faster than the one just two weeks ago and 16 seconds off my best there from December. This week's 5k was cancelled because we had 3" (7.5 cm) of rain yesterday and the low-lying part of the course was flooded. That's my third cancelled race this year, which is more than in my other 9 years of racing combined.
29.1 miles last week and 35.3 miles this week. Sorry for not posting shout-outs regularly. I'm trying to keep up with what's going on; there's a lot going on in my non-running world.
D&R ParkRun
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
Sally Gibbs is an absolute legend. I saw her run a similar world AG record in the 10,000m in 2019 in Wellington at an event I was running at.
Fred Nice job on the parkrun. That is a lot of cancellations.
watsonc123 Big long run there.
My Week
I'm happy I was able to get more volume in, but most of the days this week I still felt off. Today was the best I felt in about 2 weeks. I'm disappointed in both track workouts, especially the T.I.R. where my 1k repeats were slower than 10k race pace. From here I am going to start tapering a bit. Will do a few more tempo workouts and a bit more strength work. Two weeks out from my upcoming marathon.
Watson - Nice run!
Sally Gibbs - she's a running legend, that's for sure.
Steve - Good call I reckon on the Chch downgrade.
Life has been hectic and haven't posted much recently. Have been trying to catch up on everyone's progress when I've been able to, though!
My week: 2nd to last training week before the Boston taper. Nowhere near close to sub-3, but perhaps close to a sub 3:17 PB. However, the main goal for Boston is just to enjoy my first big marathon!
50+ age-group PBs: Half Perish 1:24:24 (June '23 Road Race) - 10km 37:52 (2022 Local Road Champs) - Track 5km 18:49 (Aug '22) - Perish Run 3:17:42
2024 Goals: Boston Perish Run Sub 3:15 - Road/Track 10km Sub 37:30 - 5km Sub 18:20
Hash - So exciting with Boston approaching. I hope you will have time to write an epic report of the trip, logistics and race itself - I'm hoping to follow in your footsteps next year.
My week:
Monday- rest day/core work
Tuesday am 4.7 miles with strides, pm upper body strength
Wednesday am 5 miles with 4 x 5 min HM effort, pm lower body strength
Thursday rest
Friday am 5 with intervals
Saturday rest
Sunday 13 (done at the B&A HM, treated it as a long run)
I definitely need to keep B&A on my list for next year and hope not to get sick in January (of course this was the absolute best weather I have had for a HM in YEARS). Course was a paved rail trail, mostly flat, asside from a realty hill at mile 7. It had the usual rail trail slight grade that had I been trying to hit a particular pace, it would have felt slightly harder than it should. Well run, started exactly on time, heated area to wait and indoor bathrooms. Good swag too--hoodie, hat (although Mr. HCK looked at the hat and declared it ugly), some sort of super food blend in a big bag. I also met Colordao Gump & Mom4Running from the milage game pre-race.
JamesD, nice week. I wouldn't read too much in to the race not being listed in a magazine. I would do the HM I just did over the "popular" one in my area.
Steve, sounds like things are moving in a postive direction.
Mark, weird that you don't have lots of winter options. Here a lot of races use schools as a start/finish point and if the weather cancels school activities for the weekend, so is the race.
Watson, I have what seems like a decent way to fit the strength in (thanks to wfh days), I just need to be smart about things and if I'm going to be upping weights, it can;t also be when I am upping miles.
Darkwave, I wasn't too surprised with the lack of haulaway. When we were looking for a new washer and dryer, haulaway was an add on cost at many places. Ironically, it was included in the Costco cost. DH is friends with some younger guys that he has helped move, so we could bribe them with a few beers to move it. Definitely makes some sense to run in lousy conditions from time to time. With the newer shoes all having much less tread, it also make sense to test those out in less than ideal conditions rather than discover they are super slick on race day.
Fred, that's a lot of cancelled races for the year. Was the 5k one that they couldn't shorten? Here there have been some that get shortened, in some cases dramatically shorter (like from a 5k to 2 miler) to avoid flooded sections, usually on an out and back.
mmerkle, hopefully you continue to feel better.
Hash, are you making a big trip out of Boston (sightseeing and such)?
Re rain, maybe it's mental, but in cold rain, I feel better if everything is covered, even if it's not a water proof layer. I wear tighter clothing, so it doesn't bunch. Usually I'm ok while running, but need to shower and change ASAP.