April 2016 Running Challenge

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Replies

  • lporter229
    lporter229 Posts: 4,907 Member
    Thanks everyone for reading my story and for your kind words. I certainly wasn't looking for any sympathy or praise regarding my situation. I believe that each and every one of us has our own set backs to deal with. The most important thing is to not let them keep us from doing what we want and love to do.
  • Stoshew71
    Stoshew71 Posts: 6,553 Member
    4/1 Rest day!
    4/2 6 miles in the snow
    4/3 4 easy miles
    4/4 Rest day
    4/5 4 easy miles
    4/6 Rest day
    4/7- 4 miles (plus half a mile because I forgot to start my garmin) inadvertent Tempo Run.

    Morning run in the dark was very relaxing. Beautiful 30 degree weather. I went quite a bit faster than planned, but I yesterday was one of those kind of days, so I needed to blow off some steam so this turned into a slight Tempo Run, Average pace 10:36 +/- 10 seconds the whole time, Mile 1 was 10:36, Mile 2 was -10 seconds/mile then 3 was +3sec/mi and 4 was +6 sec/mi. New Saucony Siberius pants worked great, almost too good. In the 30 degree weather, I probably could have gotten away with my Nike pants no problem.


    Tempo run ~= 10:36

    I am so very sorry to point this out and in no way demeaning you in any way. First off, if I was running 10:36 pace, that means my legs are hurting and I needed a recovery run. Only reason I am pointing this out is that one of our local elites a couple of times decided to join us in our running group. Josh Whitehead usually wins all of the local races (either him or another guy Brandon York). The first time he joined us I asked him before our run what was his recovery pace, and he said usually it's around a 6:30 pace. I laughed and told him that 7:20-7:30 was like my tempo pace. He took it all in good fun. He was like I am just going to enjoy this morning and get to know you guys.

  • Stoshew71
    Stoshew71 Posts: 6,553 Member
    Question about the doubles while it is on topic.

    I was planning to start adding in some doubles a few weeks from now as I continue building up from my current 42 mpw to 60 mpw. My reasoning for the doubles is that during this base building phase my workouts are long runs and by that point I will be doing 2 to 3 long runs (90 to 180 minutes) per week. There gets to be a point where it is impractical to add distance to the long runs due to either total running time (pushing 180 minutes) or time in regular life (2+ hour mid-week runs are very difficult to fit in). Likewise my non-long runs can't go any longer because at that point they would go well past 60 minutes each and start creeping towards 90 minutes which would make them long runs technically. So my plan was to take some of those non-long run days and do doubles so I can get the added mileage without making them too long. They would be between 35 and 60 minutes each run on these double runs.

    Does that sound right or am I incorporating doubles inappropriately?

    This makes total sense and very similar to what I started incorporating.

  • MNLittleFinn
    MNLittleFinn Posts: 4,271 Member
    Stoshew71 wrote: »
    Tempo run ~= 10:36
    I am so very sorry to point this out and in no way demeaning you in any way. First off, if I was running 10:36 pace, that means my legs are hurting and I needed a recovery run. Only reason I am pointing this out is that one of our local elites a couple of times decided to join us in our running group. Josh Whitehead usually wins all of the local races (either him or another guy Brandon York). The first time he joined us I asked him before our run what was his recovery pace, and he said usually it's around a 6:30 pace. I laughed and told him that 7:20-7:30 was like my tempo pace. He took it all in good fun. He was like I am just going to enjoy this morning and get to know you guys.

    LOL, I know I'm slow, and in truth, it wasn't really a tempo run, It would have been closer to 10:00 or even 9:30 min/mi if I was booking it, I can go faster, but I bonk after a couple miles.

    I'm still bad with terminology, and it was more of a way of making an excuse to myself because I was like 30 sec/mi faster than I planned for the run.

    I've done 9:36 for 6 miles, but that's a PR speed for that distance for me.
  • Stoshew71
    Stoshew71 Posts: 6,553 Member
    Question about the doubles while it is on topic.

    I was planning to start adding in some doubles a few weeks from now as I continue building up from my current 42 mpw to 60 mpw. My reasoning for the doubles is that during this base building phase my workouts are long runs and by that point I will be doing 2 to 3 long runs (90 to 180 minutes) per week. There gets to be a point where it is impractical to add distance to the long runs due to either total running time (pushing 180 minutes) or time in regular life (2+ hour mid-week runs are very difficult to fit in). Likewise my non-long runs can't go any longer because at that point they would go well past 60 minutes each and start creeping towards 90 minutes which would make them long runs technically. So my plan was to take some of those non-long run days and do doubles so I can get the added mileage without making them too long. They would be between 35 and 60 minutes each run on these double runs.

    Does that sound right or am I incorporating doubles inappropriately?

    @WhatMeRunning That sounds right to me! All my runs are 6 miles or more these days (~48-54 mins minimum), and then I do a 10 mile (~85-90 min) run midweek, another 7-10 Saturday (60-90 minutes) and then my long runs (150-180 minutes) Sunday. I break up my midweek runs for a few reasons, but mostly because running more than 90 mins on a weekday morning takes way too much time. That's why I add in the other ~50 mins later in the day. It's much more managable that way. Plus in the middle of the week, I do 4 runs (~30 miles) in less than 48 hours, and that is great fatigue training! :) There's no way I could do 60 mpw without running doubles, and it sounds like you're in the same boat.

    I think your reasoning for doubles is right on track! Gotta get to that 60 mpw somehow!

    As for timing, I usually do Wednesday morning, Wednesday afternoon (thank God for a grad student's flexible schedule), Thursday morning, and Thursday evening. I hate doing evening-morning rotations... my legs are just too dead if I run at 6 pm the night before then 6 am the next morning.

    Edit to add: To clarify on the midweek miles, 10 is just the long run which is not broken up; 10 is part of a longer day total of 15-17 once you add in the afternoon run, then I also have Thursday speedwork and a Thursday group run. In case anyone was wondering why the math seems off... I was just listing my 60-90+ min runs. THERE ARE TOO MANY NUMBERS/RUNS TO KEEP TRACK OF! lol

    I used to do ~60 miles a week doing the following schedule:

    M10, T10, W6.2, Th10, Fri 6.2, Sat 15

    But I couldn't keep up with that long term. Between getting up super early in the morning for those 10 milers, and hitting 20 miles between that Mon and Tue, I just felt like by the time I get through the second 10 miler, my body just broke down halfway through the run. It was like that second half of that Tue run was just a waste of time. After I started breaking up my runs, I would complete all of them in good time, had more energy to complete. And I didn't feel like I was in a rush to get them done so I could keep an easier pace. Trying to fit in a 10 miler and then get home so I could get ready for work, I felt like I had to run like between a tempo and easy pace which is not always good to do all the time.

    Now, if I know I am supposed to run an easy pace, I can manage that with a shorter run.
  • greenolivetree
    greenolivetree Posts: 1,282 Member
    Catching up...... The whole geese thing is funny. There's a pond a half mile down my street that used to have about 50 Canadian geese. Some of them have moved on to another pond (a mile in the other direction) so at least they've split up :) I guess I'm used to them and they're used to me.

    Enjoyed the conversation on "doubles". Question: What if you have to run like 7pm one night and 6am the next morning? Is that okay because you slept? LOL So far my runs are usually about 24-36 hours apart. Like Friday morning, Sat morning, Sun afternoon, Tues evening, etc.

    @Elise4270 Thanks for all the encouragement and having my back and all :-D

    @samthepanda Way to go just getting back out there. That's the hardest part after a setback.

    Welcome to @shesgotaplan and @Ashleedeathbarbie

    4/1 - 5 miles on the bike around town, 3 mile walk, 45 min strength training (This is what I do when I can't run.)
    4/2 - 4.5 mile RUN! (no pain!), 3 mile walk because I love spring weather :)
    4/3 - rest day
    4/4 - 3 mile run, 23 min strength training
    4/5 - 4.25 mile run
    4/6 - rest day (should've gotten up earlier and done strength training)
    4/7 - 20 min light walk after an hour in the car, so I don't have to call this another rest day!

    11.75 of 60 miles April running goal
  • skippygirlsmom
    skippygirlsmom Posts: 4,433 Member
    4/1 - 5.5 miles
    4/2 - family day
    4/3 - 5 miles
    4/4 -6 - lazy butt days
    4/7 - 5 miles

    15 out of 100 miles

    @5BeautifulDays thanks for posting the video, it had me crying, I sent the link right off to Skip to watch. Your sharp stick comment cracked me up.
    @_nikkiwolf_ those are some big geese
    @adrianchr92 yipes! ugly goose, bad goose
    @samthepanda glad you are feeling better
    @honunui I've missed your pictures and videos. I hope your son is doing well.
    @ashleedeathbarbie welcome
    @instantmartian you had me laughing about getting lost. Hey I work in an office park that the main street is a big cirlce and I got lost out here running one day. I made a turn that spit me out not where I thought it would and it took me a while to figure out where I was. I always like to at least drive a race course so I can see it, my boyfriend's son said to me one time "it's not like you'll be in the front and need to know where to turn". Ugh stab me why don't you. LOL He doesn't get it, it's us in the middle and back that need to know we don't have a police car leading our way!

    Upcoming races:
    4/10 - Bridge Street HM
    5/30 - Cotton Row 10K

  • akerra27
    akerra27 Posts: 117 Member

    exercise.png



    Walk/run but still progess
  • Stoshew71
    Stoshew71 Posts: 6,553 Member
    edited April 2016
    Stoshew71 wrote: »
    Tempo run ~= 10:36
    I am so very sorry to point this out and in no way demeaning you in any way. First off, if I was running 10:36 pace, that means my legs are hurting and I needed a recovery run. Only reason I am pointing this out is that one of our local elites a couple of times decided to join us in our running group. Josh Whitehead usually wins all of the local races (either him or another guy Brandon York). The first time he joined us I asked him before our run what was his recovery pace, and he said usually it's around a 6:30 pace. I laughed and told him that 7:20-7:30 was like my tempo pace. He took it all in good fun. He was like I am just going to enjoy this morning and get to know you guys.

    LOL, I know I'm slow, and in truth, it wasn't really a tempo run, It would have been closer to 10:00 or even 9:30 min/mi if I was booking it, I can go faster, but I bonk after a couple miles.

    I'm still bad with terminology, and it was more of a way of making an excuse to myself because I was like 30 sec/mi faster than I planned for the run.

    I've done 9:36 for 6 miles, but that's a PR speed for that distance for me.

    It could have been a tempo or at least a pace that Greg McMillan calls steady state.
    Tempo usually means a race pace that you can sustain for 40-60 minutes. About 30 seconds slower than that is what is known as steady state.

    Tempo is comfortably hard. You are breathing heavy but not hyper ventalating. You would be able to get out one or 2 words answers while running. If you slowed down to a steady state pace, you would be able to slowly feel yourself recover (just barely).

    Another way to look at it is this. There is a pace where you would be able to hit and breathing is perfectly normal. It's what we have been calling our easy conversational pace. Then there's a point where you begin to notice that your breathing starts to change. That's yout ventilatory threshold. It's where carbon dioxide production begins to outpace oxygen consumption. Or something like that. It's close to lactate threshold but independent of it. Studies show that VT is more related to turning on your fast twitch muscles than it has to do with your cardiac/metobolic output. But there seems to be a coincidental relationship between the 2.

    If PR at 6 miles is a 9:36 pace ( that's about an hour's worth of running) then that sounds very much your Lactate Threshold. That assumes you can maintain that steady pace for a race for that period of time, but then if you attempted a 7th mile, you would be unable to maintain that pace.

    Edit: Steady State is a pace where you are starting to accumulate lactate in your blood but at a rate that your body can still buffer and clear it. Once your lactate is accumulating at a pace that your body can no longer clear, then you crossed over your lactate threshold. Just more geeky scientific terminology.


  • MrsKGrady
    MrsKGrady Posts: 276 Member
    edited April 2016
    cl2nrsY.png

    Even their tongue has teeth

    This is pure nightmare fuel! :o
  • kristinegift
    kristinegift Posts: 2,406 Member
    Stoshew71 wrote: »
    Question about the doubles while it is on topic.

    I was planning to start adding in some doubles a few weeks from now as I continue building up from my current 42 mpw to 60 mpw. My reasoning for the doubles is that during this base building phase my workouts are long runs and by that point I will be doing 2 to 3 long runs (90 to 180 minutes) per week. There gets to be a point where it is impractical to add distance to the long runs due to either total running time (pushing 180 minutes) or time in regular life (2+ hour mid-week runs are very difficult to fit in). Likewise my non-long runs can't go any longer because at that point they would go well past 60 minutes each and start creeping towards 90 minutes which would make them long runs technically. So my plan was to take some of those non-long run days and do doubles so I can get the added mileage without making them too long. They would be between 35 and 60 minutes each run on these double runs.

    Does that sound right or am I incorporating doubles inappropriately?

    @WhatMeRunning That sounds right to me! All my runs are 6 miles or more these days (~48-54 mins minimum), and then I do a 10 mile (~85-90 min) run midweek, another 7-10 Saturday (60-90 minutes) and then my long runs (150-180 minutes) Sunday. I break up my midweek runs for a few reasons, but mostly because running more than 90 mins on a weekday morning takes way too much time. That's why I add in the other ~50 mins later in the day. It's much more managable that way. Plus in the middle of the week, I do 4 runs (~30 miles) in less than 48 hours, and that is great fatigue training! :) There's no way I could do 60 mpw without running doubles, and it sounds like you're in the same boat.

    I think your reasoning for doubles is right on track! Gotta get to that 60 mpw somehow!

    As for timing, I usually do Wednesday morning, Wednesday afternoon (thank God for a grad student's flexible schedule), Thursday morning, and Thursday evening. I hate doing evening-morning rotations... my legs are just too dead if I run at 6 pm the night before then 6 am the next morning.

    Edit to add: To clarify on the midweek miles, 10 is just the long run which is not broken up; 10 is part of a longer day total of 15-17 once you add in the afternoon run, then I also have Thursday speedwork and a Thursday group run. In case anyone was wondering why the math seems off... I was just listing my 60-90+ min runs. THERE ARE TOO MANY NUMBERS/RUNS TO KEEP TRACK OF! lol

    I used to do ~60 miles a week doing the following schedule:

    M10, T10, W6.2, Th10, Fri 6.2, Sat 15

    But I couldn't keep up with that long term. Between getting up super early in the morning for those 10 milers, and hitting 20 miles between that Mon and Tue, I just felt like by the time I get through the second 10 miler, my body just broke down halfway through the run. It was like that second half of that Tue run was just a waste of time. After I started breaking up my runs, I would complete all of them in good time, had more energy to complete. And I didn't feel like I was in a rush to get them done so I could keep an easier pace. Trying to fit in a 10 miler and then get home so I could get ready for work, I felt like I had to run like between a tempo and easy pace which is not always good to do all the time.

    Now, if I know I am supposed to run an easy pace, I can manage that with a shorter run.

    @Stoshew71 I think when I start working real people hours after I graduate, I'm going to have to get creative with my mileage to avoid rushing through runs midweek, like you mentioned. I am so over being a grad student, but I am going to be so sad to give up this leisurely schedule!
  • MNLittleFinn
    MNLittleFinn Posts: 4,271 Member
    Thanks for the analysis and explanation @Stoshew71. What you said about LT pace jives perfectly with the numbers I put in the McMillan running calculator, using my 5 mile run time. The calculator put my vLT at 9:35, and I was using their numbers and run paces.

    I just checked my print out from them again, and it looks like I fell in the fast end of what they say would be my Easy Run pace range. Run today felt good though, so maybe I was just trying to justify to myself going faster than I thought I should.
  • kbown
    kbown Posts: 16 Member

    exercise.png


    4/1: 1.35 Miles (Walk during lunch)
    4/4: 1.35 Miles (Walk during lunch)
    4/5: 3.1 Miles (Run)
    4/6: 1.15 (Walk during lunch)
    4/7: 1.17 (Walk during lunch before the rain; expecting to go for a run tonight if it stops raining)
  • instantmartian
    instantmartian Posts: 335 Member
    @instantmartian you had me laughing about getting lost. Hey I work in an office park that the main street is a big cirlce and I got lost out here running one day. I made a turn that spit me out not where I thought it would and it took me a while to figure out where I was. I always like to at least drive a race course so I can see it, my boyfriend's son said to me one time "it's not like you'll be in the front and need to know where to turn". Ugh stab me why don't you. LOL He doesn't get it, it's us in the middle and back that need to know we don't have a police car leading our way!

    You are so right! We're the ones who are most likely to get lost! :smile:
  • CChen8520
    CChen8520 Posts: 64 Member
    edited April 2016
    did it again!
    exercise.png
  • nicolemarie999
    nicolemarie999 Posts: 91 Member
    edited April 2016
    Dealing with two sick kiddos today, my youngest was exposed to croup at his daycare on Monday. Here's to hoping he doesn't get croup and I don't get sick too!

    4/3 - 5 mi
    4/4 - 3.5 mi
    4/5 - 3.5 mi + weights
    4/6 - rest
    4/7 - 2 mi + plyo

    14/60
  • ROBOTFOOD
    ROBOTFOOD Posts: 5,527 Member
    4.5mi easy run with speed bursts. pace range 8:50 - 5:40/mi. That concludes this mini training cycle. 25k trail race in 2 days! Feel really good! Had to force myself to slow down today haha.

    4/1 - Easy 10.1mi @ 8:25/mi
    4/2 - rest.
    4/3 - 1mi fun hike for views of SLC. 400ft vertical.
    4/4 - Snowboard 41.8mi 30,000ft, descent (not counted on April total), 55.8mph top speed.
    4/5 - 7.3mi mountain (steep) run. About 2,000ft vertical, 14:31/avg. Medium effort.
    4/6 - Rest
    4/7 - 4.5mi easy w speed bursts 8:50 - 5:40/mi

    April total - 22.9/153mi
  • zoe2434
    zoe2434 Posts: 69 Member
    Oh no! My daughter got croup once and it was horrible. Best of luck!
    Dealing with two sick kiddos today, my youngest was exposed to croup at his daycare on Monday. Here's to hoping he doesn't get croup and I don't get sick too!

    4/3 - 5 mi
    4/4 - 3.5 mi
    4/5 - 3.5 mi + weights
    4/6 - rest
    4/7 - 2 mi + plyo

    14/60

  • nicolemarie999
    nicolemarie999 Posts: 91 Member
    @zoe2434 thank you!
  • Ohhim
    Ohhim Posts: 1,142 Member
    edited April 2016
    Figured I'd get in a final speedwork session with enough time to recover for my Ironman 70.3 on Sunday so I went out for a session mid-day today. Ended up surveying the neighborhood for damage as a waterspout (i.e. tornado) came ashore early this morning about a block north of my place, but mostly just took out a handful of trees and fences (with only one tree seeming to hit a house).

    4/1 - 0.5 mile (pre-lift warm-up)
    4/2 - 6.5 miles (speedwork - 6 x 5 min threshold/1 min rest)
    4/3 - 20 miles (8 super-easy, 7 easy, 5 mid-hard)
    4/5 - 4 miles
    4/6 - 8 miles (w. 6x1km repeats at 10K pace in middle)

    Total: 39 miles
    Goal: 160 miles
    Remaining: 121 miles

    Upcoming races:
    4/10 - Ironman 70.3 Florida
    5/1 - Pittsburgh Marathon
    9/25 - Ironman 70.3 Augusta
    10/9 - Chicago Marathon (lottery TBD)
    11/5 - Ironman Florida

    @ROBOTFOOD - I've done the vegas half the last few years, and have only encountered a handful of folks who continued on for the full. Still, conditions have been awesome for the race, but for running a 3:05, you'll be with about 20 runners max and the crowd support dies off once you get past the split at mile 10. I would have tried using that race (and joining you) for my fall BQ attempt, but I'm racing Ironman Florida 140.6 the week before and will need more recovery time, and Chicago would likely be my preferred race given timing and support. Likely just in for the Vegas HM or 10K given proximity to IM Florida.

    @9voice9 - I've been doing doubles occasionally as of late, mostly to hit 60+ mile goals for weeks (without needing to cut off a rest day), and occasionally so I can do an easy run with friends who just want to go out for 4-5 when my plan calls for more than that. Usually one run is a speeedwork/interval session, and the other an easy session, so they generally aren't too ugly.
  • trbilbao
    trbilbao Posts: 27 Member
    Got in 3 yesterday although had to spilt it up.

    exercise.png
  • ROBOTFOOD
    ROBOTFOOD Posts: 5,527 Member
    edited April 2016
    @Ohhim I've ran either the half or full since '08. But ya, I know it dies down out there, but it's really going to depend on if the temps are cool enough for me (under 65f) and minimal winds. That's why I put 3:20 on my predicted time. I can always run another downhill marathon to BQ. There is one in Oct that I'm running. I will decide if I want to go for a BQ on that or Vegas. It has over 5000ft of descent!
  • Elise4270
    Elise4270 Posts: 8,375 Member
    edited April 2016
    @MobyCarp @stoshew71 @kristinegift @robotfood @ohim

    All this BQ talk makes me want to do it...
    http://www.runnersworld.com/boston-marathon/first-lady-of-boston

    Of course, I have a long way to go :flushed:
  • SarcasmIsMyLoveLanguage
    SarcasmIsMyLoveLanguage Posts: 2,668 Member
    I'm a little late to the party, mind if I join?
  • ROBOTFOOD
    ROBOTFOOD Posts: 5,527 Member
    @Elise4270 Great story! Thx for the link! And definitely go for it! Here are the BQ standards for this yr. It changes. http://www.baa.org/Races/Boston-Marathon/Participant-Information/Qualifying.aspx
  • lillymacki55
    lillymacki55 Posts: 35 Member
    Running to beat my March total of 127.71:

    04/01 3.36
    04/02 8.26
    04/03 8.38
    04/04 4.82
    04/05 5.07
    04/06 3.51
    04/07 7.53

    Total 40.93
    GOAL = > 127.71


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  • Elise4270
    Elise4270 Posts: 8,375 Member
    I'm a little late to the party, mind if I join?

    Come on in! We're just getting started.
  • Elise4270
    Elise4270 Posts: 8,375 Member
    ROBOTFOOD wrote: »
    @Elise4270 Great story! Thx for the link! And definitely go for it! Here are the BQ standards for this yr. It changes. http://www.baa.org/Races/Boston-Marathon/Participant-Information/Qualifying.aspx

    Hahaha! If I get my half time down below 2 hours, I'll seriously consider it. Until then, I'm rooting for you all!
  • laschnei
    laschnei Posts: 1 Member
    I will join in late for April. Goal of 32 miles with the first two done April 5th.
  • AdrianChr92
    AdrianChr92 Posts: 567 Member
    edited April 2016
    @SarcasmIsMyLoveLanguage Is never to late to join, welcome
    @laschnei Welcome.

    8 km today. It was supposed to be a tempo run at 5 min/km but I met some friends and ran with them and there goes the tempo run. Also we took a 10 min break in the middle but It still counts as 8 :)) . Tried to do 5 min in the second 4 km but one person couldn't keep up with us and we slowed to around 5:30. It's amazing how much difference can 10-20 seconds per km make when you are near your threshold

    @MNLittleFinn I find that the best way to actually find your tempo pace is to run a 10k race. That's around an hour or a little bit less for most people. When I entered my 10k time in any calculator it gives me a speed that is close to my 10k speed. It worked for me. I know my threshold is around 4:30 min/km. My muscles start to burn if I stay there for a little bit and I am forced to get back to 4:50. My tempo range is between 4:50 and 5:20 per km right now. My easy runs are at 6 min and slower, and intervals and reps at 4:30.

    Also for people here that do strides, at what speed should I do them? Should I go as fast as I can while concentrating on form?

    Date.......Distance...Pace (min/km).........................Sarcastic tips from someone who ran since December
    April 1 - 3 km...........(7:30)..................................Your cotton shirts will do just fine. Your nipples won't bleed
    April 2 - rest
    April 3 - 10 km.........(4:51).................................Go fast first miles in a race, you won't bonk near the end
    April 4 - 5.2 km........(7:35)..........................................................Buy all the shoes
    April 5 - 4.8 km........(6:30)...........................Seriously. You only need 2 trail pairs, 2 road pairs and 1 race pair.
    April 6 - rest(xt)
    April 7 - 8 km...........(5:30).................Cotton clothes will make you faster because if you are slow the sweat will get you

    exercise.png

    03/04: Bucharest 10k and Family run (registered) 48:37, 188/1010
    16/04: Color Run Bucharest (registered)
    17/04: Forest Run (registered)
    15/05: Bucharest Half Marathon or 10k, depends.

This discussion has been closed.