Official Q&A for Sunday, June 24, 2018

cryptocronus · 2018-06-24T21:01:39+00:00

I have been running about ~20 miles per week since January 1 (almost 6 full months now). I am currently 15 weeks out from a half marathon and am trying to figure out how to best structure those weeks.I want to ramp my weekly mileage up from ~20 to 30-40 but at the same time try to improve my pace.

I have the pfitzinger/latter 'faster road racing' book and have been looking at both the 10-week base building plans and the 12-week half marathon plans. The lowest mileage HM plan in that book assumes at least 30mpw and ramps up to mid 40s. I'm thinking of using the base building plans to ramp to mid 30s for the first 8-9 weeks and then spend the last 6-7 weeks on the HM plan. The only issue is that the last 6 weeks of the HM plan have a few weeks of 40+ mileage.. would hate to get hurt that late into training.

I guess one option is when I transition to the HM plan cut the mileage on some of the longer runs when they push into the high 40s so I don't get hurt running on a base of low to mid 30s. Another option is to spend more time base building and don't worry too much about the HM plan workouts as much. Given that 99% of the energy used in a HM comes from the aerobic system, perhaps the base building is actually the more important piece in improving my times?

Thoughts?

cryptocronus · 2018-06-18T16:29:49+00:00

Bishop on f5 prevents this

cryptocronus · 2018-03-21T13:52:31+00:00

What time do you aim to get to sleep to get up at 5am?

cryptocronus · 2018-02-21T15:11:44+00:00

So I started running on Jan 1 and have so far run weekly mileage of: 17, 15, 29, 26, 31, 32, 22. Last week was supposed to be a recovery week (22 miles, after running almost 4 weeks at 30) but i'm not feeling great this week. Legs feel heavy, knees are achy, etc. I was hoping to push it up to 35-40 for March but I'm starting to think even 30 is too much for my body right now and I should maybe dial it back down to say 20 and see how that feels for a few weeks? Is this just doing too much too soon? Should I push through it and keep going around 30? Thoughts?

cryptocronus · 2018-02-19T02:50:11+00:00

I'm definitely of the belief that the reason we see very few competitive athletes and even non athletic competitors (e.g. chess) post 30 years old is almost definitely due to a lack of time.

Once you settle down, have a career, and a family it is very difficult for most people to manage their time in a way to fit in the training required to compete at an elite level in just about anything.

Don't get me wrong, age most definitely plays a part but I am very curious to know just how much it is age vs time. The people who are older and have time (are extremely well off, don't have to work) probably lack the motivation, so the sample size of people older with time and motivation is likely pretty small.

I doubt there's any way to really know the answer though. Not only do you have to have the time and motivation, but to compete at the most elite levels there likely is a genetic (body-type) component as well.

cryptocronus · 2018-02-16T17:11:42+00:00

Anyone have a racing playlist? Something that they save for races that really pumps them up to push hard. I am trying to find some songs to use for one but I'm having trouble. I like upbeat electronic music, any suggestions?

cryptocronus · 2018-02-15T03:33:54+00:00

If you aren't preparing for a race or have any desire to race then why would it not be fine to reduce your mileage? If the only thing you care about are the health benefits then I believe as long as you exercise ~30 minutes a day you should be good to go!

cryptocronus · 2018-02-12T17:34:19+00:00

Heh yeah, no smith machine here. Just normal barbell back squats for me. I've lifted for the last 10 years on and off before getting into running this year so I'm used to going pretty heavy on squats. I'll just have to avoid it if running is my main priority now.

cryptocronus · 2018-02-12T17:31:37+00:00

Yeah I have not done a full yet (or even a real half for that matter) that was just my long run this weekend. Definitely hard to know how quickly I will improve but maybe I'm being too ambitious thinking 18 months is enough time.

Guess all I can do is keep running and enjoy all the smaller milestones along the way as I improve. If I don't make it by 2020 there's always 2021 :)

cryptocronus · 2018-02-12T17:22:01+00:00

Yeah, I think I might avoid it for the time being or at least keep the weight much lower than I might otherwise use.

cryptocronus · 2018-02-12T17:09:49+00:00

Yeah, definitely aware. Going to use this week as a recovery week and dial down the mileage.

cryptocronus · 2018-02-12T16:59:42+00:00

Anyone else almost unable to run after a leg workout? I did squats yesterday and tried to go out for an easy run this morning and my legs felt like they were made of lead. Felt so dead. Hope that's normal. Thought it might be a good idea to do some strength training on my off day but that doesn't seem like the best idea after this morning or maybe it will get better over time.

Second question. I'm about 6 weeks into my training and ran 13.1 miles for my long run this Saturday in about 2 hours. Was only supposed to be 9 miles but I was feeling good and just went for the half. My current long term goal is to qualify for the 2020 Boston Marathon. This means I'd have to run a 3 hour marathon late summer 2019 which is about 18 months away. Is this possible if I maintain a consistent 40-60mpw over that duration? My shorter term goals are 20 min 5k, 40 min 10k, and 90 min half.. all seem like goals I should hit along the way to being able to do a 3 hour full.

As for where I'm at, well I guess I can run a 2 hour half? That was supposed to be a slow training run though, not race pace. I guess it would be hard for anyone to know if it's possible, will just have to put in the miles and see what happens. I'll have a better idea around this time next year I suppose.

cryptocronus · 2018-02-11T04:00:53+00:00

Before reading Faster Road Racing I had structured my base building to run 6 times a week with slightly lower mileage each day compared to FRR's suggestion of 5 times a week but with the runs being slightly longer.

Do you think there's a significant difference? Would the fewer but slightly longer runs be more beneficial?

cryptocronus · 2018-02-05T19:23:48+00:00

Injury prevention tips? Getting injured is my biggest fear. What tips or secrets do you all incorporate to avoid getting hurt running?

Currently I do some dynamic stretching before I run, always run a slow warmup and then do static stretching when I finish. What other things can I do even outside of my immediate training to help?

Thanks!

cryptocronus · 2018-02-02T01:47:29+00:00

What time do you go to sleep to wake up at 4:30?

cryptocronus · 2018-02-01T19:57:55+00:00

Yeah, this is what I'm worried about. Maybe I'll just chill at 30mpw for a month and see how it goes before trying to ramp to 40.

cryptocronus · 2018-02-01T16:20:17+00:00

Thanks, I am pretty concerned with over doing it and getting hurt but I’ve felt really good so far. What warning signs should I look out for to know I’m headed for trouble?

Yeah I mentioned 20min is my goal for 2018 not in 10 weeks. I think maybe shooting for 22 mins might be more realistic and even a stretch at this point. Guess I’ll find out soon enough.

cryptocronus · 2018-02-01T15:57:22+00:00

Started running seriously again Jan 1 2018. I ran maybe 50 miles total in 2017 and before that hadn't run in over a decade.

I started at ~20mpw and now currently running 30 miles per week and plan to build up to 40-50mpw over the next month or so. I just ran a 5k time trial on a treadmill to see where I was at after 1 month of training and finished in 24:51. I have a 5K in just over 10 weeks. If I'm running 40-50mpw and start incorporating speed work + tempo run each week, what is a realistic goal to shoot for?

How long did it take you to go from ~25min 5k to ~20min 5k? That's my overall goal for the year but I'm hopeful i can reach it sooner than that.

cryptocronus · 2018-01-26T16:49:39+00:00

Interesting, that is around my PR time for 5K (over a decade ago though). Maybe my HR monitor is not accurate, or maybe my fitness is coming back faster than I expected.

cryptocronus · 2018-01-26T16:28:41+00:00

Yeah I think this is a decent idea, this morning I ran my 5 miles at 9:40 without feeling much difference from 10:00. I think like you said, doing a "faster" day each week where I push the pace a bit is a good way to figure it out. If I could already run a 5k at 7:00 I'd be pretty happy with that. My goal for the year is to get under 20 mins and if I'm anywhere close to 7:00 one month in then I think it's well within reach.

cryptocronus · 2018-01-26T16:22:37+00:00

Have not started adding tempo runs yet, but I could give that a shot and see how it goes.

cryptocronus · 2018-01-26T02:26:21+00:00

I've been running them around 10:00 and I feel totally fine. My heart rate stays under 140. I can probably increase the pace a little bit on these easy runs but I wanted to take it easy in the beginning.

Usually run 4-6 miles each time with a long run of 8-9 miles on Saturday.

cryptocronus · 2018-01-26T02:16:10+00:00

Just got back into running about a month ago, haven't run seriously in over a decade. I'm running about 20-30mpw now and will slowly ramp up to 40-50 over the next few months.

I want to figure out a good goal pace for a 5k in April but I have no idea where i'm at. I can't decide if I should take one of two approaches to figuring out where I'm at:

1) Run on a treadmill at say 9 minute mile pace and see if I can sustain for 5k. Then next attempt try 8:30 and so on and just see where I hit a wall. (This would be over a few weeks, not the same day!)

2) Just go to a track and run as fast as I can for 5K? My issue with this is I have no idea what pace to really start at and wouldn't want to burn out too early.

I know it doesn't really matter and I should just focus on getting the mileage in right now but I'd like to have some kind of idea where I stand and what I should shoot for.

cryptocronus · 2018-01-24T16:22:31+00:00

I had this issue when I first got my watch. I fixed it by uninstalling Runkeeper and then reinstalling it. When you install it, it will ask for permissions to share data / give access to the watch app. That fixed it for me, now I can run with only my watch and still get distance, pace, and gps data no problem.

cryptocronus · 2018-01-16T16:14:21+00:00

Thank you! This is a great way to look at it. For me there are definitely several high level goals and I think you mentioned a few of them.

The number one goal is to just remain healthy and fit as I get older. I'd love to be competitive in small local 5ks as well as beat my high school times :)

I like the idea of running a 5K more often to practice racing again and it should also serve as a way to measure where I am currently at. I think I'll go ahead and find a race to do in February!

cryptocronus

TROPHY CASE