TR Running Thread 2024

You are an experience runner… your legs will get there super quick…
I would say, take about 2 to 3 weeks of recover/base millage with no wo, then start adding some speed while also increasing distance…
You could also start a few weeks before unbound, and replace easy ride with easy runs of about the same time duration… that way you are building base millage and gettin your running legs back!

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@Erik_Wahlstrom that race is definitely a race where you can justify doing a little bit of running as part of your regular training! Especially if you are an experience runner.

You know what injuries have hobbled you in the past…but for me I would also include (as an adjunct to cycling) a 3x weekly routine of calf raises and foot strengthening exercise. Those are exercises that can help my running a lot without having any (negative) impact on my cycling. Soleus injury & sore achilles has been a problem for me in the past so a little strength work would help me get ahead of that.

In addition to that during my training for the bike race I’d throw in 4x weekly stretching with special focus on hamstrings. Seems like focused bike work really jams up my stride so if I wanted to shift training from primarily on the bike to primarily off the bike over a short period of time I’d want my posterior muscle chain to already be flexible enough to start training with an opened-up stride.

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Anyone doing the London marathon? If so, good luck. Weather looks perfect.
One week after my A race and I’m waiting for my body to feel rebalanced before launching into training again. I was hoping for this weekend but I need a little longer. Will take the opportunity to tidy my garden; need to drain and clean my fish pond. It’s a mucky job but will look great once it’s done.

I’m thinking I’m going to specialise in the 50 miler for a bit. It just floats my boat. Long enough to be a big adventure but done within a normal day. A chance to see amazing places but also to race flat out. I think it’s very much in my wheelhouse.

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@MAGNUStm @TrapMeSuf

London! The hay is in the barn! Go get some! Look forward to your race reports detailing your 42km adventure :grin:

If there are any others doing London, have a great day! Don’t be shy, we don’t bite in here!

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Trust me. After the winter we’ve had, with rain and gales about every other day, this forcast is a dream. First high pressure system over us since October perhaps?

Have a great race.

So I ran 97min yesterday for my 21km.

Not much to say really. It was hot, start temp ~26C. When I finished it was ~29-30C. It was humid, +90%. I did ~7-8km at 90min pace before I started going backwards. No heat adaptation going into the race as temps had been mild until this past week. Once I started melting physically, I also started melting mentally. Or maybe it was the other way around.

Well done to the London & Boston crowd, and those in between!

I am bummed. Had to cancel uni nats due to uni moving midterms around on me- I could get accomodations if I was in the elite program, but I can’t get into the elite program without the nationals performance :upside_down_face:
Was aiming to make some teams later in the year anyway, so at least I’ve got a more sensible race schedule now to focus on some fast times for that. Trying to summon some motivation while the winter weather rolls in and my regular group sessions are on a break.
Also transferred my flights to the Gold Coast marathon- the main event is long sold out, but it’s one of our bigger races so the 5/10k is still well worth it. (Mostly just a good chance to escape the cold though, and the dates worked out nicely)

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Bit of a race report from London then:
Performance wise it went well: I was keeping a steady pace with a view to speed up the last 10km or so, if there was something left at that point. Turned out, it wasn’t and it went slowly downhill from 35km onwards. Not helped by the fact that it’s false flat upwards between Canary Wharf and the City.
I gave it my all and managed to run it in 3:05. Pretty chuffed with that, but agonisingly close to 3:00… I may have to do it again…

The crowds are amazing. There where two quiet stretches of road (both tunnels), the rest was ram-packed with people all shouting their heads off. It was insane.

The only downside was the temperature - it was bloody cold. Started off around 8deg C (46F) and ended up around 11deg C (52F) with quite a chilly breeze. At no point in the race was I actually warm and should have dressed a bit warmer. It was dry though (thanks @grawp)
IMG-20240421-WA0003~2

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Congratulations! That’s awesome :+1:

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I am both proud yet disappointed in my race. I view the results through two different lenses; one of which allows me to recognize the effort and finish as something to be proud of and the other in which I see bad race strategy execution and falling short of my goals.

As @TrapMeSuf noted, it was cold and windy. I wasn’t prepared but I much prefer the cold vs hot conditions. I started in the first wave so I tried my best to line up towards the front for a good start position. This proved harder than expected. I found myself boxed in through nearly mile 11. For several miles I tried to pac-man my way through the field and by the time it occurred to me my efforts were pointless I had spent far too much energy. When the field opened up I was forced to settle into pace and by mile 21 I was starting to struggle. It was a huge mind game onward. I wanted to slow to a walk so bad but kept telling myself ‘one mile at a time… I can slow down if I need to but no walking’.

As I passed the mile/kilometer markers I kept trying to workout my finish time. I knew I was still on pace for a PR so I told myself ‘today is the day we do something special’. Cheese/corny, I know, but it worked. I had family here for the first time and it motivated me to push.

The last 2-3 miles proved to be extremely difficult. I felt cramps were a misstep away. Not just in the legs but also lower back and neck. I was so tense but when I tried to relax it then triggered the cramps so I had to grind the rest of the way. Brutal.

I finished at 2:45:08… which I am very proud of. But, always a ‘but’, I 100% know I had more in me and my poor starting position and race execution I set myself up to come up short. That said, I dont know what’s more upsetting, coming up short of what I felt I was capable of or missing going sub 245 by 8 seconds. Hurts either way.

Tracker shows even pacing… but Strava/Garmin tells a different story. Extra distance covered while weaving through field?

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Hey guys. Friday night here and I’m enjoying a beer.
Eased back into training this week after a week off to recover from my 50 miler. Did a track night on Monday at 75% effort, a short easy run on Wed and a small but satisfying hill rep session this morning.
Feels good to be ache free, blisters healed, and clear headed again.

I train at dawn. It’s a gorgeous time to be out.


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I recently saw someone share a breakdown of their marathon build mileage and thought it would interesting to do the same.

As a side note, the first 3-4 weeks of both builds were unstructured and mostly me just ramping up volume prior to going into each build…

A couple of observations, before I put this together I was convinced I ran so much more mileage prior to Chicago so it’s interesting to see that was not the case. It’s also interesting to see that I ran a few miles less than Chicago. Again, I was convinced I was running quite a bit more than the previous build.

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Soooo. Operation 50miler is now underway.
Seeing as dawn is around 4.30am now and the weather is good, I’m seeing if I can simply run virtually every day before work. I figure time on feet is my best approach right now.
Managed a little over 100km last week, without feeling wrecked. I seem to be able to cruise along at around 6min/km pace without going above 130bpm. This feels very sustainable.
I hope I’ll gradually increase the length of my longer runs at the weekend as my body adapts.

It’s been gorgeous out there.

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@SomeCallMeTim Your race this weekend?

How is everyone else doing? It’s getting hot, if not already hot, for most of us in the northern hemisphere. Everyone more cycling focused again?

Yes, it’s this Sunday. The weather is meant to be good and fingers crossed, I don’t get sick before then

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Hopped up on training endorphins last night, I’ve agreed to do an open track meet in a couple of weeks time to run 1500m against a bunch of teenagers mainly. I’m super nervous but it’s an avenue I’m interested in so have to start somewhere.
The week after I’ll be running my 2nd attempt at the 50 mile distance.
Am having a fun summer. :slightly_smiling_face:

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I’ve been pretty unmotivated with the end of track season, a few events I had to cancel due to logistics/illness, and the onset of the winter weather…ended up with a crappy month of training when I should have been laying down some volume in prep for some road races coming up. At least I’m feeling pretty recovered heading into the start of a marathon block next week, which might not be a bad thing given I haven’t had a break from racing/hard sessions for ages. I’ll write it off as a bit of a reset once I actually get back into the groove.

Also won a free entry to a backyard ultra in…2 days. Going to do it for a bit of a laugh since I could use something fun/low stress. Won’t be pushing it too far since I don’t want to spend ages recovering, walk/jog/party pack type thing. Also dropped a HM off the schedule in a few weeks, but I have some friends going down so I’ve applied as a pacer, which should make for a decent training session and hopefully a bit of motivation. :slight_smile:

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Oddly, I’m trending the other way. This year I decided to run the New York Marathon at least once, so right now I’m starting to focus more on running after a winter spent on the bike trainer.

Including one interval workout, what’s the recommended weekly volume and long run that slow runners should target reaching pre-taper?

Goal is simply to finish (even in last place) without being miserable or running big risk of injury. I’m 52, and about 80 lbs overweight, so I need to be very intentional about this to avoid injury and gradually lose some weight along the way.

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Yep i’ve pivotted back to bike :slight_smile:

Thinking of giving a duathlon a shot in a few months and then another crack at a marathon in October?

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I too went the opposite way. Spent the winter on the trainer/ bike prepping for Sea Otter and now I slowly building up weekly mileage for a marathon effort in the fall.

The first two weeks of building volume HURT! 3 weeks in, I am starting to feel like I am not really doing enough intensity so peppering in some group rides along with my 12 weeks of Running volume.

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