2014 Week #14 RUN THREAD
Wait....hold the phone....Week FOURTEEN??? Remember back when we were all wondering how we'd ever run/bike off all of those Christmas cookies? Back when riding for 2 minutes at FTP or running 3 miles AT ALL seemed like a challenge? Well, say hello to the new and improved you! Time to put yo' money where yo' mouth is and TEST! I'm pulling for all of us to have some awesome results. Go get some!
On a side note, I'm totally bummed that this is my last week to start a thread as your OS captain! I may not have been able to post a lot, but I read every single thing y'all wrote, and I know you're all going to have amazing seasons ahead of you. The commitment, tenacity, support, and general awesomeness that we all share as a team is inspiring and truly motivating! Y'all ROCK!
Now go RUN YOUR ASSES OFF! (or something less offensive...) 
Over and out,
Kori
Comments
Final Week! First, @Kori, thanks for taking on the run threads and keeping us focused throughout the JOS! Second, thanks to everyone who posted...really enjoyed getting to e-know you through the forum and the positive mojo and shared suffering really helped keep me going. Here's to a great race season...work works! Plan hack for this week;
Monday - 3 x 8 (4) bike wko
Tuesday - easy run
Wednesday - bike test - taking it outside, Spring has sprung in Texas...no more trainer rides for this guy!
Thursday - 10K run test
Then off to Cancun for 8 days
Today, last long run before the marathon: 12 miles in 1:43. I'm doing my long runs on Monday, as the race is on Monday, not Sunday. Although the hack called for 6 miles of HMP in the middle, I just did the run progressively - starting out with 2 warm up miles @ LRP (9:00) , then moving through my expected marathon pace range (8:50 >> 8:20), and finishing up with 2 miles @ HMP (7:30 > 25).
The day was the warmest yet this year, starting @ 57 going to 65 F in the sun. Hopefully, that'll be race day conditions. I've done 15 hours of training in the last week, and I'm still feeling strong, so I think the OS has done it's job; I'm ready for 12 weeks of an IM build, now, which will require 15+ hours every week.
I don't think my info ever made it into heads/tails but here are my results:
5K TT - Thomas Jones
01/08/14 - 29:08 5k - Vdot - 31.9
02/26/14 - 26:06 5k - Vdot - 36.4
04/08/14 - 24:10 5k - Vdot - 39.88
Body Comp
01/08/14 - 270 lbs
02/26/14 - 252 lbs
04/08/14 - 236 lbs
My goal was to run 7:45 and have a Vdot of 40, so just shy of my goal (started out 10' faster than planned on mile 1) but very happy with my overall resutls. Looking forward to the next chapter of run training.
Next Tues will be my first 10k TT - looking forward to it.
Best wishes everyone as you move toward your TTs on Sun.
Hi All,
It's good to see the work progressing. I'm over here in the GF plan and the work just keeps getting harder. I did want to say that while my JOS gave me minimal gains on the bike, I was pleasantly surprised to see what it did for my run. I started the JOS with a 21 minute 5K for a VDOT of 47. Over the course of this JOS I took 30 sec off my half marathon time (early March) squeaking into a 48. Then this past Sunday I ran a 10K race on a moderately rolling course and almost went sub-42 (42:03). It was a really windy day and I was totally deceived by the first half tailwind. I ran a 20:04 5K split and thought I was superman. Then I made my way around this little loop and headed back right into a stiff headwind. NOW I know why I was doing so well... Heh heh heh. It was a real battle to try to keep up the pace and I knew it wouldn't happen - but of course I tried anyway. ;-) I set a 10K PR by 50 seconds and now have a vDOT of 49.
I've never been at this level. Work has done some serious work on me. And I've been following that run plateau thread. I'm wondering when phase I will end for me. This is my 4th year of regularly getting PRs.
Mon - Swam 3500 yards + easy 5K JOG
Tue - Bike Test + 2 mi brick
Wed - Swim 2400 yards + 5 mile run
Thu - 10 mile run AM to take advantage of possibly our last cool morning; PM - easy bike
Fri - Swim 2000 yards including swim test + short run
Sat - Trail 10K. No PR on this route but I will push it past Z4.
Sun - Half Iron Aqua Bike + maybe 4 miles. I got in for just $50 on a last minute low cost deal where you participate officially, but don't count. No chip, no T-shirt, no medal. Fine by me. It's like paying $50 for a catered training day with an actual open water swim course. Next day I shift to the HIM plan.
@Peter, congrats on the PR!
TM run today as it was nasty outside. Pushed the run to 90 minutes and got in 12.5 miles including 2 X 1 (.5) at Z4 with the remainder at Z1.
I don't want to hijack this thread so I started another one here: http://members.endurancenation.us/Forums/tabid/57/aft/15108/Default.aspx if you are interested in reading more or commenting.
1 7:59
2 7:54
3 8:10
4 8:03
5 7:48
6 7:19
(6.21) 6:43
7.2 9:07
8.2 8:05
8.20Miles 8:01AVE TOT Time: 1:05:43
HR 165 prety steady....with climb to 174s last mile 180max durring last kick. 165 was a good "top of Z4"
PR'd the 10 by a margin 48:32 by watch (41) ...but has a walking start noodling with headphones.....rounded up to even 48' = (42).... to use the 42 as new VDOT it would my score remain unchanged..... Sooo as this was a 10K run me thinks "no change=Improvement" ....still want to see what HM shows even if I drop to 38-39 A GRP of 9:30 (41-42) seems extreemly optomistic.... but doable by end of GP. (stand alone Marathon PR 4:30 on 1 week after a tough HIM)
Must say it did feel good scooting along at a respectable clip
Probably a good topic for a separate discussion....however I think it also worth mentioning here....
For those testing HM distance I've seen "add 30" to HM time quoted before and is similar to the VDOT calc predictions.....But that always seemed optimistic to me.
A great article here: http://www.hillrunner.com/jim2/id208html shows a good look at reality. Seems adding about 55 seconds is true for all but a small percent (where 20-40 sec works) or others who needed 90 sec or so. This was consistent for 8:00to 9:00/HM pace runners. Now.....one can imagine how much more may need to be added coming off 112mile bike.
Just foot for thought when getting exited about new VDOT scores......
Wed Night - ran 5 miles SLOWLY at 9:44 avg.
Thu AM - ran 10.55 miles at 8:49 avg. That's 5 laps on a dirt trail around a lake. Laps 2 and 4 where just under 8 mins and the other laps were slower.
@ Paul....wow...Its usually some kid saying I remind them why getting old sucks when I creak and groan...LOL.
Crushed the bike particularly the VO2...so -again I'm thinking If I did a 5K Id have at least a 2 point VOT bump....but that wouldn't be very accurate for IM Marathon training parameters....I'm happy at 42....and someday I'll get to the BQ M pace of a VDOT 46.....with HM time improvements and VDOT score HM 48 (if using the 55sec adjustment) Actually I'm ecstatic to se anything over 40 for longer than 10K!
now to stay injury free......
well, that SUCKED! I did not pr, nor did I have a well executed race, AND I have itv issues from my effort. BOOOOOO. Long story short, I had perfect weather to pr, but knew in maybe the first 5k it probably would not happen. Still, things were going ok till about 9, then the wheels came off. My ITB on the right was horrible and the left was grumpy. Instead of dropping the hammer in the last 5k, I dropped the pace and kept the high HR and had to stop a couple times to stretch. BOOOOOOOOOO. My sad little goal was to do sub 9 in mile 13. Oy. Bummed.
Now I'm off to shower, nap in the sun and pout. I give myself one day of pouting, then its back to work!
@Trish sorry to hear that
I have hade massive issues with ITB and Piriformis issues. Besides foam rolling ....which I am bad about doing when I DONT have problems (Very important) I've developed a routine for hip stabilizers that really seems to have helped.....again to be used as Pre-Hab not just when I have ITB and Butt pain. Another thing is looking at bike fit. I moved seat back 1cmand tipped nose down 1degree and that actually was a noticeable change for knees and ITB strain (opened hip angle some).
http://mpora.com/videos/AAdm9vncbjh5 is a variation on a stretch I have used with success when ITB flairs up also the stretches from "4-Hour body" have helped as well I particularly like the variation with placing knee on back of couch and I get better stretch with "pidgin on a table".... Hope you heal up quick!
Never have run a stand alone HM. Done lots of 13ml (2hr runs I would round up to get 13.1) training runs back in '12 as part of IMAZ training usually as a brick....or have done a few trail runs of 13.1miles....and of course 70.3 TRI race runs......lots of 2:04-2:10 range runs....never <2:00..... I'd like to PR.... guess Id better stretch and hydrate! ...and maybe try and get >5hr sleep
My 10K VDOT from earlier this week suggests a HM pace of 8:07 ...uh ...yeah...I don't think so.
I'll start conservative at ~9:00 (still a PR pace for that distance) pick up in middle ~8:30 and then Push (hang on if need be) last 5-6 miles....
This should be...interesting.....
My end of OS run test was today’s Race to Wrigley 5K. Of the 3,148 finishers, 19 were in my age group, 65-69. My results:
Official time: 25:18
Official Pace: 8:09
Official Rank: 1
Margin of Victory: 4:33
The next 4 competitors were within 2 minutes of each other.
To put this in context: My previous PB pace in a 5K was 9:18.
My vdot has gone from 32 to 37.7. (My age plus vdot is 106.)
Avg/Max HR: 167/181
CAD: 92
Work works!
Summary 1:50:36.2 13.10 8:27 ave
1 7:50.9 1.00 7:51
2 8:10.3 1.00 8:10
3 8:46.2 1.00 8:46
4 8:14.7 1.00 8:15
5 8:11.4 1.00 8:11
6 8:28.6 1.00 8:29
7 9:14.1 1.00 9:14
8 8:26.4 1.00 8:26
9 8:13.8 1.00 8:14
10 8:05.6 1.00 8:06
11 8:31.4 1.00 8:31
12 9:32.6 1.00 9:33
13 8:05.9 1.00 8:06
13.1 :44.4 0.10 7:26
So here's my quandary. I was VDOT 42 based on a 5K last time.....(likely 44 if tested now 5K)
This week ran a PR 10K (off bike) =VDOT 42
And now a HM PR which gives a VDOT 40....
drop to 40 for Z1-3 work but use 42 for Z4-5?
David, strong work … a powerful finish to your early season training. Didn't quite work out starting @ 9 min/mi, eh? I thought you were aiming a little low.
What VDOT to train with? I use the faster VDOT for training. Within that context, I view the slower paces as ranges. EG, my MP is 7:47, my LRP is 9:07; I train @ 8:40-9:10 for LRP, and 7:40-8:30 for MP. Then, racing long course tris, I stay at the slow end of the range of the range.
There's no such thing as a "likely" 5K time; only the one you actually achieve. So your VDOT for training is 42, and for racing is 40, IMO.
Great Job David!!! Wow! Great PR!
Trust what Al says...he laid out what he expected my race to be based on my training ( with a few variables) and was pretty much spot on. I think I would have hit his guesstimate for time if the ITB devil didn't rear its head. But he knew it would be tough and my quads would be sore today.
Yep, he was right!!! 
Thanks for the info and link to the stretch. Will put it in rotation for sure!
Sat - 10K trail run. Very technical single track root fest, I only averaged 9:07 per mile and found every stabilizer muscle I hadn't used in decades. Added 3 miles in warm up and cool down jogging.
Sun - for $50, I entered the official, unofficial division of a small HIM this morning. No chip for the cheap division so my times are approx. Wetsuit legal, I came out of the water in 12th in about 26 mins...definitely short although I felt like I was swimming very well. Bike was spot on...28 miles straight east into a 8-9 knot steady headwind, then turn around and sail home. I split the bike in 2:28 and moved up to third overall...did I mention this was a small local race ... same day as Florida 70.3 too. Followed my run plan which was for a transition run of just 4 miles (34 mins) and pulled the plug. I have a sprint race tri on Sat and didn't want high recovery cost.
Good luck to all in the upcoming season. Maybe we should start a thread for Grand Rapids participants.
Oh and I just noticed a neat Strava (premium) feature..... It calculates a GAP pace.....Grade Adjusted Pace witch adjusts for grade -equivalent effort speed if done on flat.....for this HM it was 7:48!
@Paul, sounds like you were crushing it! I know I couldn't have pulled the plug so far into a race knowing I was doing that well, even if I didn't have a time, and even if I had planned on a short run.