The Running Thread - 2016

[opusone]

QOTD: So it's that time of year, when we are starting our "official" training for our big race of the season. Some of y'all may already be in full training mode for a fall race and could provide even better answers. For those of us with a late December / early January race we are somewhere around 18-20 weeks to go. Which training plan are you going to follow for this training cycle? How do you feel about your base miles leading up to the training program?

I don't have a late Dec/early Jan race, but I've been using the Hansons Advanced Half Marathon Program for my half marathon in October. However, after my hip bursitis injury over a month ago, I have been working with my coach to get back on track. Unfortunately, that means I have only done easy pace runs for the past month. No speed, strength, or tempo runs. Therefore, the October half will likely not be a PR try. My next planned half marathon race is the Star Wars Dark Side in April, so I will plan on a PR try there using the same Hansons plan.

 

[camaker]

For those who had a race last weekend that haven't already responded, how did the race go? TIA

I had the Dumbo Double Dare last weekend. The day before I left for the race, my left Achilles flared up on me and I was left scrambling for a solution. I was able to find an OS1st compression sock that claimed some Achilles support the night before my flight and wore that in the parks on Thursday and Friday (and for the races) along with lots of anti-inflammatories, ice and stretching. Fortunately that seemed to do the trick, as it really didn't bother me during the races.

As for the races themselves, this was my first trip to DL and it is definitely nice to be able to "sleep in" til 4:00 and then walk to the corrals for the start (I was just off-site on Harbor). Both mornings were cool, overcast mid-60s at start and were a very refreshing change from training in 95-105 degree heat indexes here in NC over the summer! The 10k started with a little off-site jaunt followed by a trip through DCA, then DLP with the obligatory run through the castle, and finished through DTD. Felt great after the run and it really helped restore confidence in my Achilles for the half the next day.

The DLH started bright and early Sunday morning with the park sections of the course front-loaded. We wound through DLP and DCA in a circuitous and scenic path (seems like we actually hit both parks twice) before heading out onto the streets of Anaheim. The streets were, well, streets. They were wide, at least. Of particular note were the mile of classic cars with the DeLorean and KITT (showing my age) being particularly noteworthy. The section of the race that I was in was blessedly uncrowded, so I was able to just set the legs to autopilot and cruise along. This was definitely the least crowded of all the Disney races I have run. Still, energy and motivation always seem to flag around miles 9-10, so when Angels Stadium appeared it was a refreshing change. Running through the stadium was one of the most energizing things I've ever done as part of a race. From the cheering crowd to seeing yourself up on the JumboTron, it was huge boost going into the home stretch of the race. From there it was a matter of closing the loop back to the finish line for another great Disney race in the books.

I ran these races as training races for my upcoming marathon rather than all out efforts. My 10k pace was pretty close to on target for what I wanted, but the half ended up being run at a bit faster pace than planned. Given the Achilles and the race the day before, when I settled into a comfortable sustainable pace right around 10:00/mile I decided to stick with it rather than try to force something slower. So the Dumbo Double Dare was completed in:

10k - 1:04:16 (10:21/mile)
Half - 2:09:42 (9:54/mile)

 

[roxymama]

QOTD: So its that time of year, when we are starting our "official" training for our big race of the season. Some of yall may already be in full training mode for a fall race and could provide even better answers. For those of us with a late December / early January race we are somewhere around 18-20 weeks to go. Which training plan are you going to follow for this training cycle? How do you feel about your base miles leading up to the training program?

ATTQOTD: I'm several weeks into my training plan for my Hot Chololate 15k at the end of October. Currently on a dopeybadger plan with varying workouts at different paces throughout the week, easy runs, tempo runs, long endurance runs. We've been doing blind runs based on perception of effort with my watch covered and last week we decided to quicken all my paces to match my current fitness (I should have sand-bagged those dang blind runs!, haha) The weather is getting hotter and hotter right when my miles are getting longer. It sucks now but I'm hoping eventually we will get real Fall and then my final weeks and the race won't feel difficult. I still have all kinds of doubt that I can race a 15k...but I guess no need to worry about that yet...just keep training, just keep training.

 

[Anisum]

Thanks everyone for the answers. I'm looking forward to trying out the Bloks this week. I got Black Cherry because it's what the running store had but I will definitely look into Mountain Berry, Margarita, and any other suggestions you guys have. I normally stick with sports beans and the rare gel so I'm excited to try something different.

QOTD: So its that time of year, when we are starting our "official" training for our big race of the season. Some of yall may already be in full training mode for a fall race and could provide even better answers. For those of us with a late December / early January race we are somewhere around 18-20 weeks to go. Which training plan are you going to follow for this training cycle? How do you feel about your base miles leading up to the training program?

I started a month + a few days ago in order to prep for Wineglass 1/2 the first weekend of October. I knew it was on the later end to start but I was a baby about the heat and confident in my ability to ramp up. I chose a variation on the HalfMarathons.net 9 Week Plan that varies in that I sometimes switched my off days depending on other commitments. It's been going well but I don't think I'll head higher than 11 miles in training (I usually don't) given that I have small races on weekends leading up to the half. I will say I have a race almost every weekend through October (though I haven't officially signed up for some of them so I didn't get them added to the list) so it will be a busy time.

I'm excited to see what people are using to train for Dopey because I'm hoping to do it in 2018 and my initial thoughts were Hanson for the tired legs but I'm definitely open to anything.

I don't like to eat the same thing all the time during a race. Well, except for salted potatoes. I can eat those all day long.

I too am a fan of salted potatoes but I don't have any place to store them on a run making them difficult to fuel with.

 

[Chaitali]

I just started training for my Fall goal race last week! I'm using a modified Hal Higdon plan. The race is a half marathon in Baltimore the first weekend of December, but I'll also be running RnR Vegas as part of the training.

I use the shot blocks and I like the margarita flavor too. I think the extra salt helps. I take the first one around 45 minutes into a run, and then take 1 every 20 minutes. So that works out to one serving (3 blocks) per hour.

 

[cburnett11]

QOTD: So its that time of year, when we are starting our "official" training for our big race of the season. Some of yall may already be in full training mode for a fall race and could provide even better answers. For those of us with a late December / early January race we are somewhere around 18-20 weeks to go. Which training plan are you going to follow for this training cycle? How do you feel about your base miles leading up to the training program?

I'm basically doing Hansons advanced marathon plan for my October 9 Chicago Marathon... so I've been running quite a bit more I ever have. It will be my 2nd marathon, but my first marathon with a "real" plan. For my first marathon (Jan-16 WDW), I had a plan that I put together BUT with some serious self-imposed constraints - no speedwork of any kind, 4 days per week (3 weekdays and 1 weekend), all runs at 6 miles except for "the long run" each week (so no variety). So I finished Marathon #1, but it got tough earlier than I had hoped. I feel much more prepared this go around. I'm peaking at around 62 miles/week and am pretty much right in the middle of that.

Before I started the Hansons, I had been running enough to reasonably adjust to the committment. I was running solo about 4 days per week, but I was also helping my wife train with a c25k program on my off days, so I was doing some amount of running 7 days/week for about 2-3 weeks leading up to the start of Hanson. So I think that really helped my mindset of handling the increased load vs. what I had done before for Marathon #1 and prior half marathons.

I'll decide after Chicago how much I'm willing to endorse Hansons, but so far it has been good. It's a whole lot of work, but I'm sure most of the popular plans are equally challenging. I've certainly gotten used to running fatigued. The variety of workouts were intimidating at the start, but I've learned to enjoy/embrace the variety because it keeps the weekly schedule fresh. Plus there isn't any 1 particular workout that you can point to and "dread". I used to do that with long runs (in prior training). With Hansons there are some hard days and there are some easy days, but it's spread around enough (and you slowly step up the challenges) that you just grow accustomed to the effort required. Again, I'm sure this variety isn't unique to Hansons.

I will be using Hansons Advanced for my Dopey training. I am feeling good about where my base is and think I should be able to jump in with no issues. The only slight change I'm making is there was a half marathon that came up that piqued my interest. I was scheduled for 14 miles that day, but may just do the 13.1. Either way the half will be at long run pace.

You are a better person than me if you can toe the line at a half marathon and be disciplined enough to keep to your long run pace.

 

[*DisneyDreamer]

I've got a 10K coming up on Saturday and after a hot and humid week, it sounds like it's supposed to break by the weekend. But now they're talking about rain on Saturday morning. I'm really hoping for good conditions for the race, because I've started thinking that I'd like to try to go for a PR.

 

[CherieFran]

Does anybody have advice on getting rid of side-cramps while running? I have never experienced this before (although only started running in May) but the last few times I have been out for a run I have noticed my side cramping up. Today it was so bad I had to stop and walk a few minutes - then when I started running again it came back - ugh! A quick google search indicates that this is likely due to fluids intake before a run (which I didn't do) or breathing issues. I don't think I have changed my breathing patterns recently, although my pace has increased a bit so perhaps I am breathing differently as a result? I tried to focus on breathing after my walk break during today's run but it didn't seem to help. Any suggestions from the experienced runners here? It is making me a bit nervous for my next 10k in a couple of weeks!

I have read the recommendation to exhale deeply on the side with the cramp at the same time that foot strikes the ground (so if you have a cramp on the left, exhale when your left foot strikes the ground). I don't get side stitches very often, but when I do that seems to help.

QOTD: So its that time of year, when we are starting our "official" training for our big race of the season. Some of yall may already be in full training mode for a fall race and could provide even better answers. For those of us with a late December / early January race we are somewhere around 18-20 weeks to go. Which training plan are you going to follow for this training cycle? How do you feel about your base miles leading up to the training program?

I'm actually at the tail end of my training cycle as my goal race for the fall is in 1.5 weeks! I've been following Hal Higdon's intermediate half marathon plan. It's the first time I've really faithfully followed a plan (rather than just sort of make something up on my own) and I've really liked it (although the true test will be race day). Before the plan started, I repeated Weeks 1 and 2 of the plan over a couple of times to solidify my base.

Once I'm through this half, I'm going to modify elements of the plan to recover and stay in shape until the Wine & Dine weekend. The goal will shift from speed + endurance to just endurance.

 

[JohnRPG]

New poster to the thread/new runner here. I'm signed up for LS & DS halfs in January and April. I've been following the thread for a few weeks. I started running this past May with C25K. I've done two 5Ks and a 10K (POT) since then. I'll probably do another 5K and 10K before the LS half in January.

QOTD: So its that time of year, when we are starting our "official" training for our big race of the season. Some of yall may already be in full training mode for a fall race and could provide even better answers. For those of us with a late December / early January race we are somewhere around 18-20 weeks to go. Which training plan are you going to follow for this training cycle? How do you feel about your base miles leading up to the training program?

ATTQOTD: I'm not completely decided on this just yet. I think I've started to build up a decent base, with weekly miles in the high teens and cross-training on rest days. I'm leaning toward one of the Higdon plans, but haven't quite decided on which one. I'm thinking it'll be either the Intermediate 2 or the Novice 2. My only real goal is to finish without injury, which has me leaning toward the Novice 2. However, a friend who knows what he's doing better than I has suggested that based on my times and progress over the past few months the Intermediate 2 might be a better plan.

Either option doesn't start until 10/24, so I figure I'll try to gauge it based upon where by weekly miles are at a little closer to that itme.

 

[gjramsey]

ATTQOTD: I am going to use Hanson's advanced as well. Next week is the official start of the 18 week countdown, but I have been building my base for the last 6 weeks, as well as increasing my speed intervals and tempo distance.

For the previous marathons I have used a plan built by one of the running club coaches. It is a pretty solid plan for him, but I had a hard time with having some MP miles split up in the middle of a long run. A 18 mile long run could be 2 miles conversation pace, 6 mile MP, 2 miles conv, 6 miles MP and 2 miles conv.

So far I am liking the way the Hanson plan breakout of the long runs on the weekends. We will see what I say 18 weeks from now.

 

[DopeyBadger]

New poster to the thread/new runner here. I'm signed up for LS & DS halfs in January and April. I've been following the thread for a few weeks. I started running this past May with C25K. I've done two 5Ks and a 10K (POT) since then. I'll probably do another 5K and 10K before the LS half in January.


ATTQOTD: I'm not completely decided on this just yet. I think I've started to build up a decent base, with weekly miles in the high teens and cross-training on rest days. I'm leaning toward one of the Higdon plans, but haven't quite decided on which one. I'm thinking it'll be either the Intermediate 2 or the Novice 2. My only real goal is to finish without injury, which has me leaning toward the Novice 2. However, a friend who knows what he's doing better than I has suggested that based on my times and progress over the past few months the Intermediate 2 might be a better plan.

Either option doesn't start until 10/24, so I figure I'll try to gauge it based upon where by weekly miles are at a little closer to that itme.

 

[surfde22]

You are a better person than me if you can toe the line at a half marathon and be disciplined enough to keep to your long run pace.

Maybe I should be more specific and say my plan is to run it a long run pace. There's absolutely no guarantee that will actually happen. I will do what I can to hold myself back, but who know what will really happen.

 

[Dis5150]

ATTQOTD: I am following a modified Galloway Marathon plan (To Finish in the Upright Position)for the WDW Marathon in January. I modified it by running 3 miles on Tue, Wed, and Thur instead of just the 30 minute runs on Tue and Thur. Then I follow the long run scheduled on Saturdays. We are up to 11 miles in the long run right now. I am undecided on how high in mileage I will go. I still have a while to decide.

I am super bad about cross training but have recently started doing squats and planks to try and build up my core. I really should add in some exercises they say help prevent ITBS.

 

[sourire]

QOTD: So its that time of year, when we are starting our "official" training for our big race of the season. Some of yall may already be in full training mode for a fall race and could provide even better answers. For those of us with a late December / early January race we are somewhere around 18-20 weeks to go. Which training plan are you going to follow for this training cycle? How do you feel about your base miles leading up to the training program?

ATTQOTD: In a moment of excitement, I thought it a good idea to plan two half marathons within about a month of each other, with the next one coming up in mid-October. Going to stick with the Galloway plan and my intervals, as this has been working well for me. After that, I don't yet have anything on the schedule. I'm sure this will change! My nephew really wants to run "that turkey race thing" (5K) with me for Thanksgiving, so we'll probably sign up for that next. (He is 8 and has been eyeing up my medals on the wall during the last couple of sleepovers at Auntie's).

@LSUlakes can you update my Disneyland half finish time as 2:37:19? My quick recap: It felt really magical to run through CarsLand, Paradise Pier, Main Street, etc, with all the neon lights, twinkle lights, Mickey's Fun Wheel all lit up...I was bursting! The middle of the race was kind of meh for me - not that into the cars - but, I focused on my Bruce Springsteen playlist just like in training (my two loves: Mickey & Bruce), and it was nice to see so many of the locals out and cheering us on! It was my first DL race, and only 2nd time to DL, but we will definitely be back. The husband is not as into Disney as yours truly, but I noticed him spending quite a bit of time looking through those Avenger's medals at the Expo, so I am hoping to twist his arm into that for maybe next fall.

 

[camaker]

QOTD: So its that time of year, when we are starting our "official" training for our big race of the season. Some of yall may already be in full training mode for a fall race and could provide even better answers. For those of us with a late December / early January race we are somewhere around 18-20 weeks to go. Which training plan are you going to follow for this training cycle? How do you feel about your base miles leading up to the training program?

I am about halfway through a custom plan from @DopeyBadger for my marathon coming up in early November (City of Oaks). Up until a couple of weeks ago, I would've said the training plan was going fantastically. Then I had flare-ups in my knee (meniscus) and Achilles (tendinopathy) over the last two weeks that have prevented me from getting in a number of runs and travel around the DDD will prevent another run this week. I guess looking back on it after typing, I've only really missed 4 runs over the first 9-10 weeks of the plan (36-40 runs total), but coming all at once here it really feels like more and I'm questioning whether my legs with their history of sports injuries are really suited for the load of full marathon training. I should be able to get 3/4 runs in this week and hope to be back on schedule next week, so maybe things will be looking up at that point. Here's hoping!

 

[IamTrike]

I'm basically doing Hansons advanced marathon plan for my October 9 Chicago Marathon... so I've been running quite a bit more I ever have. It will be my 2nd marathon, but my first marathon with a "real" plan. For my first marathon (Jan-16 WDW), I had a plan that I put together BUT with some serious self-imposed constraints - no speedwork of any kind, 4 days per week (3 weekdays and 1 weekend), all runs at 6 miles except for "the long run" each week (so no variety). So I finished Marathon #1, but it got tough earlier than I had hoped. I feel much more prepared this go around. I'm peaking at around 62 miles/week and am pretty much right in the middle of that.

Before I started the Hansons, I had been running enough to reasonably adjust to the committment. I was running solo about 4 days per week, but I was also helping my wife train with a c25k program on my off days, so I was doing some amount of running 7 days/week for about 2-3 weeks leading up to the start of Hanson. So I think that really helped my mindset of handling the increased load vs. what I had done before for Marathon #1 and prior half marathons.

I'll decide after Chicago how much I'm willing to endorse Hansons, but so far it has been good. It's a whole lot of work, but I'm sure most of the popular plans are equally challenging. I've certainly gotten used to running fatigued. The variety of workouts were intimidating at the start, but I've learned to enjoy/embrace the variety because it keeps the weekly schedule fresh. Plus there isn't any 1 particular workout that you can point to and "dread". I used to do that with long runs (in prior training). With Hansons there are some hard days and there are some easy days, but it's spread around enough (and you slowly step up the challenges) that you just grow accustomed to the effort required. Again, I'm sure this variety isn't unique to Hansons.



You are a better person than me if you can toe the line at a half marathon and be disciplined enough to keep to your long run pace.

Any discussion of Hansons training plan really needs to start with this picture.


I used Hanson's advanced plan to train for Chicago last year. It is a lot of running and worked well for 2 of the guys in our group that used it. The third found himself a little undertrained after about mile 20, But he had missed 1 or 2 of the 16 mile runs. I think I would be sure to hit all the long runs and I might be tempted to do an 18 miler too. We all PR'd though

I've been running 6 days a week and averaging about 50 miles a week, but not using any specific training plan because I didn't have anything lined up. Since I got into peak to creak at the end of October I'm trying to transition to a Hanson ish plan. Ill use the Hanson workouts but don't have enough time to go through a full cycle.

 

[michigandergirl]

@Anisum Just an FYI - I believe the Black Cherry bloks have caffeine in them, and the Margarita flavor has extra sodium. You may have to test those out to see how you do with them. I prefer the strawberry flavor.

ATTQOTD: I'm training for my Oct 23 marathon. I am somewhat following a Higdon plan but honestly I've had to modify a lot lately. Life is really screwing with my training and my confidence is shaken. I'm really trying to buckle down this month and am considering a 2 week taper instead of 3, but I just feel like I'm floundering. Help!

I'm super jealous of everyone headed to WDW in January! After October my plan is to maintain base mileage through the winter, and work on speed & strength.

 

[FFigawi]

I too am a fan of salted potatoes but I don't have any place to store them on a run making them difficult to fuel with.

Ziploc bag, SPI belt. Done and dusted.

 

[ebradley23]

ATTQOTD: My marathon is November, so I'm in week 14 of my training plan. I'm just getting up to the high mileage weeks. In fact, I run 18 miles Friday morning before we fly down to WDW that afternoon. Yikes!

I follow the intermediate 5 day a week training plan created by Sportsbackers, because their training program is amazing. I figure their training plan got me through my first marathon last year, so why mess with trying another.

 

[PrincessV]

Started reading and quoting and lost track of time - I'll have to come back later for more catching up...

What do you do when you hit a wall? I went for what should have been a short (30 min) run today, but 5 minutes, I just couldn't do it. My legs felt like rocks, it was as if there were no reserves to draw from. I did make myself walk the full 30 min, jogging a minute here and there.

I think the bigger question is, "how does this feeling of dead, heavy legs factor into perception of effort?" I'd like to hear some input from the more experienced runners.

In my experience, dead legs mean I've worked them hard with strength training (a new movement/class/etc. is usually the culprit) and they need some recovery. I try a gentle, slow run and if I'm not feeling any better in 1/2 a mile or so, it's time to call it a day and rest. Usually, though, what they really needed was some movement and everything eases up after that first 1/2 mile.

QOTD: So its that time of year, when we are starting our "official" training for our big race of the season. Some of yall may already be in full training mode for a fall race and could provide even better answers. For those of us with a late December / early January race we are somewhere around 18-20 weeks to go. Which training plan are you going to follow for this training cycle? How do you feel about your base miles leading up to the training program?

ATTQOTD: Training for Dopey with a DIY plan that's a little Galloway, a little Higdon, a little McMillan, and a lot of experience with what works for me and what doesn't! It's basically a 2-week cycle with long runs and cut backs on weekends, 3 runs in week 1, 4 in week 2, back to back long runs increasing in distance, building up to a final 3/6/12/20 simulation 3 weeks out from race weekend. Yoga, Pilates, ballet and strength training on non-run days (1 of those per day, not all of them, lol!) and at least one rest day per week with the option of two as needed during the big mileage cycles. Base is fine: I've been running 8-10 miles as my long runs all summer so only now starting to build on that. More importantly, I'm finally starting to feel some cooler morning temps, which is making those long runs feel a whole lot better! Okay, "cooler" being 75*, but still - a Feels Like of 75 instead of 90 at sunrise?! Yahoooo!!!