The Running Thread - 2019

[Sanchez]

Since it appears @LSUlakes is not making an appearance this morning, I'll cover for him and throw out another question. Here's today's QOTD: what training plan do you use for your "A" race and why? Do you grab one online from Higdon or Galloway? Are you part of the @DopeyBadger crew? Do you have coach? Do you just wing it?

I have a base plan for general fitness that meets my work schedule. The base plan is intended to keep me generally fit for races up to 10k and Olympic triathlons. For an A race, I should then be able to adjust to improve for the specific event. For example, if the event is a half marathon I will reduce the cycling miles and increase the distance miles. For a 5k I will add in sprints and mile repeats.

Following the WDW Half on Saturday I am now transitioning into a triathlon for early March. I have been swimming and cycling but will increase those efforts while reducing overall running mileage. I work a lot of hours and have to plan with some precision.

General perfect world base plan (which never quite works out due to schedule, weather, exhaustion and general laziness):

Monday: Masters Swim
Tuesday: Tempo 10k run/lift
Wednesday: Easy 7-8 run/lift
Thursday: Masters Swim (a.m.)/Mile repeats or track sprints (p.m.)
Friday: Spin class + core workout (row/stairs/core lift)
Saturday: Swim/Long cycle
Sunday: Stationary bike/Long run

 

[Bree]

ATTQOTD: Today marks one year of using plans created by @DopeyBadger. I like the variety of workouts from week to week and that they are tailored to me and my abilities. Prior to that I used Higdon or Galloway.

 

[broadsheet]

ATTQOTD: I am using a Galloway plan for my half in March. So far, so good but ask me how I feel after the race I like that the weekday commitments are minimal because between kids/work, I have a hard time getting much more than 3 miles in on the weekdays. Weekends are much more flexible for me.

I have never done a full but will most likely stick with galloway!

 

[Jules76126]

ATTQOTD: So I was previously just winging it. I would just run however far I felt like that day, some times changing the distance mid run. This worked fine for awhile, but now I have actually goals besides just you know run so I need to actually get a plan.

 

[gjramsey]

ATTQOTD: For the last couple of Marathons, I followed the Hanson plan, which I think, worked really well for me.

For the current cycle, I searched through @DopeyBadger thread for his plan for the (I think) Daniels 10k training he did a couple of years ago, and modified it to my needs. This weekend will be the test to see how well it worked for me and my half.....

 

[rteetz]

Here's today's QOTD: what training plan do you use for your "A" race and why? Do you grab one online from Higdon or Galloway? Are you part of the @DopeyBadger crew? Do you have coach? Do you just wing it?

I modify a Higdon plan so it works with my schedule.

 

[Dis5150]

ATTQOTD: I am part of the @DopeyBadger crowd.

 

[camaker]

For the last few “A” races I’ve been one of the @DopeyBadger crew. His plans have served me very well. When I’m between races or bridging between closely spaced races I wing it with a combination of his approach and Higdon’s.

 

[huggybuff]

ATTQOTD: I have used Couch to 5k, 5k to 10k to reach 5k and 10k distances/races. Then I stuck with Active.com's HM plan for Tinkerbell 2014. Eventually in 2017 I got a DopeyBadger HM plan that was going very well until I stopped using it. We're going to bust that out again here in a month or so to train for our May HM.

 

[MissLiss279]

ATTQOTD: I’ve been using @DopeyBadger plans for the last year, and I was able to set 7 PRs with those plans (5k, 10k, Half, and Full as part of Dopey, 2 more Halves and 1 more full). Not sure how much faster I can get, but I’m hoping this latest plan can get me to an under 4 marathon.

 

[surfde22]

QOTD: what training plan do you use for your "A" race and why? Do you grab one online from Higdon or Galloway? Are you part of the @DopeyBadger crew? Do you have coach? Do you just wing it?

I have used a variety of training plans from Nike Running App to Higdon to Hansons. I even had @DopeyBadger make me a plan at one point, put illness an injury got in the way of me completing that plan.

 

[KSellers88]

ATTQOTD: I am a @DopeyBadger groupie as well. I've gotten through my first marathon, an 8 minute half PR and a 20 minute marathon PR so something is clearly working.

 

[tidefan]

ATTQOTD: I used a Higdon for this past week’s marathon, but I had 13 great weeks followed by 4-5 injury riddled weeks, so I may switch to a @DopeyBadger plan next time!

@LSUlakes :

01/13 - tidefan - WDW Marathon (Don’t die-Finish/ 6:25:14)

Here is my next one:

03/30 - tidefan - Tuscaloosa Half Marathon (2:20:00/NA)

Would love to have some company if anyone is around the area. It’s a great, flat-ish course if you need a POT!

 

[OldSlowGoofyGuy]

ATTQOTD: I used a @DopeyBadger plan successfully for my December 2017 marathon. I liked it so much I replayed it for 2018 without an 'A' race in mind. Previously I've used FIRST (big bust) and Hanson (moderate success).

I'm currently winging it, but following the principles of the DB plan.

 

[jmasgat]

We got to see a lot of drama in the Dunkin Donuts! Well ok it was not that much drama. But the Dunkin Donuts was pretty crowded after the start with family members and... bus drivers. Since the non-VIP parking for the race was across the street in an office park and it was a 4 lane road to cross, people had to be bussed from the office park across the road. Well, as we were getting our coffee, probably like 7 or 8 minutes before the leaders would be coming back, John Mortimer, the head of Millenium (local race organizing company and running store) comes running in yelling "WHERE ARE THE BUS DRIVERS!??" Well, they were all in DD either in line to use the bathroom or standing/sitting there drinking coffee and eating donuts. He was super frantic because they'd all parked their buses literally right in the middle of the final stretch of the course. For the couple of others that ran in, they were parked all along that road next to the urgent care where you are coming down hill to the final left turn to the finishing area, blocking all but a thin strip of the road. None of them seemed to be in much of a hurry to get out of the bathroom line or finish eating up their donuts when he was super frantic trying to get them to move the buses before the runners came back! My running buddy and I headed back over to the finish area just as the lead male made that corner... the buses had probably only been moved about a minute or two by then. Close call, since there were about to be > 1700 people coming through there!

Just to add to the “race drama” theme.....Volunteered at 2016 WDW Marathon and one of the buses carrying a marching band got stick in the median at the marathon start—sticking out onto the course. That was exciting! Fortunately they got it off before the race began.



As for the QOTD, currently using a BAA plan for Boston Marathon. I have used First (worked well for me) and Hanson’s (for Dopey)

 

[hauntedcity]

QOTD: what training plan do you use for your "A" race and why? Do you grab one online from Higdon or Galloway? Are you part of the @DopeyBadger crew? Do you have coach? Do you just wing it?

ATTQOTD: I've always used Galloways plans, and they're still working well for me. My biggest problem is finding weekday running time, so the relatively light Tue/Thurs schedule with longer weekend runs really hits the sweet spot.

 

[avondale]

Since it appears @LSUlakes is not making an appearance this morning, I'll cover for him and throw out another question. Here's today's QOTD: what training plan do you use for your "A" race and why? Do you grab one online from Higdon or Galloway? Are you part of the @DopeyBadger crew? Do you have coach? Do you just wing it?

I am part of the @DopeyBadger crew. I tried using some other plans, like 80/20, for awhile, but I just don't think I applied them appropriately to my level, i.e., really doing an EASY pace. Also, he is so wonderful about adapting plans to the number of days I have to run and time available.

 

[GollyGadget]

QOTD: what training plan do you use for your "A" race and why? Do you grab one online from Higdon or Galloway? Are you part of the @DopeyBadger crew? Do you have coach? Do you just wing it?

I started out by using Hal Higdon for half marathon training. Since then I've used Nike+, Adidas miCoach, Hanson Marathon and @DopeyBadger . For first timers, I still recommend Higdon because I find them easy to follow and he has several different levels you can work your way through.
Hanson is what convinced me to do another marathon. I'm good at running multiple days per week but dedicating one day to run 3.5 hours is too much. I'm repeating Hanson again for my upcoming April marathon so we'll see how that goes. I didn't really do the plan justice last time around and missed more runs than I should have. Still finished and happy with my time but I want to see what's possible. Depending how that race/training goes, I'll set my next goal. I'm tentatively looking at running Lakefront in Milwaukee but I still haven't figured out if I like running marathons in the real world (as opposed to WDW).

 

[FFigawi]

Answer to how I'm feeling today: my legs were more tired I think from going commando in the parks on my race day than from the actual run. Sitting in epcot a ton the following day was really nice. My feet did not like all the slopey roads on the back half of the half. The inclines were way manageable, but I didn't like the tilt of the road.

For those WDW ramps, the flattest place to run is often the white stripe along the outside of the curve.

@FFigawi one of my potential goals is a century ride. i have done metric century but have not moved up to full century.

Great goal! I highly recommend doing your century as part of a group ride or event. Having people around you to ride with makes the miles pass more quickly, not to mention the fact that large group events also have aid stations every 15-20 miles.

 

[Miranda]

ATTQOTD: I have run 10 HMs... I used Galloway's runDisney plans for my 2 runDisney races in 2015 (and ran a 3rd as a long run during the W&D plan), I used a modified Higdon in spring 2016 for 3 within a 90 day period for Half Fanatics, I used the same modified Higdon in fall 2016 for 2 more, I used my running group's plan in fall 2017 for 1, and then I used a DopeyBadger plan in spring 2018 for 1.

While I ran my PR at my W&D make-up race in fall 2015 (since W&D got cut short that year, I ran a local race as a make up a week later), I felt my best running and training on the DopeyBadger plan last spring. I have no doubt that I would have PR'd if I hadn't been like 30 lbs heavier. I may have even still PR'd (probably not, but it would have been a lot closer) if it hadn't been so darn hot and humid that day. I will probably be dusting it off when it comes time to start training for Wineglass this year.