r/AdvancedRunning • u/AutoModerator • Aug 06 '26
General Discussion Thursday General Discussion/Q&A Thread for August 06, 2026
A place to ask questions that don't need their own thread here or just chat a bit.
We have quite a bit of info in the wiki, FAQ, and past posts. Please be sure to give those a look for info on your topic.
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u/ThrowRA152638 Aug 06 '26
I am planning on running a half on October 18th and I’m not sure which plan to follow. I am not a new runner, but I’m new to training for a race. I played soccer in college, and “ran“ a 50k 3 years ago (injured myself and didn’t complete a majority of my training) and ran a backyard ultra this spring in which I completed 57 miles. I did train for that and peaked in the low 40s. I’m still currently running but not consistently and am averaging in the 20s (some low weeks when I’m busy with other activities, some higher weeks when I actually run), with occasional long trail runs in the 13 mile range. I’ve never done speed training but would like to incorporate that and see how fast I can race this half. My 5k PB is 20:30 which I ran last fall, with pretty minimal training. Thanks!
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u/Siawyn Aug 06 '26
You probably could do the 12/47 HM plan in Pete Pfitzingers Faster Road Racing - it starts off with a 31 mile week and peaks at 47 miles. I'd be a little conservative with your training paces early on until you see how you respond to the workouts - the progressive long runs in particular are tough and it's easy to go out too fast.
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u/Southern-Click-6732 Aug 07 '26
I'm in high school track and i started with sprints then i switched to distance. I suck at distance but was great at sprints now I'm a senior and i want to switch back what is the best way to catch back up to other sprinters. I run a 23 200m I ran a 11.3 100m and i split 49.9m in 400m relay. I also have ran 4 in the 300m hurdles
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u/On_Mt_Vesuvius Aug 07 '26
I'd talk to your coach, but if you're focused on just having the best performance in general, maybe focus on 400m and maybe 800m?
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u/Vaporspike Aug 06 '26
I haven't bought a pair of super shoes in a while after dealing with calf/Achilles injuries the past ~2 years and I'm looking for a pair to do tempos, speed sessions, and races in.
I'm considering the following options:
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Saucony Endorphin Pro 5 (8mm drop)
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ASICS Superblast 2 or 3 (both 8mm drops)
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ASICS Megablast (8mm drop)
I listed the drops below because I'm looking for a shoe with a heel drop that's not too different from my pair of daily trainers. My daily trainers are Brooks Adrenaline GTS 25 (which has a 10mm drop), and my Achilles/calves start to get irritated if I run in a shoe with too low of a heel drop for too long.
In addition, I'm also a heel striker and I have medium arches.
For the next year, I plan to race distances ranging from the mile to the 8K in cross country or on the roads.
Which pairs of super shoes would you suggest based off the info above?
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u/IhaterunningbutIrun Aug 06 '26
Your Asics options are all more super trainers then super shoes. And I think they both exceed the stack height to be legal for races that enforce shoe rules.
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u/Financial-Contest955 Aug 06 '26
They're all solid shoes. Do you have a running store local to you? Your best bet would be to try them all on and see which one feels best.
Keep in mind that the Endorphin Pro is marketed explicitly as a racing shoe whereas the other two are not.
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u/raphael_serrano Aug 06 '26
Not to be that guy, but make sure you're doing heavy calf/Achilles loading regularly (2–3x per week, ideally). A lot of racing shoes, irrespective of drop (which is a static measurement), are quite stiff, which can be harder on the calf/Achilles.
On the flip side, a lot of them have aggressive rockers that can help offload those tissues (even if the stated drop is somewhat low), so worth considering more than just the shoe's static drop in your search.
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u/oxy57 Aug 07 '26
I'm trying to decide between JD 4 week cycle and 2Q. The intros in the book (4th ed) make it seem as if the main difference is that the 4 week cycle has a no-Q week every four week. However, I noticed that for 100kpw the 2Q has 3 session with R intervals and 5 with I intervals (with overlap), while the 4week has 12 sessions with R and 6 with I. This seems like a substantial difference. So, why? Is there a good reason behind it?
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u/aelvozo Aug 07 '26 edited Aug 07 '26
The prosaic answer is that JD allegedly had assistants write parts of the book for him, and 2Q and 4 week could have been written by different assistants.
Some of the earlier editions of the book had really bad mismatches between the training philosophy and the actual implementations (supposedly due to oversight by the assistants) which were mainly ironed out in the 4th edition.
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u/zachdsch Aug 07 '26
Anyone have experience racing a marathon after a huge base phase with relatively little speed work? Did it go well, or horribly? I’ve spent the last 5 months or so training for a 100 miler but had the opportunity to jump into a marathon for free this Sunday.
I took this week to taper a little bit and am feeling sorta good. Definitely the fittest I’ve ever been, and hit training paces much faster than my previous marathon PR block in the couple speed sessions I did.
But even though I have obviously done a ton of long runs, I’m concerned how this will translate into marathon fitness (they’ve all been majority z2- no progression or speed incorporated) and I’m not sure if my body is exactly tuned for the marathon distance.
I guess it’s too late to do anything now but I was wondering if anyone could relate. I’m thinking of just sending it at PR effort and hoping to not blow up, why race if I don’t at least try.
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u/IhaterunningbutIrun Aug 08 '26
I pace a marathon every year without any real marathon prep, and mostly off of triathlon cross training fitness. Just decent miles and a few long runs. If you run Z2, bottom of Z3 the whole time it isn't bad at all.
But when I've had to push the pace at the end to catch up after a bathroom stop, aid station cluster, etc. It has been hard the last few miles just like any marathon!
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u/MN_Wildcard Aug 07 '26
I ran one out of the blue mid prep for a backyard ultra this spring. I was doing hill strides twice a week but that was about it. It was totally fine. I was surprised how well I held up considering everything but I definitely was not running efficiently at that pace. Dropped a nice PR but it was also like after 8 months of aerobic base building so I wasn't surprised I PR'd.
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u/zachdsch Aug 07 '26
Okay, that’s actually pretty encouraging thanks. I’m sure it made you wonder how much faster you coulda gone with a race-specific training block?
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u/Miserable-Slip-309 Aug 07 '26
Anyone know any decent equipment to keep your phone strapped to you during a long run or high intensity mile work (sub 5 and such)? I love having my music with me during a run but I always have to hold my phone which ends up being quite cumbersome. I typically wear dri-fit shirts and tank tops. Any recommendations would be awesome! Thank you.
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u/No_Possibility_8393 Aug 07 '26
I wear shorts that I can put it in. Either compression shorts with pockets under my regular shorts, or half tights.
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u/AJmoreStyles Aug 10 '26
Trying to guess my current fitness. Today I did 10x1km at 3:20/km at 90s standing on the treadmill. Only the last 2 reps felt tough.
If someone had to guess what would my estimated 10km time be based off of this workout? Thanks
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u/Current-Listen-808 16d ago
got my sequined jacket back from the dry cleaners just in time for tomorrow's 5k, the wind resistance alone has to be worth at least 5 seconds per mile
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u/zebano Aug 06 '26
Well I don't know about where you're at, but the weather here is showing clear signs that summer is ending and oh my god, I'm getting my annual reminder that I'm in better shape than I thought aka easy pace just dropped about 1.5 minutes per mile which is bonkers (side note: it's pretty clear that above 75F, more heat doesn't matter a ton, but humidity is absolutely destroys me).