I haven't posted an update for a while - over a week in fact so as one of the main reasons for this blog is to provide an ongoing log of my running, it's time to get it up to date.
I think one of the reasons why I have been posting less is that I enter my runs and workouts onto Strands.com every day so this blog has become less of a record than a means of keeping in touch with people and a bit of a diary.
There's a bit to tell so here goes ...
Tuesday 16 Feb - 5.6km warm up in 24.30 was probably a bit quick given the workout I was planning 10 × 50-55sec hill repeats with a jog recovery.
I’ve measured this hill on the street out the front of my house on Map My Run and the section I use for my reps is 260m.
49 and 50 secs for the first two but dropped to 52 for the third. At this stage, I was thinking that I was going to stuggle with 10 reps so decided to do 2 sets of 4. After the 4th rep, I walked across the road to home and had a swig of Gatorade. 52,52,53,49 for the last 4 reps.
I was considering do the other two reps after another drink but my legs went lactic with about 30-40 metres to go on the last rep so I didn’t think I would get any quality out of the last two.
Did a longer cooldown than last week.
I'm still pretty pleased with this workout. Last time my reps were between 52-57 secs this time 49-53 secs (3.08 -3.20/km pace) so a marked improvement.
I'm estimating a total of 12km for this workout.
Wednesday 17 Feb - very easy recovery run 8.6km in 49 mins with a average HR of 128.
Thursday 18 Feb - Clown had to go East for work so I was on my own for this tempo run. I was planning to change it up and do 4 x 2km with 2 min jog recoveries instead of 8km tempo but received a training program from Matt Downin from Strands for the weeks leading up to the Bridges. Matt's program had me sticking with the 8km tempo so I followed his advice.
Warm Up (4.1 km, 00:19:00, 4:38 min/km)
Tempo Run (2.0 km, 00:07:44, 3:52 min/km)
Tempo Run (2.0 km, 00:08:11, 4:05 min/km)
Tempo Run (2.0 km, 00:08:16, 4:08 min/km)
Tempo Run (2.0 km, 00:07:59, 3:59 min/km)
Cool Down (4.1 km, 00:22:00, 5:21 min/km)
This workout continued the progressive improvement on this as my time has come down from 34.05 on 7 January to 32.11 today. Today’s 32.11 for a tempo effort is actually 19 seconds faster than I raced the identical course on 31 December. Good conditions this morning with no wind, not too warm but a little humid.
Friday 19 Feb - Easy recovery run. 8.6km in 43.59. Since coming back from my injury I have been running these recovery runs really slowly ie around 5.45/km pace. My average HR has been under 130 every time.
I have been re-reading a bit about recovery runs and think that (even though they say there is no such thing as running too slowly) I have got a bit of room to move here without compromising my recovery at all.
So I have decided to keep my HR under 140 rather than 130 for these runs but still keep to the grass. Today was the first day I have done this – pace improved to 5.06/km – average HR 139 – total time about 5 mins quicker. Actually felt better afterwards – it was more of a shakeout than I have been used to.
Saturday 20 Feb - Bridges loop. 12.8km in 56 mins (4.22/km) – moderate effort. Ben had his scholarship exam this morning so I was up at 5.50am to squeeze this on before we headed off to school. No time for a long run but it suited Sandgroper to shift to Sunday as well.
Sunday - Saturday weekly mileage was 83km
Sunday 21 Feb - Made the usual early start on this one as flagged in my previous post. Ran with Sandgroper, another Simon and Carle (although Carle had a pit stop and then lost us). Pace was bit all over the place. Carle went out fairly quick and then we picked up Simon at Burswood. Starting and finishing there gave him 18km. We hammered along for a bit. I reckon we were getting along at around 4.05/km pace for a fair while on the way back and as a result I felt it a bit over the last 4km. I'm pretty happy with the overall pace and effort, it's certainly the quickest long run I have done for a while. We got in a couple of decent hills through the back of Ascot Waters/Rivervale. All up 26km in 1:53 (4.20/km pace).
Monday 22 Feb - Easy run to Mends Street and return. I was surprised how low my HR was compared to effort and after a hard run yesterday. I was probably due for a rest today but didn't have time for a ride so went for a short easy 6.6km run instead - and maintained my 100% training record for the year. I have run or ridden every day so far this year (53 days).
Tuesday 23 Feb - Following the Matt Downin plan - this workout was 20 minute warm up then 10 × 1 min hard; 3 mins easy. The 3 mins easy was enough time (more than enough time it seemed for the first 3-4 reps) to get pretty much a full recovery and hit the 1 mins really hard. The pace of my recovery jogs got progressively slower. Legs never went lactic but got into some oxygen debt towards the end of the last couple. After the 10th, I had to stop and walk for a minute before starting running again.
I feel like I hit each 1 min at 100% effort which meant they were fast which was the aim of the session.
Some sessions you feel like they are just maintenance sessions, others you feel like you are making progress. This felt like a progress session to me. All up 14.8km in 1:08 (4.35/km).
Wednesday 24 Feb - 8.6km in 46:24. Average HR 136. It was pretty humid this morning which possibly accounts for the slightly slower pace. It was also possibly an effect the previous day's speed workout.
Thursday 25 Feb (today) - The Matt Downin program had me bumped up the usual 8km (5 mile) tempo effort up to 6 miles/9.6 km.
Clown was struggling a bit with pace and a sore foot at 4km so slowed to an easy pace as I continued on. Was able to negative split including 7:50 for the last 2 km. Overall pace was 4 min/km so slightly quicker than last week even though this week was a mile longer. My time for the usual 8km that we run was 32.13 + 6.20 mile in the middle.
Pleased with the progression and the effort/pace. Again, this was another workout where I felt like I'm getting ahead of where I was a couple of weeks ago. I'm not finishing workouts thinking "I'm so unfit" anymore!!
Warm Up (4.1 km, 00:20:00, 4:52 min/km)
Tempo Run (2.0 km, 00:08:06, 4:03 min/km)
Tempo Run (2.0 km, 00:08:15, 4:07 min/km)
Tempo Run (1.0 mi, 00:06:20, 6:20 min/mi)
Tempo Run (2.0 km, 00:07:59, 3:59 min/km)
Tempo Run (2.0 km, 00:07:50, 3:55 min/km)
Cool Down (4.1 km, 00:20:00, 4:52 min/km)
-------------------
Another hot few days on the horizon. Sandgroper and I are in the process of sorting our Saturday long run. Looks like it may involve both an early start and the beach. 73kms so far this week so looks like I will crack the ton by the end of Saturday's run.
No comments:
Post a Comment