Sub 35 here we come

[marco]

Well for some reason I thought this was going to be easier than the 2km intervals but ended up not hitting the times for a couple of them.

Although I think it was partly down to lost concentration and also maybe due to wind but dont want to use that as an excuse. I did the intervals on a track and was changing direction every second interval and while the wind was slightly stronger in one direction it wasn't that much stronger

Also should probably not rely on garmin pacing and know the splits I should be hitting on a track for each lap which would be more reliable.

Anyway here's the times I did:

1st: 3:33
2nd: 3:42
3rd: 3:31
4th: 3:35
5th: 3:34
6th: 3:38

Lessons learned and I guess it will take some time to get used to pacing myself through these intervals.

[TheEd]

stay positive, the wind is very much a negative impact when trying to run fast in training or races

look after yourself the training should start to feel easier by Friday as it gears down

enjoy

TheEd

[marco]

Yesterday I did the 5km paced run aiming for between 19 and 19:30

Time: 19:09 so averaged close to 3:50 mins/km

laps: 3:50, 3:49, 3:49, 3:54 and 3:47

Was hoping to keep the averages closer to 3:48 but didn't work out that way I did a 3.2 km out and the rest back in as it was on a measured course so might explain the slower 4th interval or that could have been just down to getting tired as I felt I really had to push the last km

I would have thought after running a 18:26 a couple of weeks ago running 19 to 19:30 would have felt easier but not for this session! I also chose a much flatter route for this than before. I also seemed

Anyway I know its probably due to a cumlative effect of the other sessions and wasn't as rested for this as would have been for the 5km race. Also I did this solo and didn't have anyone to push me on. Another thing ( excuse ) kind of just got up early and went and did the run without properly fueling myself which could also explain that as well.

All in all I'm happy with the result, while I didn't hit "my" target I hit the target of the session and had a good hard paced run.

I've just one question for my easy/slower runs just how fast should I be doing them? When I'm doing them I dont really watch my pace/HR and just go on feel and do whatever feels easy/comfortable but looking back at the runs that can be as slow as 5:30mins/km is that going a bit too slow?

[TheEd]

great to hear you coming out of the paced run in a positive way, do monitor your am pulse rate to see whether you not coming down with a bug just to be on cautious side

onwards

TheEd

[marco]

Thanks for the feedback I think it was more of a case I was just bit tired and didn't fuel myself properly. Actually could be a theme!

I only got about 5 hours sleep, very little breakfast and didn't get much to eat before the lunchtime session. Pretty busy at work and was just restless last night I put it down to just looking at a computer screen too late at night.

Anyway went ahead with the 10x400m found them quite tough really had to work hard and concentrate and was glad to see I was more or less spot at the end.

Times were as follows:

01:22.5
01:22.2
01:21.1
01:22.4
01:21.2
01:21.2
01:21.2
01:21.9
01:21.6
01:20.2

Another strange thing is my heart rate seems to be the same range for the 2km,1km and 400m intervals could that be right??

Maybe its been slightly higher for the 1km and 400m efforts but generally in the high 170's to low 180's

Well one thing is for sure it really brings home what work I need to do to eventually go sub 35 not that I was under any illusion it was going to be easy!

I dont know if you saw a question I had in my last mail about the pace I was doing for the slow/recovery runs and if it was too slow?

[TheEd]

marco for now the pace of the easy runs is not that important, after this cycle, then we can start looking at pulse and pace for the easy run

rule of thumb is normally 1 minute added to the current 10k pace for the easy runs up to 1hr, over 1 hr we can add a further 30 seconds per k on it

as we correlate more HR data we would know whether your easy run hovers around 140bpm

the programs are progressive, so all these aspects are taken into consideration

there is a 'down period' to the program followed by a build-up, once you go through this then many of your questions will be answered about your easy runs etc ..

all in good time

TheEd

[marco]

Ok thanks for answering that, as you say its early days yet!

[marco]

No race this weekend also I only did an easy 30 mins run without the fartlek intervals. My right calf is very tight at the moment and didn't want to make it worse.

I feel I can keep running just not any hard stuff so hoping it will be ready by the time I start the next round

[TheEd]

go back through your training to see more or less when the problems occurred, if it is after the 400m session then you know to avoid that session in the future

cheers

TheEd

[marco]

Hi theEd,

Well I think the pain started coming on just after the 1km intervals and slightly more after the 5km paced and even more so after the 400 so it was more of a general thing more than any one session. I'm going to get it rubbed out later this week to see if that helps but its not bothering me at the moment but thats probably due to the rest it got which I'll now explain.

Well the start to the 2nd round of the training plan has been a disaster with work and personal commitments I basically didn't get any of the sessions done up until to today. I've been basically burning the candle at both ends and the running suffered as a result

I was planning to do the 5 x2km sessions on Thursday but wussed out and ended up going home and sleeping for 12 hours! So maybe I needed the rest. Anyway I'm back on the wagon and did the long run today and felt good to be out again.Anyway enough of my laziness I'm ready to get back working!

So a question should I do the 5x2km instead of the 6x1km session on Tuesday or should I just leave it at the 1km interval session. Which session would you consider more important to get done seeing as how I missed it?

Marco