A new goal

[TheEd]

Rest is recovery and for each athlete it is different

in days of coaching athletes used to have their water bottle nearby and take a sip during each 'interval'

Rest 90 seconds for full benefit, if taking stress increase to 2 minutes

TheEd
ps.. where will you be doing the session?

[IamWill]

Hi TheEd,

That's great, because i don't like standing still during a training. I'll do 90s of walking.
I'll probably be running the 5x2 on concrete trails in a park. There is a track a couple of km away from my home, but I hardly ever use it.

First 2 days of easy running, my legs will appreciate that after Sunday's race.

Cheers,
Will

[TheEd]

if you able to find a track (400m tartan) that you can use for the session then all the better, as tartan is more forgiving on the legs and the structured set-up can teach decent pace judgement and development

hope it all works out

TheEd

[IamWill]

Hi TheEd,

Here my update:
Day 1 (60-70min easy):2 days after my race, so my legs were still a bit sore. I went for a run with a slower friend. We ran 11.3k at a 6:24 pace. Easy indeed!

Day 2 (30 min easy): I went for a run in heavy rains, I ran 3k at a 4:22 pace, but I had to stop then, because I had to pick up my son whose training ended prematurely because of the rain. Since I already walked for 5k earlier that day and was going to play a quite intensive game of squash that evening, I didn't complete the 30 min later on, especially with the 5x2k ahead and the race still in my legs.

Day 3 (5x2k):I followed your advice and ran on a 400m tartan track. It was the first time that I ran more than one lap on a track (at least for the last 15 years), but it was indeed easy on the legs (but it was a bit boring compared to running on roads or trails). I did a 5 minute warm-up and cool down.

Here are the splits:
1st 2k: 7:40 (90s rest)
2nd 2k: 8.07 (90s rest)
3rd 2k: 8.00 (120s rest)
4th 2k: 7:43 (90s rest)
5th 2k 7:44

During the second 2k, I slowed down because the first 2k was to fast, but apparently I overdid it.
The 120s rest after the 3rd 2k was because of running on the track: other runners start talking to you and keep you from resuming your training.
It was a very intense training, but I feel that I could have done it faster (especially the 2nd and 3rd 2k), but I was afraid that I would not be able to complete the other 2k's at goal pace (also because my muscles were a bit sore from yesterday's squash game).

I'm looking forward to more of your advice!

Will

[IamWill]

One question for tomorrow's long run: does pace matter here?

I understand that running too fast wouldn't be beneficial, but since I'll be running with a friend, we'll probably be going much slower (6:00 up to 6:30 kms) than I would be running when alone.

All the best,

Will

[TheEd]

slow pace is mighty beneficial for now

so would be great to run with someone at a lower level than you

enjoy

TheEd

[IamWill]

That's good to know!
My Tuesday 6x1 at 3:50? The last ones faster if I can?

Will

[TheEd]

yes, this should be achievable .. TheEd

That's good to know!
My Tuesday 6x1 at 3:50? The last ones faster if I can?

Will

[IamWill]

Hi TheEd,

I had to take a couple of days off because I had a cold and was running a bit of a fever instead of my kilometers.

So my Saturday long run was the last one before today and I decided to pick up with the 6 x 1k with 60s with 60s of rest in between, which I was supposed to have done yesterday.

Here my times:
k1 3:43
k2 3:42
k3 3:43
k4 3:44
k5 3:45
k6 3:32

I ran them again on the track as you advised. The legs felt good, I think I could have gone a bit faster, but tried to stay close to goal pace (except for the last k). I ran on zero drop shoes, so my calves got a proper work out. I think I'll feel that tomorrow!

I would be very grateful for some guidance on the following two issues:

Since I already had 3 (three! I feel lazy!) rest days, can I do an easy run on the rest day (day 11), or would that be detrimental?

Looking at my 5x2 and 6x1 and my current PB, what pace should I aim for in the 5k on day 12?, first 2.5 k in 10minutes and then go faster? Or even pace aimed at something between 19.30 and 19.10? Or faster?

All the best,

Will

[TheEd]

try not to look for a fast pace in the 5k, as I am concerned as to whether you have got rid of the 'bug' that affected you recently

so run at least 30 seconds slower than the last 5k paced you did

if you finish feeling it was too slow, then great

TheEd