New year, new targets

[K4marathon]

Ciao TheEd

You might recall that I had issued with my Nike Pegasus shoes last year. My foot is "normal" and I have used the neutral Pegasus 27 and Pegasus 27 GTX. I have a pair of each of the same size that I alternated last year.

The problem with both pairs was that during longer runs (above 12-13k or so), they damaged my toe nails. Different toes each time and on both feet, but I lost maybe 5 nails last Spring while training for the 21k race.
I thought the shoes might be too small, but several experts confirmed that the shoes seemed to be of the right size.

I now believe the Pegasus shoe, which feels really nice when trying it on a nd walking, is a bit too wide and loose for my narrow foot. After some exploring of a few sports stores, I decided to invest in new shoes. This time I went for a narrower model, the Asics Cumulus.

After a few runs, the shoe feels great. I got some pain and a blister on the inside of my heel, but I feel this is due to my foot getting used to the new shoe and developing stronger skin in this specific area. I feel pretty good and hope to really test the shoe with a long run in the near future.

Let's see if this was a good investment or not.

K4m

[TheEd]

will be most interesting to see if this works out

and would be well worth a shoes review if it does [please ]

can be in Suomi and can go onto - http://www.time-to-run.com/suomi

kiitos paljon

TheEd

[K4marathon]

The build-up period is leaning toward its end. I had an other little setback the other week, again catching a minor cold. This one was not too bad and I ended up substituting two easy rúns with walking and then I held three extra rest days in between to recover, between days 7 and 8 on the program.

Now everything else has gone according to plans toward the end and I'm planning to run my 4k test run on Saturday. My expectations are not huge, as I believe the build-up program has developed more the base condition rather than speed. But let's see. I definitely target an improvement to the 17:31 I ran in early December.


K4m

[TheEd]

you may be surprised by the 4k result so do start off below sub 17 pace

and here's to all the sniffles etc at an end

TheEd

[K4marathon]

Yes, I plan to start at that speed and run the 4k by the feeling. Not so important to break any records at this point, but for sure nice to get a feeling on where I stand. It is now only 3 months to my 21k race so I assume I will start with the Sub45 program after the build-up? Within this time I could do approx three cycles of the Sub45 to gain good speed to the race in early May. What do you think?

K4m

[TheEd]

let's get the feedback from the 4k to see where you currently stand

things should be a great deal easier towards the 21k this year as you are more experienced

enjoy

TheEd

[K4marathon]

Hello TheEd


I finished my build-up last week as planned, and despite a minor injury (sour calf) and my earlier cold, I finished the program in approx 7 weeks, following it to 95% or so exactly according to the program.

I was a bit sceptical as I feel the running in the build-up is quite slow and perhaps developing endurance rather than speed, but I was still quite positive about taking the 4k without a single fast run in the last two months.

When I did the 4k, I started as planned at sub-17-min speed, but unfortunately I could not maintain the pace for more than around 3km. I got really exhausted and stopped shortly after 8 laps when I noticed that I cannot maintain the pace. I could have finished but only by really slowing down, and probably not improved at all from my previous 17:31. The times for my run is below, compared to my run in March last year, and also compared to my similar run before the build-up:

Mar-11 Dec-11 Feb-12
Lap 1 1:37 1:41 1:35
Lap 2 1:50 1:44 1:39
Lap 3 1:45 1:46 1:42
Lap 4 1:43 1:45 1:40
Lap 5 1:44 1:48 1:43
Lap 6 1:44 1:46 1:45
Lap 7 1:43 1:45 1:46
Lap 8 1:46 1:46 1:48
Lap 9 1:47 1:46 DNF
Lap 10 1:43 1:44
Total 17:23 17:31


I conclude that my maximum speed did not develop at all during the build-up. Looking at the results of these and other runs, I feel that the 10k program I followed last year delivered much better results. Perhaps the build-up is good for longer runs, but the maximum speed needed for shorter runs is not improving, at least not for me.

I'm now thinking of having a week-long break to allow my sour calf to fully recover, and then I will start the Sub-45 program. I have 11 weeks left until my 21k run, so I can complete around 3 cycles, which I think will be enough to me in best possible shape on 5th May 2012.

What do you think? Is this the right way forward?


All the best!

K4m

[K4marathon]

Hello!


Back again, now after the first solid week of the Sub45 program. I felt that I had no speed in my legs after the 6-week build-up so I took a few days off between and only made irregular shorter spurts and intervals. But now I am back on the program since last week and it feels like I have recovered the speed somehow. I took the first days a bit easier and Day 3 I only could finish 3*2k (not 4*2k). Today I did Day 8, meaning the 6*1km interval training with 90s rest. It went surprisingly well, with the following data per lap (time, end HR, 90s rest HR):

4:17, 162, 119
4:18, 162, 117
4:16, 168, 125
4:19, 171, 125
4:22, 171, 123
4:19, 170

Total time 33:23 with average HR of 157.

It was quite a hard exercise but felt really good. I'm happy I could finish it and it gives a sign that I am on my way toward my goal again.

Now I have a couple of easier days ahead and then the 5k paced run on Sun. That should be a sign of whether I really am on the right track or not.


All the best!

K4m

[K4marathon]

Hello!


I did my 5k paced run today, with the target to stay below 22:30. I ran on the indoor track, ie in perfect conditions. The beginning was a bit slow but I recovered that slow speed in kms 2 and 3. Then the last kms I tried to run at the correct pace and finished as planned. Km times below:
4:43, end HR 155
4:23, end HR 163
4:25, end HR 165
4:29, end HR 166
4:27, end HR 169
Total time was 22:28, with an ending HR of 169. Average HR was 161.

It seems that I had a bit more to give, but not so much. Perhaps it would have been possible to take some time off the clock today...


K4m

[TheEd]

Hi K4m, are you able to get the balance of the program going or is it feeling a bit unsettled?

what you could do is balance it out that you doing the main runs with a day off in-between and then building the easier runs in once you become stronger?

what have you planned for the end of this week? Which if correct is the end of week 3, right?

Chiao

TheEd
ps.. chiao espanyol, cioa italiano