Post injury - wanting sub 40min

[TheEd]

the pace you recommended is a good place to start .. 8.10 to 8.20

the rest is quite important here, so instead of going faster look to achieve the 90 seconds rest

then you achieve the training zone needed

the 1000m session is normally 10 seconds quicker and can be more fun

running is the biggest aerobic developer out of the 3 disciplines and you need to learn to develop technique on the bike which allows for aerobic development while not making the leg muscles tired .. this is achieved by learning to spin correctly and honing your technique

swimming you can hammer a lot more as the body recovers quickly from this and technique needs to be ironed out

the brick session on the bike once a week is the quality .. once you develop your running and the balance is achieved the 3 disciplines compliment one another and can actually aid one another and the cycling if used correctly can assist with recovery

hope this isn't too much data however you need to understand the balance of the training and what you are trying to achieve instead of simply banging yourself

onwards and forwards

TheEd

[dale_8888]

Hey TheEd,

Didn't do a run at all for the last two days as lots of work came up Probably a good thing to help me recover though.

Today I did the 5x2km session with 90sec rest in between each interval

interval time av hr max hr rest hr
1 8:11.2 171 181 103
2 8:15.0 173 179 104
3 8:13.6 171 178 110
4 8:16.7 171 180 119
5 8:13.6 171 177 104

The resting HR after the whole lot seems quite low, but it was still after 90 seconds. I think I was moving around more after the 4th interval which is why the resting hr was so high. By the end it wasn't particularly cardiovascularly challenging, more that my calf muscles were getting very tight and the rest wasn't helping them.

I have been trying to do more forefoot running to avoid the knee injuries but I think maybe I am coming up too high on my toes and that is why my calf muscle is always suffering. What are your thoughts?

[TheEd]

nice to get the session in

calf muscles are like the shock absorbers of a car

they are absorbing the impact and they will get tired when first starting off with weight bearing exercise

so if you changing your stride pattern at the same time it will put further pressure on the area

work on keeping the calf muscles loose as tight calf muscles lead to a multitude of problems

focus on the recovery between the quality sessions and have a purpose for each session ... recovery is very definitely a training session

best

TheEd

[dale_8888]

Hey TheEd,

I haven't been doing any running or cycling now for 2 days which is starting to bother me as I will now only get 3 runs in this week. I wanted to run the last two days except my right foot, just below the ankle has been incredibly sore walking around and so I don't feel up to running on it. I am not sure if this is from the increased running or the amount of walking I did over the last 3 days, but it is not good. I was wondering if you had any ideas what it could be and your solutions to the problem. I am hoping it's not sore tomorrow as I was hoping to do my 20km run, but I'll see how it goes.

:please: help me TheEd, help me :please:

[dale_8888]

Hey TheEd,

Well I didn't run for 8 days because of my painful foot thing. It has pretty well gone away now, have no idea what it was. I started by trying to do 6x1km R60 which failed epically. I was quite fatigued before going for the run, the warm up was a lot slower and HR a lot higher during the warm up than normal.
Av Pace 5:48/km av HR 158 on flat tarmac, and it felt relatively strenuous.

I then started with the 1km intervals. I thought I would try 3:55-4:00/km with 60 rest. I only managed 2 as I was absolutely stuffed. I think the combination of fatigue, reduced rest and increased rest smashed me pretty hard.
Lap time av HR max HR rest HR
1 3:58 175 188 135
2 4:03 179 187 135

Like I said I was severely destroyed from that. The second interval was extremely difficult. I will go for an easy jog this afternoon simply because I haven't done much running and I might try the 6x1km again next week.

Thoughts?

Cheers

[dale_8888]

BTW I have never seen my HR that high before... is this a good or bad thing? Should I be able to get it higher?

[TheEd]

Dale .. the writing was on the wall from the beginning

you were overdoing things

I tried to mention that you need to take things easy and balance things if you wanted to make progress

training is all about balance and less is always better till you build a foundation of training

it sounds as though you have to recover from overuse

if anything do swimming for now

TheEd

[dale_8888]

TheEd,

Like I said, haven't been doing much at all the last 2 weeks. Just did a little bit of swimming. I am in a very warm, humid climate at the moment which I feel is greatly affecting my performance. I don't think it is fatigue from training. Just been partying hard and doing a lot during the day without much sleep. I think the humidity has greatly affected my performance.

Did 11km today on relatively flat ground and struggled greatly with speed and the humidity.

km time av HR max HR
1 5:26 141 161
2 5:35 159 163
3 5:52 159 162
4 6:02 159 162
5 6:19 160 165
6 5:59 161 166
7 6:16 158 164
8 6:15 159 162
9 6:16 159 162
10 6:12 160 163
11 6:07 162 164

total 11.15km, av pace 6:02, av HR 158, max HR 166

Current training conditions are about 30C (86F) and 80% humidity, compared to the usual 20C (68F) and 50-60% humidity

[dale_8888]

TheEd,

Did a medium paced 4km today. Wanted a longer easy run, but time was short. The pace itself felt relatively easy and I was breathing through my nose both inhaling and exhaling. HR was high for the same reasons as before I believe. Higher temps and higher humidity.

Km time av HR max HR
1 5:14 151 162
2 4:51 166 172
3 5:07 173 175
4 4:59 174 179

total 4.02km, av pace 5:03, av HR 165 max HR 180.

Like I said it was relatively easy to keep up this work rate.

I'll be back in more normal conditions (for me) on the 30th, so I should be good to begin training properly again then.

Thoughts?

[TheEd]

Hi there, it is a little difficult to assess where you currently stand .. earlier it looked like you were overdoing things a fair amount, so when it went slightly pear-shaped it was understandable but now that you mention you have been 'burning the candle' from both ends it sends out further warning signs

the best you could probably do is a 4k time-trial during the week when you feel it best suits you

then we can see if we can get back to some form of routine and create a new balance

how does this sound?

Cheers

TheEd