Sub 40 Min Training

[ihenman]

Ah the 2K's, how I hate to love em. Every cycle I'm stoked to do this session, and then after the 2nd one I'm saying to myself "OK how many laps left".

Today was tough. Some spitting rain, a 30KM/H + wind on the back 100M of the track.

I didn't see the BIG gains I have seen the past couple of sessions, but there are a couple of things I noticed that were different.

a - Wind
b - The past 3 sessions my 1st rep has been slower then the rest, this week I went out fast and it ended up being my fastest.

Because of these two points I am not discouraged.

Here's the details - My max HR was up for most of these compared to previous weeks.

7:22 - 183 after rest 105
7:24 - 183 after rest 115
7:26 - 184 after rest 124
7:29 - 186 after rest 127
7:28 - 186 after rest 126

3 weeks ago here's what things looked like:

7:30 - 172 after rest 109
7:16 - 179 after rest 127
7:23 - 180 after rest 130
7:25 - 180 after rest 137
7:26 - 181 after rest 126

My legs felt heavier starting out the 3rd, 4th and 5th reps compared to the pervious cycle.

My concern is I don't want to hit the over training wall. I know we can go backwards then and HR can be an indicator. Of course I haven't done these reps in this type of wind either, so I could be reading into it too much.

Ian

[TheEd]

Hi Ian, wind is very much a killer and it can destroy performance

in the same way heat can affect performance, wind seems to have even more of an impact on the legs a few days after

so I am sure it will all balance out OK

do check on the am pulse and that it doesn't stay elevated for too long

Cheers

TheEd

[ihenman]

Manual check on my pulse this AM has it just under 50, which is my norm.

[TheEd]

ok .. great then hopefully it was only wind fatigue

enjoy your weekend

TheEd

[ihenman]

Wanted to report some race results from yesterday. Ran my 2nd 21K in 1:25:40. a new PB, but a tough day. Arrived late for the race and really had to visit the washroom before the race started. unfortunately due tomy lateness and need for a pee I had no warm up other then the jog of about 500-600m to the start line. None the less the first 6-7 or so K felt good, the next mid part was thought, but it was also warm for this time of year about 22 Celsius. Some crusher dust trails and long drawn out hills at the end made for a slower pace, but I maintained intensity.

I had a goal of being about 2 minutes faster then that, but I know based on the day and the intensity that's the time I deserved for this day.

21Ks seem to have a lot more to learn from them post race when I reflect on it compared to 10ks.

I'm not going to do another 21k until autumn because of heat. Will have 2-3 10ks over the next couple of months with a goal race being the beginning of august (a 6 miler). Going to assess training for the coming couple of months this week.

I'm pretty sore today so didn't run, will get out for 30 min tomorrow slow and easy and hit a 60 min easy on Wednesday.

cheers

Ian

[TheEd]

well done Ian .. make sure to focus on recovery and don't come back to intense training too quickly .. as for doing the 5 x 2k session, don't attempt until you have provided further feedback

recover well

TheEd

[ihenman]

is it advisable to take more hen just one day off after a race of this intensity? I was still pretty sore today so may or may not get out for a short run. I've been thinking actually about the off training period then training towards a good 10 k in August/Sept

Ian

[TheEd]

try to get to active recovery .. especially as you develop to a higher aerobic fitness, you will find recovery quicker and with active recovery less aches and pains

you were not really trained for this Half and considering you did well

only return to training when your legs do not feel sore when you go up & down stairs

I think you will be good to go onto the 3 week cycle and run a few races over the next 6 weeks and then go towards the autumn races

what are your thoughts on this?

Cheers

TheEd

[ihenman]

TheEd,

I presume by "active recovery" you mean recovering while still getting in easy runs yes?

I was still sore yesterday, although less then on Monday, and sore this morning although less again. I did a 30 min easy this morning (4:55 / K avg HR of 142 BPM) and will do another easy tomorrow and step it up to a 40 min.

Your guidance of waiting until muscle soreness retreats sounds like a good rule of thumb, so I'll likely await until next week to return to quality sessions and stick with easy runs through the rest of this week.

I am looking fwd to some 10K's as that's what my training has been focussed on. So I'm game to keep moving fwd with training so long as I continue to see slight improvements and don't see any on set of injury on the road ahead.

I'm starting to see as this is my 3rd season back at training that the Fall is the time to run a good PB the heat in the summer makes things tough.

Ian

[TheEd]

well to a certain extent you did jump towards the 21km, so there was expected to be a few setbacks but I don't think it will have damaged your next couple of 10k races that much

and yes, active recovery is doing light running etc (swimming if need be)

Cheers

TheEd