Journey to sub 33k...

[skeldol]

thanks.

i'm doing wedge step-ups, glute bridge, glute pull-out, hamstring bridg and pick-up running drill 3 times a week @ home.

[skeldol]

So this weeks training....

As well as the 5k TT I've done the 2k intervals:

LAP PACE MAX HR
1 3:57 172
2 3:55 176
3 3:57 180
4 3:57 182
5 3:56 184

felt close to limit. ended-up with walking rests between intervals 4&5.

I did a 11.5k tempo run today 4:38 pace. Its a little hilly with 140m elevation with some steep bits on it. Average HR of 170. 170 is only a couple of beats above the aerobic zone for me which I think is 168 based on a 200 max HR. But the run didnt in any way feel like a rest, more tempo.

Knee is feeling strong. Didn't feel it at all after the 11.5k. Infact the only two times I've really felt it this week are at the end of quad streteches & towards the end of a rock climbing session (deep knee movements).

So it seems running every other day, with alternate days rehab exercises & streching, is allowing my knee to recover. I'm also doing upper body weights twice a week (more for the climbing) and abs 3 times a week.

I'm going to stick with the quality sessions but build the long run slowly. My question is what do I do when the other day is a recovery run? Do I run around 155 or do I continue to aim for around 170 given I'm getting a lot of rest days?

Thanks
Leon

[TheEd]

Hi skeldol, highly recommend staying off the hills for while you have knee problems . downhill can only cause further hassles

try get your easy runs down to 140 to 150 bpm ..

focus on Day 3 to Day 8 as your main focus .. during this time, after Day 8, you can back off from training and give yourself a little more rest to give your knees a better chance of recovery

after a few cycles then you can begin adding the easy runs back

on the program we look to keep most of the sessions on the flat, until we achieve consistency and then go through a Build-up phase

everything is progressive

from your 2k session it looks as though you can get your pulse quite high, looking forward to seeing the 6 x 1k stats

on we go

TheEd
ps.. thanks for the donation, truly appreciated

[skeldol]

Happy to donate to such a great site.

Yeah I guess I can get my pulse high. It averaged 177 when I did my last 10k PB maxing out at 184. Seems high considering I'm almost 41

I'm doing all the fast stuff on a track. The easier/longer stuff will involve some short hills due to where I live, I'll do my best to keep them as flat as possible & I'll keep the HR down.

So for me day 8 finishes this Wednesday. I think you are saying I should do both easy runs Monday (tmrw) & Tuesday, the intervals on Wednesday & then back off to the every other day plan (with a focus on getting the quality sessions in) until its time to start the cycle again?

The knee is feeling stronger every day. Hardly notice it now.

Thanks
Leon

[skeldol]

Did the recovery run on Monday.

10k 5:08/km 166m elevation Av HR 150.

It felt good & it was nice to be able to run & have time to enjoy the scenery. I noticed that I did the same run as a recovery run just before my 39:23 PB but HR was 155 & pace was 5:19/km on that run so this is promising!


Today I got to the track to find it was closed for an event so I used my old 6*1km road circuit (40m elevation):

LAP PACE MAX HR
1 - 3:46 - 173
2 - 3:44 - 179
3 - 3:50 - 182
4 – 3:54 – 182
5 - 3:51 - 183
6 - 3:57 - 180

I was aiming for 3:45 average but I got 3:50. I was surprised by this because my 5k on the track (2 weeks ago) was 3:47 for max HR 187, a 5k should be harder than 6 1k intervals? I also found this harder than the 2k intervals( which I ran on the track). I'm guessing running on the road is a fair bit harder than the track.

I compared todays results with the last 6*1k I ran on this circuit (the week
before I got my 39:23 PB). On that run I averaged 3:44 across the 6 intervals for a max HR of 189 using 90 second rests (not 60 like today). But after the 5k TT & recovery run I was beginning to think I was back to PB fitness but today makes me think I'm a month or so off. The silver lining is when I was doing 6*1k intervals back in Jan it only took 1 week to go from averaging 3:50 to 3:45.


Friday I'll do a 1 hour recovery run & Sunday go for a paced 5km. As its on
the track I'll aim for 3:50ks which is slightly slower than I managed a few
weeks ago but more in

[skeldol]

Did the 1 hour easy today.
13km ** 92mins ** 5:33/km ** 151av HR ** 265m elevation
Slightly over cooked on the time & HR.

[TheEd]

as long as you recover well between sessions

on we go

TheEd

[skeldol]

End of week 2.

I intended to run 3:50/km on todays paced 5km but I couldn't find my rythym & my pace swung between 3:40 & 4:00 as I kept over correcting. Eventually I decided to stop looking at my watch & try to feel for a pace. I definately over did it according to the plan but the run didn't feel desperate.

The 18:29 on the track splits into:

LAP -- PACE -- MAX HR -- AV CADENCE
1 -- 3:42 -- 164 -- 166
2 -- 3:49 -- 171 -- 164
3 -- 3:45 -- 176 -- 158
4 -- 3:37 -- 182 -- 162
5 -- 3:36 -- 187 -- 160

For the 400m intervals on Tuesday is it literally just 4km, 60 second rest, with a bit of warm-up & down? Should I stick to 3:35 as target or push it a bit lower to 3:30?

If my knee feels OK tomorrow am I'm thinking I'll do the easy 30 minute run (so 3 days running in a row) as well next week so I get 4 runs in for the week.

Thanks
Leon

[TheEd]

the 5k paced looks a decent session

for the 400m session, I am always concerned about the calf muscles, so always best to do the session on the track

if your legs are tired , then consider

3 x 5 minutes @ projected race pace with 2 to 3 minutes easy in-between

if you do the 400's hover between 3.35 to 3.30 and try to focus on form and staying relaxed

cheers

TheEd

[skeldol]

Felt fine so did the 400m intervals.

Not exactly sure what good form is so focussed on lifting the trailing leg, striking mid to forefoot & keeping the trunk slightly foreword. I notice my arms are swinging around & not driving backwards and forwards, should I make an effort to get them more to 90o & moving along a single plane? I also notice my shoulders tends to rotate whilst I run. I'll watch a few more you tube vids to get my head around form more.

The session started out a bit of a shambles. I did 1.5 intervals before I realized I hadn't started my watch properly so took a minutes rest & started again. Again I struggled to get the pace right on the watch so went with a pace that felt sustainable. I noticed that after reaching a steady pace as soon as I focussed on form my pace increased.

LAP -- PACE -- MAX HR -- AV CADENCE
1 -- 3:18 -- 176 -- 156
2 -- 3:20 -- 175 -- 164
3 -- 3:19 -- 175 -- 164
4 -- 3:19 -- 176 -- 160
5 -- 3:26 -- 175 -- 162
6 -- 3:27 -- 177 -- 162
7 -- 3:23 -- 177 -- 162
8 -- 3:19 -- 179 -- 162
9 -- 3:22 -- 179 -- 164
10 -- 3:21 -- 180 -- 166

Am I OK to run at a pace that feels right or do I need to stick to the prescribed paces?

Should I be working on cadence? Seems low compared to the 180 everyone talks about.

Not sure what to do this weekend. I was thinking either 10k TT or an easy long run (15k) as I think I need to start building up distance as 13k is the furthest I've run in the last 6 months.

I think my knee regressed slightly after the 13k run last week but it felt solid during the intervals today. When I do the step-ups for the VMO tonight & quad stretches I'll know if its back on the mend.

Thanks
Leon