Journey to sub 33k...

[skeldol]

Thanks for the advice, noted & acted upon this week. I've focussed on arm carriage(swinging from shoulders & not hunching shoulders), running tall & trying to have a slight lean at ankle.

Back from a brilliant week in Skye, Scotland.

Week 1 I completed 49km.
Week 2 I've completed 45km.

I've deliberately kept mileage below 50km & only done 5 runs a week to allow myself to get used to it.

I'm no longer monitoring or trying to alter cadence during the runs.

Tuesday's 1km intervals went really well. Target pace was 3:40 but I fell into a 3:37 pace. I was surprised because lap 1 & 2 felt really hard but from 3 onwards it felt much more doable, so much so I was sure I must have been targeting 3:30 for the first couple of laps. Stats for the run are:

*Note intervals done on the road (an out & back loop) not the track.

Time-----Max HR--Avg Run Cadence
03:39.8---170------170
03:34.8---176------166
03:37.5---180------174
03:36.3---179------172
03:37.5---182------172
03:34.5---184------170

so I got my math slightly wrong, thought the average pace was 3:36 so decided on 3:41 for the paced 5k.

The 5k paced was done on the same bit of road as the intervals (only 2.5k out before turning around). I targeted 3:41 splits, it felt desperate (loud voice telling me to give up @ 3km & 4km) & I ended-up with a 3:44 average.

Time------Max HR----Avg Run Cadence
03:39.7----172-------176
03:40.9----177-------172
03:44.4----180-------168
03:52.3----182-------164
03:42.2----189-------164

I'm wondering if I'd got the math right and gone for a 3:42 if I would have managed it, I'm doubtful but I'd have been closer and hence the motivation might have drowned out the negative voices.

I've noticed in today's 1 hour run my cadence has dropped right down to 160 now I'm not monitoring it. I had it upto 178 with active monitoring & cadence has been 168 without monitoring this week, although today was a trail run whilst other runs were on the road.[COLOR="Red"] Is it best to continue to leave it as it naturally is regardless of how low it drops?
[/COLOR]
For Tuesdays 400m I am going to target ~3:30/km.

My next race is on 4/10 (Winsford 10k) . Next Saturday is race day for this cycle & the last race day before Winsford (only have time for wk 1 & 2 in next cycle). I don't have a race lined-up for next Saturday. I can either do a 10k TT around Winsford as practice or a 5km parkrun. Does it matter which I do?

Cheers.

[TheEd]

nice to read this . yes, leave the cadence alone for now, run naturally and let your body adjust to what is best for it, as you become fitter your cadence will change accordingly

when you do faster running focus on good form. Form always goes out the window when getting tired

when tired, it is important to focus on form

do the parkrun the end of this cycle

this is all looking good, keep it simple

TheEd
ps.. the KISS approach is always best

[skeldol]

Reasonably good week to the end of the cycle. Did 6 runs & 46km.


Mon: 5k @ 5:59/km avHR 141
Tue: 4k performed on track. See below
Wed: 7k @ 5:57/km avHR 144
Thu: 10k @ 5:16 avHR 159 maxHR 181
Fri: Rest
Sat: Parkrun 5k @ 3:44
Sun: 11k @ 5:36 avHR 144

The 400m intervals went according to plan with an average pace of 3:25/km & the whole thing felt reasonable & not desperate:

Pace-----Max HR----Avg Run Cadence
03:26.5---167---------176
03:14.0---173---------174
03:26.5---172---------168
03:24.8---174---------170
03:26.0---176---------170
03:26.0---177---------170
03:26.7---178---------168
03:28.0---178---------168
03:29.0---179---------172
03:22.5---180---------170

I notice I'm maxing out on the intervals about 10 bpm below race max HR. I'm assuming this is correct as the intervals don't seem to be an all out effort on this training plan?

The parkrun went well but not as well as I hoped for. I was aiming for a pace of 3:42/km. I know GPS is out on the parkrun & based on the last experience I needed an extra 3 seconds on GPS pace to hit actual pace. The final result, GPS gave me a 18:15 (3:39 pace) but as GPS hit 5k about 100m early the official result was 18:38 (3:44 pace). Not sure how much of the difference was a poor racing line by me & how much was GPS error. I notice other people on Strava got accurate GPS distances which makes me think its my racing line. During the run I felt good right up to the last 500m when I suddenly had to dig to maintain pace.

The course segment on Strava shows me 15s faster than 3 weeks ago but with an average HR of 177 as opposed to 175. So I guess part of that 15s is down to me pushing my body closer to its envelope & part due to increase in fitness. If I could continue to improve 15s per month then its around 2 years to sub 33 & around 3.5 years til I break the world 10k record for V40-45, so I'm pretty happy with this level of improvement

I felt I could have got a faster time based on how I felt the first 4.5k, but how I felt the last 500m & the HR average being higher than last time makes me think maybe not.

Splits based on GPS are:

Split---Time-------Avg HR----Max HR---Avg Run Cadence
1-------03:34.5-----162--------170------166
2-------03:39.7-----174--------178------160
3-------03:40.3-----179--------183------158
4-------03:44.3-----183--------185------156
5-------03:38.5-----187--------189------158

[COLOR="Red"]So for the next cycle my intended times are:
2k -3:45
1k -3:35[/COLOR]
there will be no 400m intervals, I only have time for 2 weeks if I am then to get a full 3 weeks for the 10k race. Do you agree with all this?

Next cycle I'm only going to do 5 runs in week 1 & 2 again.

For the long run next Sunday is it OK to do a shorter but hillier run (say 500m) as long as I run for 90 minutes?

Thanks

[TheEd]

you moving along nicely

so your plan is a 2 week cycle and then a 3 week cycle before your next race?

if this is the case, then consider running a hard Parkrun at the end of 2 weeks

you seem to have the pace sorted and I look forward to the feedback

over to you

TheEd

[skeldol]

that seemed the best bet to me unless you have another suggestion?

Also is it fine to do a hilly (say 600m elevation) run for the long run? I guess this will reduce the miles quite a bit but gives me my best options as I'm in hilly country next weekend

In terms of the parkrun I've got one planned in. Its flat but on grass, I hear it can be very muddy after rain. I don't have much choice in venue as its my wifes 40th run so I just have to be grateful I'm not stuck at home minding the kids!!

[TheEd]

you can do a 1hr tempo run instead of the parkrun, if it suits you

TheEd
ps.. sorry for delay, internet a hassle

[skeldol]

Week 1: 5 runs & 52km.

Mon: 12k @ 5:44/km avHR 144
Tue: 12k @ 5:23/km avHR 149
Wed: Rest
Thu: 5*2k @3:45.7/km maxHR 181
Fri: Rest
Sat: 13k fell run (752m elevation) @ 7:22/km avHR 155
Sun: 5k @5:02/km avHR140

Figured it was OK to run a slightly higher HR on Tuesday given the rest day on Wednesday. Would it be OK to push Tuesday's session into the 150s?

Thursdays interval session was pretty desperate, by intervals 4 & 5 it was all I could do to force myself to keep running regardless of the pace. I felt rough during the night so not sure if this had any impct on the session. I was expecting a slow time so was pleasantly surprised after adding up the lap times to see I was only .7 of a second above target pace of 3:45. I felt like my legs where the weak link in this run. They had nothing in them on the last 4k.

The splits are:

Split----Avg Pace----Max HR----Avg Run Cadence
LAP1-----00:03:38-----175---------166
LAP2-----00:03:42-----180---------166
LAP3-----00:03:46-----181---------166
LAP4-----00:03:50-----181---------167
LAP5-----00:03:52-----179---------170

Its interesting to compare this to my previous PB on the 2*5 4 weeks ago, the pace is just over 3 seconds quicker this time and the average heart rate is 2 beats lower this time.

Decided on the fell run on Saturday because it was such a nice day. Did just under 1 hour 40. The terrain on a lot of the downs kept me just as slow as the ups!!

Thanks for the suggestion of the temp. Looks like we are going to my normal parkrun so I'm going to do that & aim for 18:30 or less.

[TheEd]

lack of sleep will definitely impact on you, do watch your morning pulse for a few days after having a bad night's sleep

after the next off period and build-up, we can see where and how some of the easy run pulses can change, however you would be doing more 1hr runs than before, so you would have to see how things 'pan' out

the gritty 2k session is always good practise for races of the future

so all in all progressing well?

TheEd

[skeldol]

I think progress is going well yes thanks.

I was always going to take this Wednesday as an extra rest day as I'm worried about doing too much too soon. However the wife has just told me I probably cannot run on Sunday

Saturday is a fast parkrun this week. So my question is do I have 3 rest days this week (seems excessive) or do the 60 minute run on Wednesday or Friday? I was thinking to do the 60 minute on Wednesday so I have the rest day before the fast parkrun.

Thanks

[TheEd]

there is no harm in getting used to the 60 minute run

take care of yourself and enjoy the 'fast' Parkrun

onwards

TheEd