I want to run faster!

[AndrewL]

Your previous comment was prescient. With only one easy day between my long run an the 6x1k my legs got annihilated. I hit the times, but I don't think my legs have ever been so sore in my life.

1) 3:53
2) 3:55
3) 3:54
4) 3:55
5) 3:56 (close enough)
6) 3:53

Anyway I did it, and that's what matters. Incidentally, I think I will be very busy with work in July and August, but I am going to keep going and make the best of it.

[TheEd]

how things going Andrew?

TheEd

[AndrewL]

Hey boss, all good here. I have been following the program and running every day, but I came down with some strange stomach sickness yesterday and missed the 400 x 10 workout. I am feeling better today so think I will do it today instead and run a fast 5k (solo) on Friday to see where I stand.

[AndrewL]

Update: I was planning on running the 400m intervals yesterday but it turns out that even though I felt better, my body was not ready for an intense work out. I did the easy 40 minute run as per the original schedule and guess I will just miss the 400m interval session on this cycle.

[AndrewL]

My body seems like it is having a hard time recovering from that illness. On Thursday I did the easy 30 minutes but had to stop after 5 fartleks because I thought I was going to vomit. Strange because it really isn't that strenuous. I took Friday off as usual, and today was "race day". No race here so I planned to do a fast 5k but totally failed. I got through 3.5km at speed before totally dying. I couldn't even jog the rest of the way, I barely made it home.

I also noticed this in my light strength training, my body isn't operating at 100 percent right now. I think I am going to wait a week before starting the next cycle, actually. I will do a week of easy runs and then hopefully be back in good health for the following week.

What I am going to do is follow the cycle schedule through Wednesday and see how it is going, but if I am still struggling I'm going to swap out the intervals for an easy run and just push everything back a week. I'll keep you posted. Have a good weekend!

[AndrewL]

New update! I ended up taking an extra rest day yesterday (which would have been day 1 of the new cycle). I think that between getting sick last week and the changing weather (it is so incredibly humid outside) my body was just exhausted. Anyway, I am feeling much better today, so am going to jump in at day 2 on the cycle and hope that my body holds out.

I do think that I need to be less focused on times during the summer, because the heat and humidity are going to make it impossible to do as well as I would like. If I can just make it through the next two cycles or so, though, I think that my overall condition will be much improved even if my times really aren't.

Anyway, onward and upward.

[TheEd]

Hi Andrew, how are you feeling now?

hopefully bug free

after all you have been through, I do find that you are quite hard on yourself and your expectations, so it does no harm to back off and simply enjoy your running

TheEd

[AndrewL]

Feeling good, coach. I think the extra rest day was a lifesaver. Anyway, I had a terrible Day 3 yesterday. Due to time constraints I couldn't run on the track and instead just did 2km sections of the 5km loop next to my apartment. For whatever reason I couldn't find the right pace an ended up going way too fast, which left me with no gas in the tank for intervals 3/4/5. Oh well, my legs feel pleasantly sore today, which makes me happy. Here are my splits:

1) 7:50 - 3:46/4:04
2) 8:02 - 3:58/4:04
3) 8:29 - 4:06/4:23
4) 8:46 - 4:25/4:21
5) 9:09 - 4:35/4:34

At any rate, this entire next week is supposed to be extremely heavy rain, so I am not sure how everything will work out, but I am going to keep on chugging along.

[TheEd]

Hi Andrew, simply see what you can do, not much other choice

good luck

TheEd

[AndrewL]

I had a terrible past ten days or so. Last week was rainy as predicted, which caused me to spend a few days in the indoor bike, and the days that weren't rainy were so hot and humid. I ended up missing a couple days to general malaise and the inability to combat the heat, so my cycle is in tatters.

Anyway I am feeling better now and had a nice run today, but plan on taking it easy and just running for the next week or two. The weather has sapped my motivation and trying to stick to a strict running plan is making me feel bad.

I'll keep you updated, and plan to restart the real training in a week or two.