Still aiming for sub 20-min 5k...

[GavMoon]

Hi TheEd,

Ok it's been a while. I was away overseas for most of July and have settled back into the routine back at home now.
- On vacation I averaged 3 runs a week and for 6-8 weeks now I've been in the 30-40km/week range. The terrain was way hillier than I'm used to in flat Melbourne and at times it was really hot and humid too. My numbers on Garmin have tanked!
- I've been building up my longest run, which was 13.5km on vacation and then I just did 14km on Saturday. I enjoy these runs, but I do feel tired afterwards. I've started breaking it up a bit as you suggested, which does make it easier.
- The only run of note on holiday was 10x300m hill reps, up a 10% incline. With hindsight, it was too steep. I ended up doing little more than a shuffle because it was so steep.

Here are some stats from some of the recent sessions. How does this sound? I'm wondering what my target paces should be. In my mind, if I want to run 4:00 pace for 5km, then I need to be able to do 5x1km at 3:50 pace or something like that (and I'm not there yet). Or is it not that simple?

2nd Aug - 5x1km with 90s easy jog
1. 4:03 / HR 154, max 167
Min HR during jog 123
2. 4:02 / HR 161, max 171
Min HR during jog 129
3. 4:03 / HR 164, max 173
Min HR during jog 130
4. 4:04 / HR 168, max 177
Min HR during jog 128
5. 4:04 / HR 169, max 176

5th Aug 2x10 mins steady (~4:30)
1. 4:29 / HR 147, max 156
2. 4:32 / HR 151, max 160

9th Aug 3x1600 with 90s easy jog - this was better than expected
1. 4:02 / HR 161, max 169
Min HR during jog - 126
2. 4:04 / HR 166, max 173
Min HR during jog - 117 (took top off)
3. 4:05 / HR 168, max 175

10th Aug - easy long
14.1km 5:21 pace
HR 128, max 144

12th Aug - 15 mins steady (4:40) - windy, didn't feel great, getting a sore throat
16m30s at 4:41 pace
HR 149, max 161

How is that looking and do you have any workout suggestions? I'm having an easier week this week - less intensity - might do a bit of tempo on Friday instead of hard intervals - and less kms maybe 30 instead of pushing 40. This easier week was planned, I'm trying to do 3 solid weeks then make the 4th week easier. It is also timely as we all seem to have a sniffle in the house at the moment.
Cheers,
GM

[TheEd]

Hi GM .. great to see you back at it .. I had wondered what had happened to you

Hopefully your training has not led to any overload .. have you considered doing a 4k time-trial so you can get a value as to where you are currently and then look to train forward from that marker?

TheEd

[GavMoon]

Hi TheEd - yes good idea. I had been thinking about doing a Parkrun but the 4k is easier logistically so I'll do that. I'm managing a hamstring niggle at the moment - very light, more of an awareness than anything painful, but it's been there for a couple of weeks. Have some strength exercises from the physio so it's on the mend. But it might be a couple of weeks before I go for an all out 4k. Does the training data give any indication of where I should expect to be at? The last one was 16:16 which I reckon was back in May.
Thanks, GM

[TheEd]

Hi GM .. I don't truly want to put too much into your current training, though you do seem to be building in the right direction

how is the hamstring niggle? Once we have the 4k time then we can put a fair amount of data towards future training sessions and give comment on that training data

TheEd

[GavMoon]

Hi TheEd - the niggle wasn't going so I saw a physio (an ex-national level marathon runner) and am on the right track now. It turns out while I wasn't in pain during recent runs, the "pulling" sensation I felt in the hammy is something to be avoided. I'm easing back into it slowly now. Did 12x 1 min jog / 1 min walk yesterday. I'll see how it develops but think probably another 2-3 weeks before I'm running properly again.
On the plus side - I'm doing more swimming and riding which is nice for a change.
I'll be back!
GM

[TheEd]

Hi GM .. a few days later, how are things .. pain free yet

TheEd

[GavMoon]

Hi TheEd - not bad. I did 8x 3 mins jog / 1 min walk today. The only pain is the disappointment at having to go easy for a few weeks!
I am probably being a bit over cautious but I really don't want to tweak it again!
Cheers,
GM

[TheEd]

Hi GM .. how things progressing?

TheEd

[GavMoon]

Hi TheEd - sorry I've been a bit absent. I didn't get "the email" but regardless have been meaning to write for a while.
The hammy is better now, but took longer than expected. Through August and a bit of September I was probably pushing it a bit too far now and again, but it hasn't complained for more than a month now so I think I'm in the clear.

Last week however I did something and had DOMS for 4-5 days afterwards! It was either some jumping lunges I did after last Thursday's run or it was some BSS I did in the gym the next day. Either way, it's made running this week a bit painful!

Let's look at where I am:
- Long runs are going well. I did 14.2k on Sunday (my longest) and did 13.5k the Sunday before that (my 2nd longest). I planned to work up to 15k and then level off there. The pace is about 5:10-5:15 with an HR in the 130s and 140s.

- Intervals. I was more cautious on adding pace and through September was edging down to around 4:30 pace for a set of 1k intervals. Yesterday I did 5x1k at 4:10-4:15 pace which didn't feel too bad. HR was in the 150s, then 160s and then the last 3 intervals it was high 160s / early 170s. I think this was higher than normal because I still had some DOMS in the quads. I also did a 2x2k session last week at 4:17 pace but that was harder work than expected because of a VO2 ride I'd done the previous day.

First race is a sprint tri on 8th December so I have an eye on that now.
If you'd still like me to do the 4k test I can do that on Wednesday next week if you like?
I guess the hammy was quite disruptive but I don't feel like my running has improved really over the last 6 months or so. It seems that each time I go to England (I went again for a couple of weeks in September) things go backwards. Maybe it's the change in routine.
Garmin has reported that over the last couple of months VO2 max has gone from 58 to 55 and predicted 5k time is up to nearly 21 mins now!

Cheers, GM

[TheEd]

Hi GM .. great to hear from you

best to sort out all physical issues and re-calibrate. Never a good idea to do 'strength' training after or before a quality session. Try use swimming as active recovery between quality sessions and place strength conditioning into week 2 of program

as you would know, you often need more recovery as we pass in age

don't worry too much about the 4k time-trial .. with the tri race coming in December you have a month to balance everything

your 1k session is pretty decent and it does no harm to run the 2k session 10 seconds per k slower

try not to hammer any sessions but instead to get them 'done' .. nothing more nothing less

once you have 'simple' training under the hood and the body starts to absorb and recover you should be in a pretty decent space

good luck TheEd