1
Tues 7 x Approx 400, Wed 24k tempo (inc 20 @ 4:15)
Posted by
vat
,
23 May 2012
·
106 views
Pretty much what it says on the tin.
Was a bit beaten up on Tuesday, got through a bit of a junky warm up where I seemed to free up after a couple of km. I was there a bit later thanks to a late finish at work and darkness fell partway through the reps.
Decided to do all the reps on my forefoot and just focus on form and try to increase speed through the session. Pace for the approximately 400 metres (suspect a touch over) was 3:25, 3:21, 3:19, 3:16, 3:20 (shorter on the Garmin than the others), 3:11 and 3:08 (a touch longer than the others - the rep nearly killed me, though!).
Happy with the consistency and never really felt out of control. It feels easier to extract pace from the forefoot set up, although it's not really reflected in the heart rate.
Felt pretty good through the cool down and rapt to knock over another session despite work inconveniences.
Legs didn't feel too bad for today (Wed) and the idea was to extend the effort part of the tempo run so that I was at around 4:14-4:15 pace for 4 1/2 laps of the 4.45 out and back of the UQ Oxley trail, around 20k (well, exactly 20k according to the Garmin).
Hit the road just after 3:30pm and didn't feel great off the bat, and the Garmin decided to play funny buggers (the plot later suggesting I'd started in the middle of the river, around 100 metres north), taking a while to start making sensible readings. I took a lap at the start of the gravel path to clear the nonsensical data, and it was apparent things were back to normal.
At 2.2k I took another lap and started the session in earnest. Took about 1 to 2k to work my way down to 4:14 pace, and it was pretty stable over the next 4 1/2 full out and back laps of the Oxley trail, giving 20k in 1:24:57, a shade under 4:15 pace. Perfect, exactly what I wanted. The last 5k or so were a bit of a test, trying to maintain pace, and I think the experience will put me in good stead in 10 weeks or so - the key to holding pace is to talk yourself in staying 'on it' in the last 5 or 6 when the legs are screaming, and if you can simulate that a couple of times to work out how to adjust to cope with it, so much the better (short of injuring yourself, of course).
I must admit the rubber band did snap as I took the lap and the last 2.2k cool down was taken pretty easily. Nonetheless, great little session, 1:46:30 for 24.58 (or whatever it was) for around 4:20 all up. Wouldn't like that session to get any longer timewise, maybe work on the speed a bit, bring the whole session down to 4:15 or so
I must admit I am getting a bit beaten up with these peak weeks and am working out what to do in the next two weeks ahead of my proposed 35k race simulation at the Brisbane Road Runners. The schedule calls for 36k on Sunday, which I'll do, but we're in Sydney the following week so I might run with the Striders on the Sunday (to catch up with friends) and do an easy 30, and maybe treat the week after as a taper week with a full carb load leading into the 35k @ 4:15 for the opening 25-30k.
Was a bit beaten up on Tuesday, got through a bit of a junky warm up where I seemed to free up after a couple of km. I was there a bit later thanks to a late finish at work and darkness fell partway through the reps.
Decided to do all the reps on my forefoot and just focus on form and try to increase speed through the session. Pace for the approximately 400 metres (suspect a touch over) was 3:25, 3:21, 3:19, 3:16, 3:20 (shorter on the Garmin than the others), 3:11 and 3:08 (a touch longer than the others - the rep nearly killed me, though!).
Happy with the consistency and never really felt out of control. It feels easier to extract pace from the forefoot set up, although it's not really reflected in the heart rate.
Felt pretty good through the cool down and rapt to knock over another session despite work inconveniences.
Legs didn't feel too bad for today (Wed) and the idea was to extend the effort part of the tempo run so that I was at around 4:14-4:15 pace for 4 1/2 laps of the 4.45 out and back of the UQ Oxley trail, around 20k (well, exactly 20k according to the Garmin).
Hit the road just after 3:30pm and didn't feel great off the bat, and the Garmin decided to play funny buggers (the plot later suggesting I'd started in the middle of the river, around 100 metres north), taking a while to start making sensible readings. I took a lap at the start of the gravel path to clear the nonsensical data, and it was apparent things were back to normal.
At 2.2k I took another lap and started the session in earnest. Took about 1 to 2k to work my way down to 4:14 pace, and it was pretty stable over the next 4 1/2 full out and back laps of the Oxley trail, giving 20k in 1:24:57, a shade under 4:15 pace. Perfect, exactly what I wanted. The last 5k or so were a bit of a test, trying to maintain pace, and I think the experience will put me in good stead in 10 weeks or so - the key to holding pace is to talk yourself in staying 'on it' in the last 5 or 6 when the legs are screaming, and if you can simulate that a couple of times to work out how to adjust to cope with it, so much the better (short of injuring yourself, of course).
I must admit the rubber band did snap as I took the lap and the last 2.2k cool down was taken pretty easily. Nonetheless, great little session, 1:46:30 for 24.58 (or whatever it was) for around 4:20 all up. Wouldn't like that session to get any longer timewise, maybe work on the speed a bit, bring the whole session down to 4:15 or so
I must admit I am getting a bit beaten up with these peak weeks and am working out what to do in the next two weeks ahead of my proposed 35k race simulation at the Brisbane Road Runners. The schedule calls for 36k on Sunday, which I'll do, but we're in Sydney the following week so I might run with the Striders on the Sunday (to catch up with friends) and do an easy 30, and maybe treat the week after as a taper week with a full carb load leading into the 35k @ 4:15 for the opening 25-30k.
