10 May 2008

Lovin' it

I think I am responding well to the switch to 5k-10k training, judging from a couple of track sessions this week.

The intervals are getting easier to do and I fell that I am getting stronger.

I also made a little tweak to my training after looking at Sean Wade’s training log (top US masters runner). Basically, after a hard day, I’ll take two easy days before I tackle another hard day. It seems to make a big difference as I now feel fresher on my hard days.

Did two quality workouts this week, 5 x 1000m at 10k pace mid-week and a 10k race simulation (6k tempo + 4 x 1k at 10k pace) in the weekend.

I begin to wonder whether all the crap running between January to March was attributed to the marathon training. Too much emphasis on long run and mileage done in an unconducive running environment like Singapore seem to break my body down as well as drain my physical and mental reserves. I always struggled running longer than 1 hour in Singapore as the combination of heat, humidity, and loss of fluid took a lot out of me.

Monday:
44 mins Easy (av pace 5:14)
Course: treadmill, random with various inclines ranging between 0-4%

Tuesday:
40 mins Easy (av 5:03)
Course: road incl 2 Mt Fabre climbs (between 1500-1600m each, raising 70-80m)
50 abs crunch + core

Ran during lunch time and it was blazing hot.

Wednesday (track):
10 mins warm up incl 2 strides

5 x 1000m CV intervals (av 3:52) with 200m jog
3:52 (93, 94, 45)
3:53 (94, 93, 46)
3:52 (93, 93, 46)
3:52 (93, 93, 46)
3:49 (93, 93, 43)

4 x 00:15 strides on rough grass
10 mins cool down
5 mins stretching

A good session, happy with the effort and strength despite quite minimal recovery period relative to my previous speed workouts in Singapore.

Thursday:
36 mins recovery (av 5:33)
Course: treadmill, random with inclines 0-2%
80 abs crunch + core

Friday:
40 mins Easy (av 5:15), incl 5 x 60-70m hill sprints (~15 secs)
Course: Concrete, undulanting

Felt sluggish, with sore throat from the traffic pollution

Saturday (track):
10 mins warm up

6k sub-LT Tempo Run in 24:32 (av 4:05)
Splits: 96, 97, 98, 99, 99, 98, 98, 98, 98, 98, 98, 98, 98, 98, 96
Av HR 169, with a high 177 bpm

800m jog + rest (gel, drink)

4 x 1000m CV intervals (av 3:51, av HR 171)
3:50 (90, 94, 46), av HR 167
3:53 (94, 94, 45), av HR 171
3:53 (93, 95, 45), av HR 170
3:47 (92, 94, 41), av HR 172
All with 100m walk, 100m jog for recovery

3 laps of sprint the straights (100m), jog the curves (100m)
5.7k cool down incl 5 x 00:10 hill sprints

Total 20k in 1:31:50 (av 3:36)

Beautiful weather, 26c cloudy and windy (like Perth in spring). A great race simulation ! The av HR during the 6k tempo was 169 bpm with a high of 177 compared to a 5k tempo at the same pace in April with av 176 and a high 189 bpm. So a 10bpm improvement at the same pace, although the weather condition is much cooler today. The great thing is that it didn’t go above 180 bpm as I probably ran it below threshold. CV workouts after the tempo were tough but the pace was comparable to the Wednesday straight intervals session.

Sunday:
37 mins Recovery (av 5:33)
Course: concrete with some on grass.

Total 68 km before tomorrow’s run, year-to-date 1258 km

5 comments:

Ewen said...

I'm glad you're enjoying the change. I like that pattern of easy, easy, hard - that would seem to give the best chance of doing the hard sessions well.

Both of your harder sessions this week have been impressive. It'll be interesting to follow your progress as this type of training continues.

Hamburglar said...

Good to see you are enjoying your running (it seems). Maybe you are starting to get used to the weather conditions? Keep it up.

Epi said...

I'd be expecting a 10k PB in the next couple of months with those training paces!

Well done for hanging in there over the tough months

Clown said...

Great effort , looks as though you are on a roll which is fantastic.

Keep it up, def looks as though the new focus is a winner.

trailblazer777 said...

looks like you are on a winner there with the 1k reps you are crankin out. I agree with Ewen, the easy,easy, hard pattern sounds like it might be a good one. I'd suggest you bump up one of the easy recovery runs to 60-80minutes. Agreed that the more humid weather certainly takes a lot out of people...
way to go!