Today I realized a couple of things about my marathon prep:
Although I managed the last three weeks well (94, 91, 105 km) without any issues, injuries, or the feeling burnout(not yet?), but I sincerely felt that I didn't have a lot of challenging workouts (only one of two so far). Other sessions were mild to moderate. This is attributed to Hudson's principal of linear periodisation which is similar to the Australian (Deek, Mona, Bideau et al) system. Basically there is no separaton of phases (e.g. base training) and everyone trains at various paces all year around. Hence, Hudson designs the program in such a way that all the hard workouts are spread over 20 weeks. But since I joined the program only for the last 8 weeks, there is some disconnect here.
Secondly, I found that my endurance is my shortcoming. Saturday's 35k long run was tough for me. Although, it was done at easy pace but I was struggling after 2 hours. Had to stop every 10mins or so in the last hour to drink and rest. Is this a signal that a marathon is too soon?
There are only five weeks to go to Seoul, meaning only three weeks of hard training left to go. It's now really the time to step up and start upping the ante.
In light of the above, I am thinking to ditch the Hudson plan temporarily for the next couple of weeks (talk about loyalty after three weeks of following his plan haha). He typically schedules 2 moderate hard workouts and a long run each week and this cycle goes for months. However, I feel Jack Daniels & Tinman’s principles of two ‘big’ workouts per week are more marathon specific, especially during the sharpening period. The big workouts entail long runs with lots of qualities, while other runs during the week are purely 'fillers'. I will probably re-join Hudson training plan again in the last 2 weeks to make sure I taper correctly.
Mon (Recovery):
42mins Very Easy (av 5:37) + abs work
Needs a slow day after yesterday’s MP practice workout. Treadmill with 0.5% incline.
Tue (Easy):
18.3k Easy in 90mins (av 4:56)
Ran the first 70mins at varying aerobic effort between 135-155 bpm, finishing with 4 x 400m to train leg turnover.
Wed (Easy):
45mins Easy (av 5:16) + light weights
Three easy days in a row, should be ready for a quality session tomorrow. Treadmill 1% incline.
Thu (Fartlek):
8k Easy (av 5:12) incl strides
5k Tempo @ HM pace in 20:28 (av 4:06)
5mins rest
2 x 1200m @ 10k pace (av 3:53)
Splits: 4:41, 4:40 with 400m jog in between
5k Easy (av 5:12)
All up, 21k in 1h:41m (av 4:50)
An ineffective, unstructured workout. Planned to do 4x2k or 3x3k at HM pace, but ended up doing 5k continuous. Was tired by the end of the tempo and didn’t feel like doing more long intervals. Decided to do 1200s at quicker pace afterwards but the body couldn’t do more than two. In retrospective, I should have followed the original plan so I can spend more time at Threshold.
Fri (Recovery):
36mins Very Easy (av 5:37) + core/stretching
Conserving energy for tomorrow’s long run. Treadmill 0.5% incline.
Sat (Long):
35k Long Run in 3hours (av 5:09)
Long run is definitely not my forte. Ran from home to Priece Rd and spent an hour running up & down on an undulanting terrain. Took gel after 90mins and decided I’ve had enough of the hills. Ran on flat terrain in the second half. Found the last hour to be very tough as I felt the effect of glycogen depletion and tired legs. Including today's long run, I totaled 124k in last seven days (Sun-Sat) The three hours exclude stoppages time to re-fuel & re-hydrate.
Sun (Easy):
39mins Easy (av 4:56)
Felt much netter than yesterday. Included 5 x 10-15secs hill sprints
Total 105k for the week, 2665k for the year.
4 comments:
Your preparation has been fairly short, so maybe a few key long workouts will be helpful.
In your heat and humidity you'll probably never get the quality of the long-run sessions as good as you would in a more forgiving climate.
Sling, agree with Ewen, those long runs in humidity would be very tough so if you can get through them they will hold you in good stead. Don't worry about stopping, just make sure you keep well hydrated.
All the best.
Sling,
did you forget to be in Singapore ??? It all comes down to the temperature and humidity. If you are able to complete the KM, than it is already fine.
You are going well
Yeah what they said...
Good that you are analysing where you are at and making changes where needed. Agree that because you entered Hudson program late, some modifications helpful to get best possible prep on board for marathon goal race.
I also think that with the long runs the main thing is that you are out there for 2-4 hours (including short stops for up to about 15 minutes ) as that "time on your feet" is crucial to staying with it throughout the marathon. While the quality of your other sessions (assuming you get at least 3-6 long runs done) will determine how fast you can go on the day. That 3 hour barrier has to be not that far off being broken perhaps, or certainly sub 3.15 the way you are going...
Going strong keep at it, well done!
Post a Comment