08 March 2009

Struggling with long run

An okay week, but I bombed again badly at the long run. Could only last 90mins before had to take walk breaks. Both my mental and physical endurance were just not there yet to do long runs.

This is my last full week in Singapore before heading to Melbourne next Thursday. I am really hoping the Melbourne weather will help me to start building up the long runs.

It's an exciting time for us with the baby. My wife is on here 36-37 weeks. The doc thinks there is a possibility that he might arrive early.

My current expectation is to run 3 times/week for those 5 weeks I am in Melbourne. Mileage wise, probably around 40-50k a week, which is lower to what I am currently doing right now. However, I''ll focus on 'bang-for-the-bucks' workouts such as long tempos and hard long runs. Personally, I'd like to get comfortable with running long runs at around 4:40-4:50 pace. My long run pace has stayed at 5:00-5:20 pace for the last 3 years due to a combination of no PBs (I don't earn anything that warrants a faster pace in training) and moving to hot & humid Singapore which slowed down the paces.

After 5 weeks of low quantity, high quantity training in Melbourne, there will be 11 weeks before either Perth or Gold Coast marathon. I hope that I could replicate the success of last year's Seoul Marathon preparation which was based on 8 weeks of training.

Mon (Easy Day):
60mins Easy (5:12)
No soreness from yesterday's race. Should have checked the watch battery and ran the race hard :)

Tue (Workout Day):
15mins wu, 8x400 (av 84), 4 x 200 (av 39), 15mins cd
Did the reps on bike path with splits: 83, 83, 86, 84, 85, 84, 84, 79 with 60-90 recovery in between. The first 4 was jog recovery but got stuffed afterwards and did standing rest. The splits for 200s were 39, 40, 40, 38.

Wed (Easy Day):
50mins Easy (5:16)

Thu (Easy Day):
45mins Easy/Moderate (4:56)
In Jakarta for work. Ran on hotel treadmill, started at 10km/h, increasing the pace by 0.1 km/h every minute.

Fri (Easy Day):
32mins Easy (5:12)
Also on treadmill. Flew back to Singapore late evening.

Sat (Workout Day):
40mins Fartlek (av 4:33) incl Mono Fartlek
Kept the float pace for the 90s and 60s segments at around MP (4:20s), however, they slowed to briks jog during the 30s and 15s segments. Covered around 5k so average pace was 4:00 min/km. Overall, it's a good & different workout, could feel the HR working hard during the 30/15s sections.

Sun (Easy Day):
90mins Easy (5:00)
Another failed attempt at the long run. Planned 2hrs but was walking after 90mins. Felt like sleeping in and only started running at 7.30 which was too late to my liking. The weather was terribly warm and humid by then. After the walk breaks, I decided there was no point in continuing further and cut my losses.

Total 73k for the week.

4 comments:

trailblazer777 said...

Hey all the best with the Melbourne low quantity, high quality plans, and the marathon target for july, and also for the looming birth, incredible moment of life that one!

Ewen said...

I'm sure you'll get the running weather you hope for in Melbourne. If not, just wait a couple of hours ;)

I'm with you on edging that long run pace down a bit. I know in my best years we ran a lot of long runs in the 4:30-4:45 range.

by7 said...

the weather makes all the difference...
Singapore is really a nightmare for running... 30C all year long.

By the way, you can bit a more ambitious for your training plan in Melbourne.
If your child is in the category "quiet" or "normal", than he/she will sleep/eat only for the first couple of months, so you can sneak in easily a run without missing a beat of family action (you can give the excuse to your wife to sleep...).
Just pray he/she is not in the "nasty" or "sick" category because then is a hell of life.

my child is luckily inthe "quiet" category and there is almost nothing to do (apart nappy change and feed). Obviously the first child is more challanging and emotionally demanding, but you need to organize yourself and then is not too bad

by7 said...

yes, I follwed your injury...
a "funny" coincidence that we both get injured at the same race... (well... you were plain unlucky, myself only suicidial becuase I took a wrong bet..)