22 May 2011

Week 9 of 13 Marathon Training

Monday:
15mins warm up with strides
Fartlek
4 x 2mins at 5k effort with 1.20 rec
4 x 30 secs hard with 1.00 rec
3 x 4mins at HM effort with 1.20 rec
2 x 30secs hard with 1.00 rec
2.00 jogging between sets
5mins cool down
Total 13k in 61mins (av 4.43)

Ran during lunch time, 32c with a heat index of 40c. This workout is an easier version of the infamous Portsea fartlek (3x3mins @ 3k, 4x30secs, 3x5mins @ 5k). I was totally saturated at the end, socks and shoes were soaked with sweat.

Tuesday:
20510 metres medium-long run in 1h42m (av 5.00)

In memory of Sammy Wanjiru (PB 2.05.10)

Wednesday:
OFF. Flew to HK

Thursday:
2.4k warm up with strides
16k Tempo run in 67 (av 4.11 min/km), Bowen Road 4k route
1.6k cool down
Total 20k in 88 (4.25)

Splits:
4.06, 4.11, 4.09, 4.09 = 16.35
4.25, 4.03, 3.58, 4.26 = 16.52
4.14, 4.18, 4.09, 4.15 = 16.56
4.20, 4.13, 4.06, 3.56 = 16.25

What a difference in weather can make! HK temperature is still considered warm at 24c, but probably this is my inner threshold - where anything above this I will simply get fried. Did 2 return trips of Bowen Road (4k running path) without any drinks nor stopping. Some of the splits were slightly off, due to trees.
 along the route

A couple of weeks ago, I did 8k at 4.14 pace in Singapore with an average HR of 165bpm. So I am reasonably pleased running 16k at 4.11 pace with an average HR of 162bpm. That's twice the distance, slightly faster pace but at a lower HR!

Unfortunately, I didn't manage to do a long tempo such as 24k at MP since I had to return to the hotel for a breakfast meeting. I landed in HK very late and checked-in at the hotel around midnight, so I couldn't wake up early enough. In that sense, I lost an opportunity to do a long, race specific workout there at a much palatable temperature.

Friday:
12.4k easy in 62 (5.00), Bowen Road HK

A nice relaxing run with an average HR of 140s. Post-run recovery also seems to be quicker with the lower temperature.

Saturday:
25k Passion Run in 1.52.30 (av 4.30)
5k slow cool down
Total 30k

5k Splits:
21.37 - 22.56 - 22.55 - 22.55 - 22.07 (watch time, excluded 1min forced stop at traffic light)

My plan was to average around 4.20-4.25 pace for the 25k (5-10secs slower than goal MP) as a race simulation. However, I got to attend a birthday party early arvo and I arrived at the race venue very, very late. Just in time to start in Wave 3 or about 20mins later after Wave 1 was flagged off. This meant that I probably had about 5000 runners and walkers starting ahead of me.

Since Wave 2 started about 10mins ahead of Wave 3, I had a pretty clear route for the first couple of ks averaging around 4.15 pace, but from km 4-20, it was virtually running into a great human wall of Singapore. Had to zig-zag and ran mostly on the beach sand and grass to overtake prople, especially in the ECP sections. I probably averaged around 4.35-4.40 pace during this 15km stretch. In the last 5k the crowd got more scattered, and I was able to run with greater freedom. I wouldn't be surprised if I passed around 4000-5000 runners from the start to finish.

At the end, I averaged around 4.30 pace or around 94% of goal MP. Looking back, it wasn't that bad of an outing to run 25k at 3h10m marathon pace, facing a human wall and 30c temperature (37 heat index). I never struggled during the run and was able to converse normally with other runners. HR wasn't also that bad, averaging 164 bpm or 85% MHR (my typical marathon HR in cold temp was around 163-167).

Sunday:
OFF

Week in Summary:

96k for the week in 5 runs. Was initialy contemplating whether to do my long tempo (marathon simulation) in HK or during Saturday's 25k race. At the end, it turned out to be half-and-half. Due to time constraint, I only managed to do 16k (non-stop) tempo in HK at a pace somewhere between MP and HMP. During Saturday race, I ended up running at 4.30 pace, but given the crowd issues and racing un-tapered -  doing 60% of marathon distance at 95% goal MP without workoing too hard is perhaps not too shabby.

Overall, a decent week with 1 fartlek, 1 medium long run, 1 long tempo, and 1 hard long run. Adding Thursday (16k) and Saturday (25k) sessions, my quality kms were 41k in 3 hours - that's about 3h05 marathon right there.

The bad news is that I began to notice symptoms of posterior tibialis issues (in the same leg) like last year which caused me to miss Melbourne Marathon. I've taken anti-inflamatories (both Voltren pills and gel) as well as icing and treatment on the TENS machine. With 4 weeks to go, I am not gonna take any unneccesary risk and will only do workouts when I am ready. Finger crossed that it won't develop into anything serious!

4 comments:

Epi said...

Take care with the leg!

trailblazer777 said...

All the best with keeping the tibialis in good nick. Well done on anexcellent week there. Thats an excellent 16k!!! The 25k race also a good one to have under the belt. A good mix of sessions there, and as long as you can keep the injuries/niggles well managed, you are threatening that 3hour barrier again. Way to go!

Clown said...

Nice week. Just make sure that leg is ok.

Ewen said...

Good week - nice touch with the Sammy run. The HK run shows how much less stressful it is with the lower temps. I'm about the same around 24C. Perth should feel cold!

Take care with the leg - run easy and short for a few days if you need to.