28 August 2011

Good week

Mon (22 Aug):
9k easy, 4 strides (av 5.15)

Tue (23 Aug):
3k warm up, strides
Tempo Fartlek session
4000m @ 4.13, 3mins rec, 800m @ 3.54, 2mins rec
3200m @ 4.08, 3mins rec, 800m @ 3.57, 2mins rec
2400m @ 4.09, 3mins rec, 800m @ 3.58. 2mins rec
1600m @ 4.04, 3mins rec, 800m @ 3.56
(total quality segments 14.4k averaging 4.07 min/km)
2k cool down
Total 22k in 1.41 (av 4.36)

PM 35mins arc trainer

The plan was to run the long intervals at approx 4.00-4.05 pace and the 800s at 3.50-3.55 pace, but that proved to be a wishful thinking given where I am at! Ended up averaging 4.09 min/km for the long intervals and 3.57 min/km for the 800s. So that's about 5-10 secs/km slower than what I was expecting. One mistake that I did was that I took my drinks a bit too late at about 40mins into the fartlek which made me dehydrated. Cadences were around 190-195 strides per minute for the fast segments, slowing into 180 for the recovery segments.

Wed (24 Aug)
AM weights
PM 13k easy run (av 5.15), mostly on grass

Thu (25 Aug)
7k easy (5.15)

Fri (26 Aug)
3k warm up
Deek Quarters
continuous 8* (400m fast, 200m float) + 200m fast
82 (50), 88 (52), 87 (54), 89 (54), 88 (54), 89 (54), 89 (54), 88 (53), 42
Total 5k continuous in 19:33
3k down

A short, hard session! Averaged 3.40 pace (88seconds) for the 400s, and 4.30 pace (53seconds) for the float 200s. HR was a bit low, average was 173 bpm and only reached a high of 95% Max. Leg turnover was 200 and 190 strides per minute for the 400s and 200s respectively. Good cadence but still think my stride length is still short !!

Sat (27 Aug)
Off (planned). Decided to rest so that I am more energized to do long run tomorrow. Did 20mins core strength session.

Sun (28 Aug)
33k Long Run in 2h37m (av 4.46) consisting of
First 12k in 59mins (av 4.55); home-Canal-Margaret Dr-6th Ave-B Timah Rd
Last 21k in 1h38m (av 4.40) ; Rifle Range Rd out & back plus above

Good weather for a change, humid but at least cooler than normal. Felt pretty good until 26k, then got tired. Running time excluded 10mins of stoppages for traffic lights, buy drinks at 7/11 etc

Total 95k for the week


First time since the injury that I managed to put in a decent training week. Speed hasn't returned yet as evidenced by Tuesday and Friday workouts, but that's the way it is right now. Also, happy to finally do a 30k+ run. Next weekend I am running my first race since Perth DNF, which is the Army Half Marathon. I have only done a couple of workouts post-injury, so I am not too sure what kind of shape that I am in. Since there are only 6 weeks left to Melbourne and the fact that my training has been lousy in recent weeks, I might just train as normal this week and treat the race as a workout.

1 comment:

Ewen said...

Yes, good week at last. I'd agree to train through the half, but perhaps an easy day the day before so you're not running on dead legs.

The 200 cadence seems sufficiently high, so yes, only way to improve speed is to increase stride length by pushing off the ground with more power, so, I guess short hill repeats and short, fast intervals 100 to 200m would help there.