Monthly Archives: May 2012

These should not have been hard runs. What happened?

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2 very very hard runs this week.  Neither should have been particularly challenging – by the planned distances and paces alone.  8 miles yesterday – should have easily done it in under an hour but pace was all over the place after 1.5 miles in and finished up taking almost 1 hour 10 minutes.  Then 4.5 miles today – intervals – but way slower than normal. One other run this week – on Monday – only 5 miles but good pace and felt good.  So why so slow these last 2?

This is week 2 of the 10k plan.  One run from the 4 planned runs last week was missed – due to my little sister coming to stay with her family.  But wanted to do 3-4 this week and get back on track.  Started off ok on Monday with a good 5 mile run but then 3 days off and late nights and long days on trips – so too long a break between runs.

I picked up a cold on a work trip to London last week, which never helps, and it’s still lingering on the chest a bit.  And also has been passed onto the rest of the family as well.  To top it off, it’s very very hot, and pollen season here in the UK, so hayfever is kicking in.

Add all these together and running (or any other exercise) is going to take a hit.  When I set out yesterday for the 8 miles, I planned a nice easy 7:30 minutes per mile but finished at over 8:30 – rubbish.  Legs were so heavy as well.

Back to the normal plan next week – only 6 weeks to go.  And need to focus on pace and speed work more.

The moral of the story this week…

  1. Don’t leave big gaps between training
  2. Don’t run when sick or set realistic expectations and take it very very very slowly
  3. Come up with a plan on how outdoors to run during the pollen season

Number 3 is in progress and I’m open to all suggestions.  Do you suffer from seasonal ailments like hayfever and how do you train around them?  In previous years it’s not affected my running like this and never in May.

Some pointers that I’ve found to help me before (though not this week):

  • Wear wrap around shades
  • Run in the early morning where possible
  • Stick to roads and avoid parks and grassy areas
  • If you belong to a gym, use a treadmill – air conditioned enclosed spaces a big big plus
  • Rub Vaseline on your nose and up your nostrils – stops pollen particles getting up

Vaseline as a miracle running medicine again – you’ll remember the previous post on sore nipples.

A bit of a Star Wars theme going on…

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Mrs. Noble has done it again and at very short notice. The planet Hoth on a cake. Love it. A link to running? Don’t need one – it’s Star Wars…

Snowballs in Summer: A bit of a Star Wars theme going on …

But it is day one of the 8 week 10k training plan today, so will need energy tonight from the cake, after a great hill run earlier!

Tempo runs, intervals, Kenyan Hills and threshold runs – it could get complicated

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The 10k training plan is ready!  Research done from ones in magazines like Men’s Running (which conveniently enough this month has a section on 10k training) and some online plans I’ve found.  4 runs per week starting next Monday – my birthday – and lasting for 8 weeks.  244 training miles and 6 and a bit race miles, a nice round 250 in total.

The 4 weekly runs are:

  • Hills
  • Intervals or tempo
  • Long
  • Recovery

With distances building up over the first 5 weeks and then dropping back slightly, and focusing then on the actual 10k distance (and pace).  Again some cross training in there with karate – for core and stretching.  2 sessions of karate a week most weeks, cutting back to one and then none in the last few weeks, focusing more on the running and getting enough rest days in.

Long runs up to 12 miles – nice and easy!  And tempo and interval runs (at threshold level) up to 10 miles.  Again all building up over the first 5 weeks.

Sounds good and again it’s about pace – and this time running at my target pace.  What’s my target pace?  Good question – that’s the next goal to figure out.  The 10k run I did last week was at 7 minutes 14 seconds per mile.  Would like to improve on that.  7 minutes per mile – just under 44 minutes?

A good link here to what the different types of runs are – all these new terms can get a bit confusing.  And these descriptions are care of “full potential” by Keith Anderson (a pretty awesome marathon runner – around 2:17).  Kenyan Hills, Threshold Runs, Long Runs, Fartlek and more all here!

And last but not least the infamous tempo run and a great description from Runner’s World by John Hanc…

This will be fun and challenging.  Just what I like.

The best training plan for 10k?

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A good question.  Having done a fair few 1/2 marathons and now 2 full marathons over the last few years, I know the sort of training you should do for those distances.  And yes how important the long runs are.  But 10k?  That’s just over 6 miles.  Do you need to train for that?  Obviously the answer is yes!  And more so if you want to push yourself and do as well as you can, PB’s and the rest.

8 weeks looks to be a standard training programme length for 10k, so not as long as for the longer distances but a good few months and with some intensive runs in – assuming you want to push yourself.

And all the normal types of training runs should be in there:

  • Long runs – up to say 90 minutes
  • Tempo and interval runs – for speed work
  • Hill runs – I didn’t do too much of this last time so one to add for me
  • Actual 10k runs – the real distance of the race
  • Speed work – just speed work

3-4 runs per week with some cross training thrown in – karate again for me (with a real focus on core work and stretching).  And I’ll get the Swiss Ball out as well to do some more core work at home (and try again to keep up the regular stretching – daily would be good).

Since the London Marathon – just over 2 weeks ago – I’ve done 5 runs:

  • Nice slow and easy one with Nic (Mrs. Noble) – about 4 miles 4 days after
  • 10k – and at a nice pace (managed just under 45 minutes)
  • 8 miles – also at a nice pace (just over 59 minutes)
  • 5.5 miles interval training
  • 5 miles – ok pace (today’s run – struggled for some reason)

Next week the official plan starts and will do 2 more runs this week around 10 miles each.

On a side note, for the interval training I did last week, I ran 1.5 miles warm up, then 6 sets of 1/4 mile fast and 1/4 slow and finished with a mile cool down.  On the 1/4 mile fast section – one of them – I managed a pace of 5 minutes 7 seconds per mile for short distance (just).  And that was hard.  The elite marathon runners – let’s call them supermen from now on – run 26.2 miles at a pace of 4 minutes 35 seconds per mile.  That’s nothing short of super human awesomeness.

I love having a training plan to follow and focus on.  Really does something for me and pushes me on.  For me it’s important to have the plan with the goal to run the race.  Need to get some goals outside of running in place now with Mrs. Noble.  Goals are good!

Do you set goals for yourself outside of any sport activities?  And if you do, how do you do it?  Any tips and tools you have to share?