Tag Archives: Intervals

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.

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.

Time for the taper

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Last long long run done last week – 21 miles – and a grand total last week of 46 miles.  With only 18 days left until the big day, it’s all about reducing the number of miles now and letting the body recover slightly.

Aiming to cut back by about 1/3 on miles this week, and then the same over the next 2 weeks.  So far this week have done 1 x 12 miles and 1 x 10 miles, both at marathon pace and 10 miles planned today – with 4 x 1 mile intervals – so 32 in total.  Next week some speed work (and about 20 miles total) and then the final week a few easy light runs (about 10 miles total).

Nice article here from the BBC on tapering – from 2005 but all valid.

Not long now!

 

The longest run

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All sorts of theories about how long your longest run should be in your marathon training and 20 miles looks about the normal maximum.  Very very few plans suggest running the full 26.2 miles – at least the plans for the non-professional athletes out there.  I’ve never quite understood why, and surely it’s more about you knowing what your body can do and how much recovery you need.  There’s nothing magical that happens when you cross the 26 miles barrier, and it’s about training your body to cope when you hit the wall and its physiological challenges.

I did a few 20 milers back in my training in 2009 and one 22 miler.  This time round, I wanted to go a bit further – in terms of max. distance – and do less of the long long runs.  Last time round the difference between the longest training run and the actual marathon was huge – both in terms of doing the run, the physical and mental effort to finish and the recovery period.  I’m convinced it was starting off too fast, getting caught up in the buzz at the start, and then hitting the wall at about 18 miles.  Not fun.

So the plan was for 23 miles early this last Saturday morning.  Up at 7am, breakfast and even a small coffee (something I never do before running normally) and out for 8am, and at planned pace of 8:30 to 9:00 minutes per mile.  Good starting pace and managed to hold it for 10 or so miles, before slowing down slightly.  Great route as well – up past Hampton Court Bridge and up the tow path – it just goes on and on.  A bit of rain on the way and no rainproof gear on so got wet.

This is how far 23 miles is…

Good old Garmin battery warning came up just after starting and then it died completely just 0.6 miles from the finish.  Rubbish.  Very frustrating as it normally warns you several times that it’s running out.  A lesson learnt though – make sure it’s fully charged before the long long runs.

The breakfast coffee shot had an effect and I had to have a little stop on route.  But maybe a small coffee could work on marathon day – breakfast normally 2+ hours before, so plenty of time for stops before.  And took an energy drink on the run this time and had a drink every couple of miles ish from about 6 miles in.

The results?  A good finish – even managed to pick up slightly for the last mile and then a nice strong finish for the last 1/4 mile.  Pace about 10% slower than planned marathon pace – which is bang on target.  More energy drinks and some bananas when I got in, and stretching.  Managed karate training on Sunday morning and legs working fine.  Now 2 days after and all good.  The training plan looks like it’s working.

More fast runs and interval training this week with one 1/2 marathon somewhere (and looking for sub-100 minutes this time).

 

Probably the most important workout for marathons?

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Last week was a week of shorter faster runs and I decided to try something new – having read a good post from Twitter about mile long intervals.

2 miles warm-up run, just faster than planned marathon pace, then 1 mile fast (about 1.5 minutes per mile faster than marathon pace) followed by 0.5 mile recovery (about 30 seconds per mile slower than marathon pace) and then repeat the 1 mile / 0.5 mile interval 4 times and then finish with a 2 mile cool down.  10 miles in total.

That was the plan – the first one started a bit too late in the day and had to be back, so had to cut the final 2 miles off or down.  8.3 in total and great average pace – not surprising really with 4 faster miles.  Did the same again a few days later – with the full 10 miles – and a great great run.  Average pace up as well.

Nice way to train, the longer mile intervals get harder during the run – no surprises really – but it’s a good routine.

Lots of articles around about interval training and the longer mile intervals are known to be good for marathons.  Even referred to as the “single most important workout for marathon training“.  More planned for me next week.