Sunday, February 20, 2005
Back to reality?
Monday, 14 February 2005, 11:55am
9km easy, 38:49, ave HR 148
A big weekends training, so HR was up a bit, but felt comfortable
Tuesday, 15 February 2005
Off
Woke with a sore throat, and decided to take the day off and try and get over it quickly
Wednesday, 16 February 2005, 7:40am
16km easy, 1:13:23, ave HR 148
Didn;t feel flash heading out, and was planning to call it quits, but picked up after about 3km and ran the full 16. Slower team indicative of easier effort.
Thursday, 17 February 2005, 8:00am
10km w/5.5km tempo 38:36, ave HR 153
5.5km splits almost identical to last week, although I felt a bit more sluggish than last week.
Friday, 18 February 2005, 8:00am
9km easy, 38:46, ave HR 143
Easy recovery run
Saturday, 19 February 2005, 11:00am
Mona fartlek, 44:38, ave HR 150
A tough session, pulled up after 3rd 60 second interval. Recovered and ran 4x100m in sub 15 sec w/15secs recovery.
Sunday, 20 February 2005, 7:00pm
12km steady, 50:00, ave HR 149
Brisk but easy run it the train - have decided to taper for State Champs next week, so dropped long run.
Week Summary
66km, 4hours 44 minutes
9km easy, 38:49, ave HR 148
A big weekends training, so HR was up a bit, but felt comfortable
Tuesday, 15 February 2005
Off
Woke with a sore throat, and decided to take the day off and try and get over it quickly
Wednesday, 16 February 2005, 7:40am
16km easy, 1:13:23, ave HR 148
Didn;t feel flash heading out, and was planning to call it quits, but picked up after about 3km and ran the full 16. Slower team indicative of easier effort.
Thursday, 17 February 2005, 8:00am
10km w/5.5km tempo 38:36, ave HR 153
5.5km splits almost identical to last week, although I felt a bit more sluggish than last week.
Friday, 18 February 2005, 8:00am
9km easy, 38:46, ave HR 143
Easy recovery run
Saturday, 19 February 2005, 11:00am
Mona fartlek, 44:38, ave HR 150
A tough session, pulled up after 3rd 60 second interval. Recovered and ran 4x100m in sub 15 sec w/15secs recovery.
Sunday, 20 February 2005, 7:00pm
12km steady, 50:00, ave HR 149
Brisk but easy run it the train - have decided to taper for State Champs next week, so dropped long run.
Week Summary
66km, 4hours 44 minutes
Sunday, February 13, 2005
Best week's training ever?
I've done bigger weeks before, and I've done harder sessions before, but I am struggling to recall a week where I have felt as good about my training as this week. Every session went according to plan, and although fairly tired (Sunday was my 12th day straight), I felt good during each session. 93kms all up, and four good quality sessions.
Unfortuntely, it occured to me that I have to string about another 20 weeks like this together, before I can start to see real results (as opposed to some short term gains that are likely to come from a few more intensive speed sessions). Not every week will fall into place as easily as this one, and some potholes are guaranteed to appear in the road ahead. Perhaps a bit pessimistic, but I know that maintaining focus and intensity over the next few months is going to be very challenging - possibly harder than the running itself (I've always found getting out the door harder than most runs).
Monday 7th February 2005, 7.45am
12km easy - 53.35, ave HR 144
Not the easiest of recoveries after the two tougher days preceding, but fairly comfortable.
Tuesday 8th February 2005, 7.30am
6x3min, 90 sec recovery, 20 minutes warm-up and cool down. Felt great - jogged all the recoveries (as opposed to walking which was the norm of late), and there was very little drop off in pace during the whole session.
Wednesday 9th February 2005, 7.30am
16km easy, 1:10:13, ave HR 146
Comfortable longer run, ran strongly over the back half.
Thursday 10th February 2005, 7.30am
10km w/6km tempo, 37:31
A trip with the car showed the 6km section is actually 5.5km, which makes the times more realistic (I didn't think I actually ran 6 3:18kms last week). 5.5km section in 19:45 (3.35km) - ran 19:51 last week, but felt a lot more comfortable this week.
Friday 11th February 2005, 7.45am
9km easy, 42.35, ave HR 142 pbm
Easy recovery run.
Saturday 12th February 2005, 4:15pm
8x60 sec, 60 sec recov. 15 min warmup/cool down
Felt really strong, around 72 sec/400m pace, and consistent the whole session. Ran strongly the entire session, didn't slow down in later intervals or later in the intervals. Worked the last 200m of the final one - 30-32 seconds - felt good, but it will take a while to get any real speed back.
Sunday 13th February 2005, 6:45am
20km steady, 1:30, ave HR 150 bpm
A long run, but the pace was all over the shop. Probably too hard (tomorrow will be especially easy), but ran strongly, and kept up to runners running much harder than I was.
Unfortuntely, it occured to me that I have to string about another 20 weeks like this together, before I can start to see real results (as opposed to some short term gains that are likely to come from a few more intensive speed sessions). Not every week will fall into place as easily as this one, and some potholes are guaranteed to appear in the road ahead. Perhaps a bit pessimistic, but I know that maintaining focus and intensity over the next few months is going to be very challenging - possibly harder than the running itself (I've always found getting out the door harder than most runs).
Monday 7th February 2005, 7.45am
12km easy - 53.35, ave HR 144
Not the easiest of recoveries after the two tougher days preceding, but fairly comfortable.
Tuesday 8th February 2005, 7.30am
6x3min, 90 sec recovery, 20 minutes warm-up and cool down. Felt great - jogged all the recoveries (as opposed to walking which was the norm of late), and there was very little drop off in pace during the whole session.
Wednesday 9th February 2005, 7.30am
16km easy, 1:10:13, ave HR 146
Comfortable longer run, ran strongly over the back half.
Thursday 10th February 2005, 7.30am
10km w/6km tempo, 37:31
A trip with the car showed the 6km section is actually 5.5km, which makes the times more realistic (I didn't think I actually ran 6 3:18kms last week). 5.5km section in 19:45 (3.35km) - ran 19:51 last week, but felt a lot more comfortable this week.
Friday 11th February 2005, 7.45am
9km easy, 42.35, ave HR 142 pbm
Easy recovery run.
Saturday 12th February 2005, 4:15pm
8x60 sec, 60 sec recov. 15 min warmup/cool down
Felt really strong, around 72 sec/400m pace, and consistent the whole session. Ran strongly the entire session, didn't slow down in later intervals or later in the intervals. Worked the last 200m of the final one - 30-32 seconds - felt good, but it will take a while to get any real speed back.
Sunday 13th February 2005, 6:45am
20km steady, 1:30, ave HR 150 bpm
A long run, but the pace was all over the shop. Probably too hard (tomorrow will be especially easy), but ran strongly, and kept up to runners running much harder than I was.
Sunday, February 06, 2005
A better week
After being laid to waste last Sunday, I took Monday off (actually, there was no way I could have run even if I wanted to), ,and slowly worked my way back into my scheduled program. A very pleasing conclusion to the week. My aim is to train my full program this week, setting up a few months of training better than I have in my life.
Tuesday, 1st February, 2005 - 1:20pm
5km easy - 21:22 (some walking up a steep hill) ave HR 140pbm
With a tough session of 3x7.5 minutes scheduled, I instead went for an easy 5km to get back into things - let me assure you, when you haven't eaten for three days, your body notices it on a 5km run. Ignored my doctors advice, and ate sugary and greasy food afterwards - and never felt better.
Wednesday, 2nd February 2005 - 5:00pm
12km steady - 52:52 ave HR 148pbm
Halfway through my run, the heavens opened, and I enjoyed 6km in a total downpour (which I absolutely love). Still a bit flat, but getting back to my old self.
Thursday, 3rd February 2005 - 7:30am
10km (6km tempo) - 38.37 ave HR153 bpm
Brilliant run - the 6km section was in 19.51, with a 10.24 warmup and 8.33 cooldown. Felt a bit sluggish, but that was probably as I was consciously working the inclines. Last week I run 20:28., so definitely a better session. However, I was coming off a stretch of easy training, so I won't read too much into this improvement (although at one stage a man pulled up his car next to me, and told me he was "very impreessed" - not the usual 'encourgement' I receive from motorists). Don't want this session to get too much faster, as it is meant to be a tempo session.
Friday, 4th February 2005 - 7:45am
10km easy - 44.35 ave HR 141 bpm
Easy recovery run
Saturday 5th February 2005 - 11:30am
Mona Fartlek - 15km 1:00:30 ave HR 152 bpm
a session of 90' on, 90' off x2, 60x4, 30x4, 15x4. Essentially 20 minutes structured fartlek, with 10 minutes of quality. Really happy with the session - did not walk once on the recoveries, and felt strong the whole way (although backing up after the last few 30s and 15s was a challenge). All in all I was really attracted by this session, and will probably do it once a fortnight. Don't want to up pace too much on hard section, but definitely want to increase pace of recovery section, until they are a float at a solid pace.
Sunday 5th February 2005 - 8:45am
22km easy - 1:38:09 ave HR 143
Was catching up with some CoolRunners for breakfast, so ran there the long way. Did Bobbin Head Rd, which is wonderfully flat for about 3km, then downhill for 4.5km, then uphill (and I mean uphill) for another 6km or so. Happy with the whole run - the uphill wasn't a dawdle, but managed to keep the HR in the mid-150's.
75km for the week - and a couple of quality sessions in the mix. Feeling good about my training and can't wait to test my program on the 26th (5km timetrial).
Tuesday, 1st February, 2005 - 1:20pm
5km easy - 21:22 (some walking up a steep hill) ave HR 140pbm
With a tough session of 3x7.5 minutes scheduled, I instead went for an easy 5km to get back into things - let me assure you, when you haven't eaten for three days, your body notices it on a 5km run. Ignored my doctors advice, and ate sugary and greasy food afterwards - and never felt better.
Wednesday, 2nd February 2005 - 5:00pm
12km steady - 52:52 ave HR 148pbm
Halfway through my run, the heavens opened, and I enjoyed 6km in a total downpour (which I absolutely love). Still a bit flat, but getting back to my old self.
Thursday, 3rd February 2005 - 7:30am
10km (6km tempo) - 38.37 ave HR153 bpm
Brilliant run - the 6km section was in 19.51, with a 10.24 warmup and 8.33 cooldown. Felt a bit sluggish, but that was probably as I was consciously working the inclines. Last week I run 20:28., so definitely a better session. However, I was coming off a stretch of easy training, so I won't read too much into this improvement (although at one stage a man pulled up his car next to me, and told me he was "very impreessed" - not the usual 'encourgement' I receive from motorists). Don't want this session to get too much faster, as it is meant to be a tempo session.
Friday, 4th February 2005 - 7:45am
10km easy - 44.35 ave HR 141 bpm
Easy recovery run
Saturday 5th February 2005 - 11:30am
Mona Fartlek - 15km 1:00:30 ave HR 152 bpm
a session of 90' on, 90' off x2, 60x4, 30x4, 15x4. Essentially 20 minutes structured fartlek, with 10 minutes of quality. Really happy with the session - did not walk once on the recoveries, and felt strong the whole way (although backing up after the last few 30s and 15s was a challenge). All in all I was really attracted by this session, and will probably do it once a fortnight. Don't want to up pace too much on hard section, but definitely want to increase pace of recovery section, until they are a float at a solid pace.
Sunday 5th February 2005 - 8:45am
22km easy - 1:38:09 ave HR 143
Was catching up with some CoolRunners for breakfast, so ran there the long way. Did Bobbin Head Rd, which is wonderfully flat for about 3km, then downhill for 4.5km, then uphill (and I mean uphill) for another 6km or so. Happy with the whole run - the uphill wasn't a dawdle, but managed to keep the HR in the mid-150's.
75km for the week - and a couple of quality sessions in the mix. Feeling good about my training and can't wait to test my program on the 26th (5km timetrial).
