Tuesday, June 06, 2006
Curse of the Saturday threshold session
After an easy 8km in just under 35 minutes (4:20/km) on Friday, headed to Queen's Park on Saturday morning for a threshold session, as per Sean's recommendation. Apparently there is normally a crowd for this session, but with a couple of big races on that morning, it was just me and a bunch of soccer dads talking on mobile phones.
I was a good boy, and did a good warm-up and a proper set of drills before starting. Was aiming for 3:40-3:45/km, so happy to roll out the three in 3:40, 3:40 and 3:41. However, started to work a bit, and dropped back to 3:47 for the fourth. Rather than drop off significantly, or push the session into VO2 max, I took a 60 seconds jog break, then did the next two in 3:36 and 3:43, followed by another 60 second break, and then 3:47 and 3:40 to finish - 8km in 29:34. Not particularly happy with the session, but the only way to do better down the track is to stick out sessions like this.
My foot was a bit sore towards the end of the session, but really started to hurt about 2km into my cool down, so I pulled up stumps and walked home. Sunday came, and the foot was still sore, so my planned 90 minute run was scrapped. Did an hour on the bike in the afternoon, but still unhappy to miss the long run.
Monday's scheduled 50 minute run was looking up in the air, but mid-afternoon with a break in the torrential rain, I headed out the door. Feeling good at the 20 minute mark, my foot then started to hurt and I slowed to a walk. Under normal circumstances, that would have been the end of it, but at that point, the heavens opened, and the 30 minute walk back was looking less and less appealing. Applying a bit of deductive logic, it occured to me that the soreness appeared to be related to my foot moving around too much. So I applied the high-tech solution of doing my laces up tighter. Started running again, and voila, soreness disappeared. Ended up only doing 35 minutes, but happy to recover the session.
Tuesday dawned with cloudy skies but no rain. Jumped on the bike and headed down to SWEAT (forgetting my helmet - d'oh). Foot and calf gave a few murmours during my warm-up, but were silent by the time drills had finished. Today's session was 2400,1600,1600. Session panned out as follows:
2400 - 8:00.6 (76.4,80.3,80.5,80.9,80.9,81.6) 4 minutes recovery
1600 - 5:20.4 (77.7,81.5,82.6,78.6) 2:40 recovery
1600 - 5:23.4 (78.1,82.1,85.1,78.5)
Happy with the first one (about 7 seconds quicker than a comparable session 3 weeks ago), but didn't feel great during the second and third intervals. Didn't feel mentally strong, although as always, finished with a lot left in the tank. However, with some niggles still hanging about, getting through the sessions is probably more important than doing them at 100%.
With constant rain from almost the start of the session, the bike ride home was a lesson in wind-chill, as I was soaked from head to toe. Very pleased to jump in the bath when I got home.
I was a good boy, and did a good warm-up and a proper set of drills before starting. Was aiming for 3:40-3:45/km, so happy to roll out the three in 3:40, 3:40 and 3:41. However, started to work a bit, and dropped back to 3:47 for the fourth. Rather than drop off significantly, or push the session into VO2 max, I took a 60 seconds jog break, then did the next two in 3:36 and 3:43, followed by another 60 second break, and then 3:47 and 3:40 to finish - 8km in 29:34. Not particularly happy with the session, but the only way to do better down the track is to stick out sessions like this.
My foot was a bit sore towards the end of the session, but really started to hurt about 2km into my cool down, so I pulled up stumps and walked home. Sunday came, and the foot was still sore, so my planned 90 minute run was scrapped. Did an hour on the bike in the afternoon, but still unhappy to miss the long run.
Monday's scheduled 50 minute run was looking up in the air, but mid-afternoon with a break in the torrential rain, I headed out the door. Feeling good at the 20 minute mark, my foot then started to hurt and I slowed to a walk. Under normal circumstances, that would have been the end of it, but at that point, the heavens opened, and the 30 minute walk back was looking less and less appealing. Applying a bit of deductive logic, it occured to me that the soreness appeared to be related to my foot moving around too much. So I applied the high-tech solution of doing my laces up tighter. Started running again, and voila, soreness disappeared. Ended up only doing 35 minutes, but happy to recover the session.
Tuesday dawned with cloudy skies but no rain. Jumped on the bike and headed down to SWEAT (forgetting my helmet - d'oh). Foot and calf gave a few murmours during my warm-up, but were silent by the time drills had finished. Today's session was 2400,1600,1600. Session panned out as follows:
2400 - 8:00.6 (76.4,80.3,80.5,80.9,80.9,81.6) 4 minutes recovery
1600 - 5:20.4 (77.7,81.5,82.6,78.6) 2:40 recovery
1600 - 5:23.4 (78.1,82.1,85.1,78.5)
Happy with the first one (about 7 seconds quicker than a comparable session 3 weeks ago), but didn't feel great during the second and third intervals. Didn't feel mentally strong, although as always, finished with a lot left in the tank. However, with some niggles still hanging about, getting through the sessions is probably more important than doing them at 100%.
With constant rain from almost the start of the session, the bike ride home was a lesson in wind-chill, as I was soaked from head to toe. Very pleased to jump in the bath when I got home.
