Shane's April-May Run Group (Page 2)

Thanks!



The good news is, unless you have a very weak core, that you have all the core strength you need. The issue is ensuring that you are using your core strength and, as you've seen, running fast will quickly highlight issues with "engaging" core strength while running.

Hope the legs are feeling better!

Shane

Hmmm.

I have had three big babies and one c-section since I've tried any real speed work. Maybe I'm just really out of practice and that's why it felt so off.  Very possible. 

Edited by switch 2014-04-23 8:54 AM

So far so good. I did an easy run on Monday and the week 3 KR2 today. I'm planning KR3 for Friday and KR1 on Sunday. I've been doing all of the workouts using the higher number of repetitions. My total mileage from week 1 to week 2 increased by one km - I'm not really focusing too much on total distance.

Full disclosure - I've been doing my T pace running at a little faster pace than the calculator dictates. I've been running at about 4:30 / km - the calculator says 4:38. That's the pace that I seemed to settle into the first time and I've stuck with it since then.

Sounds like things are going well for you - keep up the good work!

One of the things that occasionally occurs with Daniels's paces is that if you aren't running high volume (north of 60km/week) then sometimes for E, M and T pace, an athlete will settle into a slightly higher pace. I generally wouldn't worry about it unless you are unable to run the following day (even if you aren't running, if you feel like you couldn't, that's a bad sign) or if you are running 5% faster than the given paces.

For I and R pace, typically the goal should be to target the pace as closely as possible and, if it is too easy, build through the workout as opposed to fading as it progresses.

Shane

Okay, I am finally done with Week 2 (well, the running part). I did the 5 X 5 minutes tempo within my long run this morning at 6 AM, and boy was it an HTFU Special. The main problem was not the distance or pace but the heat. This is normally the hottest two or three weeks of the year and even at 5-6 in the morning, it's about 80F and the heat index is near 90. I seem to heat up a lot more quickly at tempo effort, and don't cool down much in one minute. #1-3 felt okay, the latter part of #4 started to feel hard, and #5 seemed very long for five minutes! Pretty sure I was slowing down. The next 10 minutes or so were very slow as felt like I was going to puke/melt. Felt better for remainder of run, but absolutely sloshing in sweat. Think I was just overheated. Had to change my planned route a bit owing to (kid you not) giant building sized inflated rubber duck and all kinds of related stalls and roped-off areas in one of my usual speedwork areas (a riverfront promenade). 3 X 5 min. on "runway" past "Mr. Marathon" and construction workers, 2X on random parts of route on roads--not as shady as the riverfront at that hour.

I did the accelerations on Wednesday and they felt okay--hard at the time but not sore afterwards. I'm convinced I have 100% slow twitch muscles--probably my "sprint" isn't much faster than my tempo pace. At any rate, tried to get to where I would be if I was trying to outkick someone (I actually do outkick people at the end of tris and marathons--it's not that I'm fast but I have good endurance, and over three decades of experience in running hard when exhausted and ready to puke!)

Wondering what to do about Week 3. The long run has some tempo in it, so that would have 3/4 of my runs being some kind of speedwork, and I think it's too much for me right now. If one sacrificed one of those, which one should it be? Do 2 X 10 minutes within the long run (I don't think it would be worse than 5 X 5 min.) and the other speedwork day the shorter intervals? If it matters, I'm leaning toward the Oly rather than the HIM in late July at this point. Just feel like focusing more on speed (getting close to 2:30?) than hammering out those super-long rides, runs, and bricks. As a weaker biker and stronger swimmer, I'm at a competitive advantage for Oly as opposed to HIM, anyway.

Sure hope it rains pretty soon. That would cool things down a few crucial degrees, and help settle all the pollen, dust, etc. which is making me look like an allergy med ad every time I run or bike outside! I can literally see the stuff flying in the air as they constantly cut back trees and mow grass at this time of year.



Edited by Hot Runner 2014-04-25 11:04 PM

I would suggest leaning toward doing some T pace work in the long run and trying the I pace run. As the race approaches I would probably look more toward two T pace efforts as these will be close to race day effort but at this point, more varied stress is probably best.

Hope it goes well,

Shane

Sorry to hear about the possible ITBS - hopefully a couple of easy days is all you need to be back on track.

Shane

Thanks for the advice! Hoping they remove the duck and accompanying detritus by Wednesday, as I have a 400m "track" measured out along the riverfront. Otherwise will have to use the Garmin for once or just guess on the "runway". Just checked Daniels for the most reasonable time I have (41:45 10K from last year. I did a 1:35 HM last December, but it included about 2 minutes of start line chaos--long story--so the VDOT of 49 sounds reasonable.) It says I pace is 1:35/400m. I'd guessed in the neighborhood of 1:30-1:35. For me, I pace is just "hard"! I think I was running the "T pace" too hard today--that wasn't 6:55 pace! Maybe should get out the Garmin. It's a mental hangup with me--No matter how well I'm doing (for now), I look at the pace on it, my 20 year old, 2:43 marathoner ego says, "That sucks!" and there goes every ounce of enjoyment..... I really like running....without that evil device!

Edited by Hot Runner 2014-04-26 7:11 AM

OMG just found out the duck is there until the end of May! May have just lost my riverfront "track" and have to do all speedwork on the "runway" unless they get rid of some of the roped-off areas. (For some reason, the giant duck comes with a couple of stages and lots of concerts--at 8:30 AM today had to thread my way thru hundreds of people watching little Vietnamese girls dance in grass aloha skirts to zumba music.)

Sorry to hear about the loss of your track - hopefully you get it back sooner rather than later!

Shane

Week 4

For this week, you can again add up to 10% to any easy run (you don't need to if you are close to the max time you are looking at or if you found the addition of the intensity to be fairly challenging). For the intense sessions, we will be adding a little bit of volume and increasing the intensity a bit but the goal is not make these much longer than before as the increased time at a higher intensity will increase your training load.

Key run 1 - long run - for this run, you are going to run the first half of the run at an easy pace and then complete 10-15 minutes at T pace before finishing easy. The goal during the 10-15 minutes is to run steady and strong before transitioning back to an easy effort. With this, you should have a slightly bigger negative split but still you don't want a huge difference between the two halves.

Key run 2 - T pace run - warmup for 15 minutes of easy running and then complete 20:00 steady at T pace. Cooldown for at least 10 minutes of easy running.

Key run 3 - I pace run (ideally on a track and/or grass; if not, at least on a flat section) - warmup for 15 minutes of easy running and then complete 6x50m accelerations to faster than 5k pace (but not all out) and then a gradual deceleration. Jog back to the start and repeat. Complete 2-5x1000m at I pace with a 600m very easy run between. Goal is to hold I pace (but no faster) through these and if you are off by more the 5s, try to next one and if you miss the interval, then call it a day and run the cooldown. Run at least 10 minutes easy to cooldown.

All remaining runs should be at an easy effort and you may include 4x30s strides at about 5k pace with 2:00 easy running between on one of the runs.

Hope all goes well; let me know how you are planning your week,

Shane

8 X 400m (well, maybe) this AM on the "runway". Checked riverfront but only about 250m of my "track" there is available. "Runway" is nice as it's straight, no corners or curves or traffic. Of course when I got my Garmin out of the drawer, I found it had died. It was fine yesterday--I think it knows when to die. So marked a start line, ran hard for 1:35, marked finish, and that was the "track". All the subsequent ones were in 1:30-1:31, despite efforts to control "speed". Maybe I wasn't quite warmed up yet on the first one. Will go back and check with Garmin or bike computer someday over the 5-day weekend. I accelerate into my intervals for 20m or so, rather than starting from a dead stop, so overall pretty sure it was about 400m altogether.

Off work rest of week due to May Day holiday, and probably can't swim due to pool closure, so might be able to work in another run and do the other key runs separately.

Edited by Hot Runner 2014-04-28 8:55 PM

Anyone else running?

Did my long run today (1:32) with the 2 X 10 minutes from 45-55 and 57 to 67 minutes. Another HTFU fest. Really should have gotten out there even earlier than I did (started at 6 AM) as by the time I started the pickups it was really hot. Garmin still won't charge (got it in Singapore and the plugs aren't compatible, have to use an adaptor and think I put it in the wrong one) so just did it by RPE. Legs felt heavy on the first one, I think fried from all the hard trainer rides this week. On the second one, legs felt better but close to melting! Remainder was what I call "slog'n'slosh"--my shoes are so soaked with sweat they get heavy and I'm literally slopping in sweat. Between heat and fatigue I just felt like I was waddling like the rubber ducky.

Curious what you think about stride drills. I feel like I'm not coordinated when I run fast. Never been a "pretty" runner or speed demon, but I feel like I've lost motor skills in the years I didn't run competitively (21 to 42). I had some hamstring issues (now pretty much resolved) for about a decade owing to a traumatic injury, and the scar tissue from that kept me from hitting my full stride (got rid of it with lots of painful ART and the like). Also gained (and then lost when I started training regularly again) about 15 pounds over my racing weight. That plus the heat here seems to have made me into a plodder. I feel fine with easy/moderate running (about 8 minutes/mile and up) but awkward whenever I speed up. I've done a lot of glute and hamstring strengthening at the suggestion of the PT I worked with for the hamstring issues; it's helped with resolving the injury and maybe with biking, but I feel like my running form is still not there.

Last week of Jorge's program is next week; trying to decide if I want to re-do the tests or just wait until later and do a few more race-focused workouts this week; think I'd benefit more from the latter. I have a race in two weeks (Bintan Oly in Indonesia) so will just be doing taper stuff starting next weekend. I'll probably take a few weeks off hard training after the race (to deal with end-of-term work at school and moving), then re-start with a run focus at the end of May. I have much nicer conditions for run training at home in Oregon (heading there mid-June). Can't wait to do speedwork on our woodchip trail-- a 1 mile and 1 km loops with every 100m and 1/4 mile marked.

I'm running! I did week 4 KR3 today. I don't have convenient access to a track but the MUP along the river in downtown Calgary is pretty flat and I work downtown so I'm able to fit most of my KR2 and KR3 runs in on my lunch break during the week.

The weather's a little different than in Vietnam. About 3 Celsius and rainy in Calgary today so I was really looking forward to a hot shower after my run. I was pretty disappointed when the there was no hot water. Oh well, at least my office has a place where I can shower.

The 5 X 1km repeats were tough but the challenge of trying to hit the time targets makes it kind of interesting. My I pace per km is 4:16 and I was pretty satisfied with my interval times today (4:15 / 4:13 / 4:14 / 4:17 / 4:15 ) I really like my Garmin for these types of workouts.

It's hard to believe that we're already 4 weeks into this challenge.
Don

Edited by donw 2014-05-02 10:38 PM

Glad to hear others are training with me virtually! Garmin still won't charge. Think I might need to take my road bike out and use the cycle computer to measure a 500m/1 km course on the "runway". It would have a 180 turn in it, but no way to avoid that--the road is about 500-600m long and that is a longer traffic free stretch than anything else available nearby. Still had 100m or more left of it after running 1:30-1:31 for the "400m" repeats. Almost afraid to measure it--will probably find out my "400's" were really 300's, or something!

Edited by Hot Runner 2014-05-02 11:14 PM

Garmin finally back to life--apparently as an expensive device, it has to charge in the fancy universal plug adaptor from the US, not the cheap one from the supermarket in Laos. (Maybe this goes in the "First World Problems" thread. Or Third World Problems.) Will try to figure out my routes on the "runway" tomorrow and mark start, 400m, and 500m turnaround for the 1000's. Happy running, everyone!

For the record....the "400's" were only about 10 strides short--2-3 seconds, so the 1:30-1:31 "400" repeats were in the 1:32-1:34 range--close enough.. It also works out nicely that from the first light pole to the last on the "runway" is exactly 500m. Maybe need to give myself an extra few seconds to make the 180 degree turn, though. Still not sure I can actually do those 1000's at I pace--will see.

Great to see the strong running! Sorry I haven' been around much this week; busy week with work and a couple of sick kids has led to very little time to be online.

Hope everyone has a great week this week - just a couple to go!

Shane

Week 5

For this week, you can again add up to 10% to any easy run (you don't need to if you are close to the max time you are looking at or if you found the addition of the intensity to be fairly challenging). For the intense sessions, we will be adding a little bit of volume and increasing the intensity a bit but the goal is not make these much longer than before as the increased time at a higher intensity will increase your training load.

Key run 1 - long run - for this run, you want to add 10% over last week's long run and run the first half steady at E pace and then pick things up by at least 10s/mile and hold steady before running the last 10 minutes easy. If you are feeling strong, you can build through the second half but you don't want to exceed T pace and if you get to this point, aim for only about 10 minutes at T pace.

Key run 2 - T pace run - warmup for 15 minutes of easy running and then complete 5-7x1000m steady at T pace with 60s active recover (very easy jog or brisk walk). Cooldown for at least 10 minutes of easy running.

Key run 3 - I pace run (ideally on a track and/or grass; if not, at least on a flat section) - warmup for 15 minutes of easy running and then complete 3 laps of fast on the turns, easy on the straights, or, if on the road, 6x30s fast, 60s easy. Complete 4-6x800m at I pace with a 400m very easy run between. Goal is to hold I pace (but no faster) through these and if you are off by more the 5s, try to next one and if you miss the interval, then call it a day and run the cooldown. Run at least 10 minutes easy to cooldown.

All remaining runs should be at an easy effort and you may include 4x30s strides at about 5k pace with 2:00 easy running between on one of the runs.

Hope all goes well,

Shane

Did the 1000's this AM. I thought I was working hard on the 400's, so surprised to find the 1000's at similar pace didn't feel any worse. 3:58, 3:56, 3:54, 3:56, 3:59 (a little weaving around on the last one to avoid construction workers). I don't understand my body--400 at I pace feels hard, so does 1000. I can't tell the difference, except one is longer. In each case, I get to a point about 2/3 to 3/4 through where I think, "I can't make it, I'm going to slow down/puke etc. but then I don't. Maybe a lot of my issue with "faster" running is mental. Tried not to think about how I was running my 10K pace when I was 14, or something pathetic like that, just focus on hitting I pace and getting my 40-something body to the next light pole.

Will do the tempo inside my "long run" (only going to be 60-ish minutes due to taper) on Sunday, and then check out for a few weeks due to taper and mid-season break before re-starting.

Nice work! One of the things with the I pace is that the recovery plays a huge role so people will often find the suffering similar in an I pace workout, even if one is 400 and one is 1000.

Hope the tempo goes well,

Shane

Temp run done. Arrrrrgh! It didn't sound that bad on paper but wasn't factoring in the heat. It was already 84 degrees (F), 84% humidity when I started at 6 AM. (Keep trying to start earlier but never manage to on weekends when I don't have to get up at 4:45 to make it to work on time after running.) First mile felt okay but not what I would describe as "feel good fast"--6:47. Second was 6:52. Last (well, 0.91 of it) 7:02 pace. I was wearing the Garmin. By the last mile, nauseous and could barely feel my legs, getting lightheaded by end. After, looked like I'd jumped into the swimming pool. I can do a long run pretty comfortably in these conditions if I take plenty of water, and intervals if I get some recovery to cool off, but there's something about tempo runs here that gets me ridiculously hot. It's actually better in a race situation as in the tropics there are cold sponges and drinks every 1-2 km; here I'm self-supported.

Not the confidence builder I wanted, but I guess realistic. My race (Bintan Oly) next week is smack on the equator. It's a beautiful swim and bike course, but there are a lot of joking comparisons of the run to the Bataan Death March--hot, hilly, and complicated course with some cross-country. That's actually to my advantage, but it' s going to be a hot slog out there. July race should be much cooler.

Sorry to hear but looking at the temps - at least you have an idea of how things are looking based on fitness and conditions. I would use what you learned and pace the first 3 miles a little more conservatively than you would hope and if you are feeling great coming through the first half, then you can pick things up for the second half. Usually this will be a better strategy in the heat that trying to hold on. Then, as you mention, ice (a glove filled with ice can make a big difference), sponges, cold water can all help you be more comfortable and keep working hard.

Good luck!

Shane