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A Slow Journey to Faster Times
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Thursday 3rd December - HADD 200/200 Session
13k @ 153bpm avg
It's about time I did something more strenuous since I've almost completed a month of base-building/easy running.
I decided to go with the below HADD Session:
"I call this 200/200 or 200-fartlek. It is done on a track and involves 200m @ approx 5k pace followed by 200m easy and continues without stopping for 25 laps (10,000m). The point is NOT to do the overall 10k in the fastest possible time (by slowing up the fast bits and speeding up the slow bits), but to maintain a healthy differential of approx 15 secs or more between the fast/slow 200s. Something like 40s and 55secs or 43s/60s"
I've actually been dying to have a go at this for a long time, but haven't got around to it for various reasons. The original plan was to head down to the track in Irishtown mid-morning and manually hit the lap button every 200m. However, the weather was just so horrible that I put it off until it cleared up this evening. Obviously that meant running clubs using any available tracks, so I stuck to the local footpath knowing that it wasn't flooded (compared to most of Dublin) and I wouldn't be disrupted by large puddles mid-session. I knew it would be pretty boring, but hoped that concentrating on the pace each 200m would lessen the monotony. I hadn't intended wearing a HRM, but having seen the two I have were giving identical readings this afternoon (while messing around with them to appease my boredom), I decided to give the Garmin another go. It's actually fairly new as I've barely used it since they replaced the old one for me last year. Going by the results the HRM seems to be fine. I'm pretty pleased with my execution of the session too, especially since it was my first attempt at it. Great to be running a bit faster again
. It's one hell of a good workout though. Much more difficult than it looks on paper. Highly recommended.
*My 5k pb is 17:15. That's 200m splits of 41/42 seconds. I thought keeping the the fast sections around 40-45secs and the slower ones 55-60secs would be satisfactory. I almost managed it.*
Splits:
1k w/u - 5:19
200/200
1 - 42/59
2 - 43/58
3 - 44/57
4 - 43/55
5 - 43/58
6 - 43/59
7 - 43/59
8 - 42/60
9 - 41/58
10 - 43/56
11 - 43/57
12 - 43/57
13 - 43/60
14 - 43/61
15 - 44/61
16 - 43/60
17 - 43/60
18 - 43/60
19 - 42/59
20 - 43/57
21 - 42/58
22 - 42/55
23 - 46/57
24 - 42/62
25 - 42/57
10k in 42:09
2k c/d - 10:42
Garmin link: https://connect.garmin.com/activity/973764059
I'm really happy with the HR data on this. The graph tells me I ran it exactly as I was supposed to 0 -
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I had dumped it up until last week, but I've since got a new 225 and have HR & pace for yesterday & today. Both circa 9min/mile pace. Was going to post something longer today, but I decided to leave it for a few days. However, I may need to explain myself sooner now.....
I'll await the explanation so 0 -
So I've been thinking......
I had already looked back on my log before it was suggested by NE last week, but did so again to see what exactly I'd done right in previous cycles.
One thing I noticed about my Seville training in particular was that my easy/long run pace was very close to 9:00min/mile pace all the way through. However, on the day of the race I had no problem holding 7:00min/mile pace with ease until I got a stitch very late. I was running the the easy days very easy, which was obviously allowing me to recover well from the sessions I was running hard. This is something I felt I really needed to start focusing on again.
It was something I already knew, but hadn't adhered to before New York. Even though my overall training for that race was pretty deplorable, running the longer runs at 7:30ish pace was a terrible idea considering I wasn't fit and I was badly found out on the day. You expect as much in the marathon when every possible weakness gets exposed. If the truth be told, I completely gave up in the last third of that race when my lack of preparation really started to show. It's the first time I've ever done that in any race and will be the last as far as I'm concerned. Anyway, I'm getting off the point. Basically I'm pretty unfit at the moment and need to allow for that in training. So although 'Easy' pace may end up down around 8min/mile or less when my fitness improves, at the moment it's around 9min/mile. Once I continue to let my HR guide my pace on these runs, I'm in no danger of going too fast (which is important). My easy HR is 135bpm or below, so all I need to do is stay below that.
Now for the hard stuff. I had intended following the HADD system, with two Steady runs a week to supplement the easy days. However, the problem I find with HR training is that it can badly be affected by external conditions. Last night I think I hit 156bpm at one point running around 9min/mile when I encountered a strong headwind. I never felt I increased the effort at any time. Nights like that are not uncommon during the winter, so it's possible I could run all my Steady sessions without any of them being at MP due to our weather. That wouldn't leave me very confident going to Boston.
So (if you're still reading), bearing all that in mind I've come up with what I think is a solid alternative:
Jack Daniels Plan A
- 2 quality sessions a week as prescribed
- All other miles done at Easy HR
It's a 24 week plan. We've got 18 to go from Monday, but it seems I've been pretty much following the first six weeks of it without realising (mostly easy aerobic running 30+mins per day). So I think the above is the approach I'm going to take.
Happy to hear any thoughts/feedback/opinions*
*which I'll probably ignore as I've 99% made up my mind
0 -
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So I've been thinking......
I had already looked back on my log before it was suggested by NE last week, but did so again to see what exactly I'd done right in previous cycles.
One thing I noticed about my Seville training in particular was that my easy/long run pace was very close to 9:00min/mile pace all the way through. However, on the day of the race I had no problem holding 7:00min/mile pace with ease until I got a stitch very late. I was running the the easy days very easy, which was obviously allowing me to recover well from the sessions I was running hard. This is something I felt I really needed to start focusing on again.
It was something I already knew, but hadn't adhered to before New York. Even though my overall training for that race was pretty deplorable, running the longer runs at 7:30ish pace was a terrible idea considering I wasn't fit and I was badly found out on the day. You expect as much in the marathon when every possible weakness gets exposed. If the truth be told, I completely gave up in the last third of that race when my lack of preparation really started to show. It's the first time I've ever done that in any race and will be the last as far as I'm concerned. Anyway, I'm getting off the point. Basically I'm pretty unfit at the moment and need to allow for that in training. So although 'Easy' pace may end up down around 8min/mile or less when my fitness improves, at the moment it's around 9min/mile. Once I continue to let my HR guide my pace on these runs, I'm in no danger of going too fast (which is important). My easy HR is 135bpm or below, so all I need to do is stay below that.
Now for the hard stuff. I had intended following the HADD system, with two Steady runs a week to supplement the easy days. However, the problem I find with HR training is that it can badly be affected by external conditions. Last night I think I hit 156bpm at one point running around 9min/mile when I encountered a strong headwind. I never felt I increased the effort at any time. Nights like that are not uncommon during the winter, so it's possible I could run all my Steady sessions without any of them being at MP due to our weather. That wouldn't leave me very confident going to Boston.
So (if you're still reading), bearing all that in mind I've come up with what I think is a solid alternative:
Jack Daniels Plan A
- 2 quality sessions a week as prescribed
- All other miles done at Easy HR
It's a 24 week plan. We've got 18 to go from Monday, but it seems I've been pretty much following the first six weeks of it without realising (mostly easy aerobic running 30+mins per day). So I think the above is the approach I'm going to take.
Happy to hear any thoughts/feedback/opinions*
*which I'll probably ignore as I've 99% made up my mind
Sounds like a pretty reasonable approach to me. It will be key that you get back to a consistent level of training and a regular pattern of training. The 2 sessions a week plus easy miles should give you plenty of flexibility to work around. Have you got a view/target on what weekly mileage you will be running or are you going to base weekly load around time on your feet?
Might end up on a similar path myself if I ever get around to reading the JD Book.Dont have the expertise to offer anything other than, sounds good, good luck with it. This comparison chart suggests you've made a good decision.
Let the fun begin!
Interesting piece, D. That is my bedtime reading sorted for tomorrow night. Cheers.0 -
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Monday 14th December - JD Q2 Workout
8 x 4 minutes @ 5k pace
Today is what I was referring to when I mentioned HR being skewed because of the extra effort in bad weather. Horrible day!
Anyway I decided to have a go at the session above this evening. I don't think it matters which order you do Q1/Q2 once you do both in the same week.
Looks pretty harmless on paper (Sets of 4min 'hard' intervals with 3min recovery jogs to total 10k or 8% of weekly mileage (whichever is less)). However when you look more closely and work it out, it's actually the equivalent to the 1000/1200m VO2max sessions in the P&D plan. Except rather than 5/6 reps, there was 8!
I'm going to plump for a peak mileage week of 75 miles. This week is prescribed to be 0.8 of that (60). Reps today to total the lesser of 10k/8%, so 4.8 miles. I decided on 8 reps as I wasn't sure what the pace would be and 7 may not be enough to cover the required distance. Plan was to go out at a pace I felt I could complete all 8 reps in, and only look at watch after a few minutes to see what that was.
Results below:
Warm up (2 miles) - 16:32 (8:16p/m avg)
Rep 1 - 0.65m (6:09p/m pace)
Rep 2 - 0.65m (6:09p/m pace)
Rep 3 - 0.65m (6:09p/m pace)
Rep 4 - 0.65m (6:09p/m pace)
Rep 5 - 0.65m (6:09p/m pace)
Rep 6 - 0.65m (6:09p/m pace)
Rep 7 - 0.66m (6:04p/m pace)
Rep 8 - 0.65m (6:09p/m pace)
Cool down (2 miles) - 17:16 (8:38p/m avg)
Total miles (including recoveries): 11.09
Pretty happy with the results considering I'm way off full fitness. Would hope to be hitting 5:30ish pace on these type of workouts when my fitness improves, but it's a start I suppose. The weather today didn't help either. Brought back memories of getting battered by the wind & rain along the Clontarf promenade while training for Seville.
p.s. I walked most of the recoveries. I thought it was less important to jog those than it was to hit the interval paces. Looking forward to them was one of the things that helped me hit the required pace in the first place
My HR hit 181bpm during the session. I'm fairly sure my max is 183, so I think I got the effort about right.0 -
Monday 14th December - JD Q2 Workout
8 x 4 minutes @ 5k pace
Today is what I was referring to when I mentioned HR being skewed because of the extra effort in bad weather. Horrible day!
Anyway I decided to have a go at the session above this evening. I don't think it matters which order you do Q1/Q2 once you do both in the same week.
Looks pretty harmless on paper (Sets of 4min 'hard' intervals with 3min recovery jogs to total 10k or 8% of weekly mileage (whichever is less)). However when you look more closely and work it out, it's actually the equivalent to the 1000/1200m VO2max sessions in the P&D plan. Except rather than 5/6 reps, there was 8!
I'm going to plump for a peak mileage week of 75 miles. This week is prescribed to be 0.8 of that (60). Reps today to total the lesser of 10k/8%, so 4.8 miles. I decided on 8 reps as I wasn't sure what the pace would be and 7 may not be enough to cover the required distance. Plan was to go out at a pace I felt I could complete all 8 reps in, and only look at watch after a few minutes to see what that was.
Results below:
Warm up (2 miles) - 16:32 (8:16p/m avg)
Rep 1 - 0.65m (6:09p/m pace)
Rep 2 - 0.65m (6:09p/m pace)
Rep 3 - 0.65m (6:09p/m pace)
Rep 4 - 0.65m (6:09p/m pace)
Rep 5 - 0.65m (6:09p/m pace)
Rep 6 - 0.65m (6:09p/m pace)
Rep 7 - 0.66m (6:04p/m pace)
Rep 8 - 0.65m (6:09p/m pace)
Cool down (2 miles) - 17:16 (8:38p/m avg)
Total miles (including recoveries): 11.09
Pretty happy with the results considering I'm way off full fitness. Would hope to be hitting 5:30ish pace on these type of workouts when my fitness improves, but it's a start I suppose. The weather today didn't help either. Brought back memories of getting battered by the wind & rain along the Clontarf promenade while training for Seville.
p.s. I walked most of the recoveries. I thought it was less important to jog those than it was to hit the interval paces. Looking forward to them was one of the things that helped me hit the required pace in the first place
My HR hit 181bpm during the session. I'm fairly sure my max is 183, so I think I got the effort about right.
Jaysus and I haven't even read the book yet :eek:
Nice going, P. Good solid start!0 -
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Wednesday 16th December (A.M.) - 45 minutes Easy
45 minutes @ 127bpm avg
Am I mad?
Your an adult who, for fun, goes out in the depths of winter wearing shorts and t shirts, spends hundreds of euro on travel and race entries a year and spends a disproportionate amount of time discussing it with strangers online.
Of course your mad but your not alone 0
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