Run Slow Get High

I've been training for the mountains (or trying to) for the last 18 months or so. First 9 months was a disaster with a haphazard and uneducated approach and a string of injuries. Fortunately I seem to have that largely under control now.

Trained for a half marathon September to December 2020 and ran it in 2:36 right at the end of the year. I should be able to take a significant amount of time off that as I was too conservative with pace, and also set myself an aesthetically pleasing route with a monster hill at the 16km mark which really threw me off.

A series of unfortunate events meant I had to spend almost all of January 2021 in self-isolation. No running but got a lot of strength work in with the kettlebell.

February - May this year I completed a 12 week mountaineering-oriented program. Mixture of low intensity running, high intensity running, strength work for the legs and core, and weighted uphill climbs. I wanted to be ready in case I got some opportunities for some big days this spring. Looks like at least one is on the cards for end of May/Early June so this work should pay off.

I've done all my training using a heart rate monitor with training zones based of percentages of my max hr which I tried to establish myself with a field test. Recently got myself a proper metabolic/lactate test and some shiny new training zones as a result. I had underestimated my max HR by 10bpm so probably running slower than I could have.

I am painfully slow but I'm getting faster. I've gone from about 9 mins/km @ aerobic threshold 18 months ago to up to 6:30 mins/km in recent weeks. My pace seems to vary considerably based on time of day and I can usually go about 30seconds/km faster if I run early in the morning.

Started a new mountain running program last week with a view to completing a 45km(ish) and 3000m(ish) elevation route in early September. The program is customizable to some extent but I've had to scale it down further as the starting mileage is too aggressive for me. I will train by the commandment: "thou shalt not get injured".

Tues 11th
9.3km @ aerobic threshold; 6:59 mins/km

Thurs 13th
9.9km @ aerobic threshold; 7:20 mins/km

Sat 15th
13km @ aerobic threshold; 6:35 mins/km

Sun 16th
2 sets of 4 x 10 second hill sprints. My first time doing these - felt it more in the lungs than the legs but I understand this is common in the beginning as my brain needs to learn to recruit more fast twitch fibres.

--- 36.5km total for the week, including WU and CU before and after the hill sprints

Monday 17th
Muscular endurance workout
2 series x 6 sets x 20 reps split squat jumps, 0% added bodyweight
2 series x 6 sets x 20 reps box step ups, 0% added bodyweight
SSJs were absolutely brutal, was unable to go full depth during the second series. DOMS has taken until today to subside. I fared better on the BSUs which I think might be because I have better uphill muscular endurance from the weighted climbs I was doing as part of my previous programme (some of those workouts I walked up and took a gondola down so didn't get the downhill training). Weight vest arrived yesterday and I'll be gradually adding weight over the weeks.

Tuesday 18th
9km @ aerobic threshold; 7:02 mins/km

Wednesday 19th
9.3km @ aerobic threshold; 6:42 mins/km

Today
Supposed to be hill sprints but I've decided to rest instead as I think I'd be pushing my luck with six consecutive days training. I've got an annoying tendon issue in my left ankle that is quiet, not painful and non-intrusive and I want to ensure it doesn't get worse. The plan calls for training 6/7 days but I think I'll probably have to scale that back to 5/7.