It's been a long time, sweetie...
The legs were sore the last couple of days with a touch of DOMS, so I took a nice easy eight yesterday in about an hour. Compared to the weeks when I was running 100+, when that was my average pace, those runs feel like aimless shuffling. But they do exactly what they are supposed to do. Help you recover.
The soreness was almost completely gone, so I was keyed up for what I planned for this morning. A long tempo slightly faster than marathon pace. Based on the information in Daniels' Running Formula, I established a goal pace of 5:40 for this workout. This pace corresponds with a VDOT of 65 extrapolated for 35 minutes at tempo pace rather than the typical 20 minute tempo run that is kind of the Daniels baseline. The workout was two mile warmup with a couple of strides, then six miles at 5:40 pace, followed by a two mile cooldown including four strides. The tempo went down like so:
min/mi (maxHR)
5:39 (158) checked the gps a couple of times for pace
5:43 (159) still trying to lock in the pace
5:31 (158) oops. running by feel, feeling good.
5:42 (162) out of the trees, into the wind
5:38 (166) still into the wind
5:39 (166) back in the trees, damage done, breathing 2:2
Overall, this was a good run. I haven't done tempo runs very frequently (1 other), so I didn't expect it to feel great, or even good. The effort at the end was more than I wanted, probably due to the low 5:30 at mile three and two miles into the wind trying to hold pace rather than effort.
On the positive side, I know this pace will begin to feel more and more comfortable as I get further into the program. I'm really just getting started and still in 'base' mode for a few weeks. I haven't been doing strides due to the injuries, so I really have no feel for anything faster than 5:30s. In that sense, this run got me pretty excited. I thought it would be more difficult. A run like this could very easily be done once a week along with one to two other quality workouts, provided the recovery is always in the plan.
Ugh. A plan. Sometime. Maybe soon.
The soreness was almost completely gone, so I was keyed up for what I planned for this morning. A long tempo slightly faster than marathon pace. Based on the information in Daniels' Running Formula, I established a goal pace of 5:40 for this workout. This pace corresponds with a VDOT of 65 extrapolated for 35 minutes at tempo pace rather than the typical 20 minute tempo run that is kind of the Daniels baseline. The workout was two mile warmup with a couple of strides, then six miles at 5:40 pace, followed by a two mile cooldown including four strides. The tempo went down like so:
min/mi (maxHR)
5:39 (158) checked the gps a couple of times for pace
5:43 (159) still trying to lock in the pace
5:31 (158) oops. running by feel, feeling good.
5:42 (162) out of the trees, into the wind
5:38 (166) still into the wind
5:39 (166) back in the trees, damage done, breathing 2:2
Overall, this was a good run. I haven't done tempo runs very frequently (1 other), so I didn't expect it to feel great, or even good. The effort at the end was more than I wanted, probably due to the low 5:30 at mile three and two miles into the wind trying to hold pace rather than effort.
On the positive side, I know this pace will begin to feel more and more comfortable as I get further into the program. I'm really just getting started and still in 'base' mode for a few weeks. I haven't been doing strides due to the injuries, so I really have no feel for anything faster than 5:30s. In that sense, this run got me pretty excited. I thought it would be more difficult. A run like this could very easily be done once a week along with one to two other quality workouts, provided the recovery is always in the plan.
Ugh. A plan. Sometime. Maybe soon.
posted at 5:54 AM [+]
8 Comments:
That's a great run! How did you feel at the end? How much was left in the tank? In a couple of months, you'll be able to do 2 x 10k at that tempo, probably faster.
I felt really strong at the end. I finished the cooldown in 6:35, 6:40 with a couple of strides in each mile. Realistically, I could have gone another couple of miles, but it would have been outside the scope of threshold running. Once the breathing kicked in with a third of a mile to go, I was beyond the threshold, I believe. Overall, I think I was right on pace for the task.
And I feel great right now, just sitting at my desk. Almost energized, which I don't often feel at work. I realized about an hour ago that I ran a 34:30 10k at five in the morning. And it was pretty damn easy. This is completely insane.
Thanks for the props, chief. Have a good day.
One thing I like about DRF is the way he advocates running the same pace for several tempo efforts and working towards making that pace feel easier. I believe this line of thinking reduces the chances of burnout from "racing" against last week's tempo pace the next week, which can leave you tired while defeating the purpose of the run (this is from my own experience). I also like how he advocates choosing your VDOT from where you are now (current race times), instead of from where you want to be. The whole "race your way to the next VDOT before training there" thing could help keep many folks from overtraining.
Oh, great run too. But you knew that already.
I agree, Mike. I like the focus on progressing through different intensities based on observable data, like race efforts, and then holding to that intensity through the training effect, supercompensation, or whatever you want to call it, before climbing another step.
One downside to that, potentially is looking at the chart in three months and seeing that, oh, I'm only at xx, there's no way in hell I'm running a x:xx:xx. Although, I am at 64-65 now, and reasonably could get to 67 in three months, which would be beyond my expectations should the charts hold up. I'd basically have matched my peak fitness from college in 10-11 months of training. Once again, completely insane.
When I start pulling off 16 mile MP runs like you, those will be some great runs. Thanks.
Duncan is going to vomit if he sees all this ass-patting going on... :)
And that smiley is just going to make it worse.
I love how easy it is to take very simple concepts and complicate them in order to sell a book.
Yes, my new book, "Run A Lot, Get Better" is out in stores, but it isn't doing so well. The editor was a bastard! Can't say he wasn't concise, though. Makes Hemingway read like Fitzgerald compared to his projects. I also don't know if the matchbook, two-page form factor was right for the book. I guess maybe it was, given the book is only two pages long.
Very nice site! » » »
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