runography

The 2nd attempt at a speedwork session and I’d say overall it went as expected. My target was set:

Speedwork
Dist: 5mi, inc
Warm; 4×800@3:42
w/400 jogs; Cool

I had said I would switch to 4×400m sections w/400 jogs, but decided to just give the 4×800 a bash and see if I’d progressed since my last attempt
Stop Press…

I have just spoken to Roddy and he’s suggested that I’ve messed up the speedwork, and that the 4×800 pace is not 3:42 min/mi, but instead 3:42 for 800m. Argh! That’ll be why I completely failed. If this is the case then the pace I’d be looking at is

3:42+3:42 = 7:24 for 1600m

( so I calculate at 7:27 min/mi pace )

That is a damn site more achievable than what I tried yesterday. The runners world program is a bit ambiguos and could probably do with being modified. Dave read his the same way and also struggled badly trying to achieve what is almost impossible at this stage.

Anyway what happened yesterday.

I had to setup the Garmin from the watch as I didn’t have my laptop with me yesterday. So I setup to do Dist/Dist intervals with a warmup/cooldown session at the end. I wasn’t sure how long the warmup would be, but I expected around 10 mins or a mile.

My speedwork session yesterday went like this:

• Mile 1.08 – 9:49 min/mi ( warmup – I stopped and created a new program without the warmup as wasn’t sure it was working 4×1/2 mile with 1/4 mile jog/recovery )
• 0.50 mi @ 6:16 min/mi ( I tried to do 800m at sprint but wasn’t able to sustain the sprint – I was doing 5:05 min/mi over most of this, but I had to slow right down twice as I was struggling )
• 0.08 mi @ deaths door

At this point I decided there was noway I could sustain this for another 3×800m so started a new program of 4×400m with 400m jog/recovery and off I went again

For each of the 400m sprints I started off really quickly, but started to dwindle by the

• 400m @ 6:42 min/mi – ( off like a rocket – sub 4:50min/mi for the first 100m, then 2nd 100m was still fast, but slowed right down about 275m in )
• 400m @ 12:24 min/mi – ( really slow )
• 400m @ 7:08 min/mi ( again off like a rocket – and slowed around the 200m mark )
• 400m @ 11:07 min/mi
• 400m @ 6:49 min/mi ( again off like a rocket – and slowed around the 200m mark )
• 400m @ 11:05 min/mi
• 400m @ 6:50 min/mi ( off fast, but not as fast, – and slowed around the 150m mark, then a final push in the last 50m)
• 400m @ 10:07 min/mi

After this I was gubbed but still had to do the cooldown session and make up the full 5 miles. I decided to go around the canal at Kilsyth and ended up covering another 2.28 miles at average pace of 9:06 min/mi

• 2.28 mile @ 9:06 min/mi cool down

Total distance for day: 5.94 miles, total time 52:29

Next speedwork session is not scheduled until 26/5, but I am not as worried about it anymore. Only wish I’d realised this earlier. I could have died out there. Well, probably not, but you know it was close.

What was remarkable was my max heart rate after all this never went above 167bpm. I’ve had higher on a tempo run. I’d have expected to see this ramp up a bit more before I died, maybe I gave up too early.