Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Wednesday

This workout may be one of the best in the whole world, maybe even the whole town, in terms of developing marathon specific endurance. The structure is brilliant.. thank you Mr. Canova.
WU) 2 miles. Start with 7:00 pace for the first mile then build to 6:00 for the next mile.
MS) 8 X 1000 in 3:25 (goal marathon pace of 5:32) HR started at ~160 for the first couple then gradually climbed as this workout progressed. My last one was with a HR max of 176 (still sub-threshold).
The rest intervals were 600 meters in 2:15 (6:00 pace). This allowed only partial recovery and my HR only dropped slightly for these. Starting at a drop of ~10 beats and ending with only a drop of 4 beats after the last kilometer.
The concept here is to elevate pace/ HR to just above your AeT (the optimal metabolic state for teaching the body to burn fat as it's primary fuel) then allow it to only slow/ drop slightly below this state for the recovery.
This statement has been evaluated by a doctor.. check with your doctor to see if this workout is right for you. Side effects may include nausea, sweating, muscle soreness, elevated HR, loss of body fat, and increased fitness. If you experience a marathon that lasts for more than 3 hours- see a coach immediately.
Sorry, I get my dork on once in a while. With out Chuck here to laugh with it gets all pent up. Ben only looks at me like I'm an idiot when I tell him jokes.

3 comments:

Chuckie V said...

Hilarious, as always! I should probably check with my doctor for a number of things, specifically those oddly placed warts, but never mind that.

Quick question: how were you able to run like that today? Did the weather clear that quickly?

GZ said...

Okay - that is a damn impressive workout. I mean that seriously.

But I have been mulling this over ... is there a significant difference between this workout and say doing a 2 mile warm up in 13, and then banging out a 8 mile tempo run @ 5:40 pace? It seems to me that the difference in pace is so subtle, that it is perhaps more psychological than physiological? Again - no disrepect (I realize this stuff can get lost in web posts) but when the HR diff is that subtle ... does it really make a diff?

Part of the reason I ask is that the work I have been doing as of late (on the mill too ... I am just a couple miles north of you so am dealing with the same slop on the roads) has been doing intervals at a higher velocity and making the rest much much easier. Of course, our objectives might be different ... I am trying to get some speed back (after a season of hill climbing) whereas you are working the speed-endurance angle for the marathon.

Let me know what you think.

Lucho said...

Treadmill, the roads are still nasty.