Yesterday I met up with Jeff and we ran hill intervals. We did the "new" warm-up protocol which has been working well for me.
20:00 jogging warm-up. Then stretch for 5:00. I used to not think stretching was a good thing but I have been seeing good results with it. I think it has to do with my age now. When I was 27 I didn't need it, but now I think I may benefit from it. Then we ran 4 X 25" fast strides to loosen up further. The hill workout was as follows:
3:00 uphill then 3:00 immediately back down at 1/2 marathon effort.
Then: 3 X (45"/ 60"/ 90"/ 75"/ 60"). I ran the last ~7 reps at near maximum efforts getting light headed at the end of each. At one point Jeff and I were bent over by the road and a truck drove by and I said "Damn, I was hoping that truck would hit me!". This workout might be the hardest I've done ever... bike group rides with Simon Lessing and Mike Pigg aside. I remember once on an attempt (that was successful) to drop the group I saw a HR of 198 for several minutes. I could taste blood.
We ran back to the start after each interval which was a bit longer than I was supposed to but I firmly believe in preserving the quality of the hard intervals by erring on the recoveries. We were hitting ~5:10 pace for the first half of these so the quality was there.
With the cool-down we ended at 12 miles.
I immediately drank 1 liter of Power Bar recovery drink mix which I don't like at all. It was free though so I will try it. I tend to get a big blood sugar low after drinking it. When I got home I put my feet up and put on my Skins compression tights (this is key) and ate an apple. Then slept for an hour.
Today is going to be busy.. a Kenyan runner just came in to town and is coming up to run with me. We're running my 'Gross Route' which is a 6 mile descent down to the lake then a 6 mile climb back up. I am hoping he is not altitude acclimated and he is tired from his travel. I'm excited to pick his brain on his training!
I also start Phase II of the shed remodel. The second room should be considerably easier to remodel. Ben has been helping me. He has a little hammer and he walks around hitting things... usually not nails. He also picks up nails that I pull and puts them in his Tonka truck.
4 comments:
Great post. I guess you already have (continue to develop) comments on the change in training approach, but these hard hill intervals so early in the season compared to MAF. Wow. Is this ala Hudson's idea that runners start early with relatively short and steep and then as the season progresses, the hills become longer and less steep? But 3:00 up already? Is this with Pike's in mind?
Great header photo. Pretty cool artist having seen some of his/her other stuff. But the moon runner is the shizzle.
Best part of post, Ben putting discarded nails in his Tanka Truck.
My first "A"-ish race is in 12 weeks so it isn't so early really.. I have completely flipped my training approach- mostly because I feel I have failed at the old approach. I also did not have a great understanding of what it takes to run a sub 2:20 marathon... MAF ain't it! The day I stop learning is the day I stop running. Remember too that I have placed my training in the hands of a 2:16 marathoner and am committing to his approach and experience.
I'm not running Pikes.
Cheers!
yeah. that powerbar drink is crap. that's why i sent it to you!!!! ha ha no, just kidding. james loves it. me, not so much. but i sent it to you b/c it had higher levels of protein and you had been into that pre-workout. AND i secretly injected butter into the mix to fatten you up
anyway. this made me laugh..
by the way, HIIIIEEEEEE!!
Hiiieeee Beth~
I bonk every time I try use the Powerbar drink before a workout and afterward I crash a little too. I really do appreciate it though!
T
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