Went to the track today. I don't deserve to be there considering the way I have felt lately combined with the inconsistent training. Hawaii was definitely good for my motivation and for giving me a good kick in the ass wake up call. I never really let myself get out of shape but there is a huge difference between staying in shape and training to be race ready. At least there is in my book.
The plan was to run a 2.5 mile warm-up, then run 6 X 1 mile at 6 min/mile pace w/ a 1/4 mi easy jog in between each and a 1.5 mile cooldown. Surprisingly, this session felt easy. I ran the warm-up at 7 min/mi pace, then did the mile repeats at 6 min, 5:58, 5:56, 5:56, 5:52, 5:50.
This session was encouraging in that I'm not over the top spent. Yet, I know myself and if I were to take out the marathon at 6 min/mile pace, I'd be fine for maybe 18 miles. Unfortunately, a marathon isn't 18 miles. My plan at this point is to run 6:30's.
As great as it was running in Hawaii, it is hard to beat running in CT in the peak foliage.
I said I wouldn't go political on this post, but curious as to peoples reaction on the debate last night. Both of these candidates made me nauseous.
Cheers,
EH
9 comments:
It was a lot more fun to 'hack the debate' while watching it because you got to see (or read) people's reactions as the debate was happening.
The political climate this cycle was especially stormy even before the economic downturn and everyone had their trenches dug pretty deep.
However, I will agree that running in the foliage today (I got two helpings) was pretty damn sweet.
Hey Eric,
I was wondering, what is the purpose of this work out? It doesn't appear to be an interval run because of the length of the repeat and the time it take you to do one interval seem to be long. If it is a tempo run, I thought thoughs done more in a block form, ie, warm up then run say 20 mins a pace that is say 20 secs faster then your marathon pace, then a cool down.
Mark
6 min is too long for an interval Mark??? Maybe according to a few books, but I don't agree.
For marathon training, I like tempo runs (15+ min) at slightly faster than race pace (15 seconds) and mile repeats w/ little recovery and done at 30 sec per mile faster than goal race pace. This pace shouldnt be too aggresive or anaerobic, and therefore easier to recover from than say a set of 4 or 5 X 1 mile repeats at 10K effort or in high C/z4, a common session for 10K runners.
The purpose is to build your marathon legs so that race day pace feels comfortable. Why not just run tempo instead of the mile repeats? Because, first, I do tempo sessions based on heart rate, not pace, and i can control the pace easy on a track, and next, with the short recovery done at a regular run effort, the HR doesnt come down much and it actually simulates a tempo run. The bottom line is taht it works. These mile repeats are great for marathon training when done at the right pace. The person who may have trouble is the one who's goal may be to run the marathon at 7 min/mi pace for example, and they do these at sub 6 min mi/pace.
Hey Eric,
First, I think all running is good, regardless of lenght, rest or HR. Second, I've done mile repeats before for the same reason, pace. I would do 5X1 with one lap easy jog inbetween. I would run them in at 6 min pace. What I would do is not look at my watch until I finished the interval and see how close I would be to 6 mins. The funny thing is that it never transfered to a race. I would usually go out faster then 6 then slow down during the race then pick it up at the end. So I quit doing them.
But, my original question was more along the lines of is this a LT workout? If it is the rest wouldn't be much of a rest, no?
Mark
When I mentioned you don't want to be anaerobic during this session Mark, what the means is that you don't want the intensity such that your physiology begins creating too much lactic acid. This isnt an LT session but more like LT - 10 to 15 bpm.
When you mentioned you did this workout to learn pace, that's not what I do it for. Again, I want this session to be at a pace that is faster than my goal marathon pace so that during the race itself, the stress on my muscular, skeletal, and cardiovascular systems seems easy (relatively speaking). If you run these too hard, it'll make recovery more challenging and you risk cooking yourself.
I wish I could run that fast!!
Hey Eric,
A few more questions. Why do six repeats? Why not four or ten or whatever no. you pick? Also, did you build up to this? You know, start with three one week then four the next and so on...or did you just hop on the track and do six? Lastly, is this the last track workout that you do before a marathon?
Thanks for answering my questions.
Mark
I would start doing these a few months out with three repeats and build up to 10 around 4 to 5 weeks out from the race. Seeing as how I was less than three weeks away, 6 was enough to benefit yet not to much to take away, given my fitness.
Hey Eric,
Thanks for the info and good luck at New York.
Mark
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