The most effective way to improve my speed and something I may have slightly neglected in the past is speed / interval training.
Yesterday, I did another short (4 miles) easy recovery run just to make sure my legs were ready for this.
The interval session is as much a mental exercise as it is a physical one. In order to perform well in a speed session, you need to be ready mentally. The amount of mental toughness it requires to keep pushing when it starts to hurt is the main limiting factor of a good interval workout.
I have resumed interval training only a few weeks ago, after neglecting it for a few months due to a bit of laziness, lack of concentration and distractions from other activities (swimming, biking, strength training...etc).
Yesterday, I did another short (4 miles) easy recovery run just to make sure my legs were ready for this.
The interval session is as much a mental exercise as it is a physical one. In order to perform well in a speed session, you need to be ready mentally. The amount of mental toughness it requires to keep pushing when it starts to hurt is the main limiting factor of a good interval workout.
I have resumed interval training only a few weeks ago, after neglecting it for a few months due to a bit of laziness, lack of concentration and distractions from other activities (swimming, biking, strength training...etc).
But now I realize it is the only way towards a significant chance of improvement.
I have only 2 marathons left this year to accomplish my short term goal of qualifying for Boston. And with my next marathon in only 2 weeks, my real chance of being ready to accomplish this goal realistically falls on the second marathon (St George in October). This leaves only a handful of interval sessions.
The other component, just as important to achieve this goal is the long run which, again, I am falling a bit short of, with only a maximum long run of about 17 miles in the last few weeks.
I am planning a 20 miler this week end, but my marathon preparation feels quite abbreviated this time around as compared to this year's previous marathons. I suppose this will leave St George as my 'A' goal. But I will leave the strategic thinking for another day.
Today is all about intervals.
After work, I drove to the high school track, close to my work place. There were only two runners, jogging round the track and a couple of workers performing some maintenance activities. Good... There would be no distractions.
The other component, just as important to achieve this goal is the long run which, again, I am falling a bit short of, with only a maximum long run of about 17 miles in the last few weeks.
I am planning a 20 miler this week end, but my marathon preparation feels quite abbreviated this time around as compared to this year's previous marathons. I suppose this will leave St George as my 'A' goal. But I will leave the strategic thinking for another day.
Today is all about intervals.
After work, I drove to the high school track, close to my work place. There were only two runners, jogging round the track and a couple of workers performing some maintenance activities. Good... There would be no distractions.
I began with a 4 lap warm up around the track progressively increasing the pace from about 9min/mi to about 8min/mi. At 5:45pm, the temperature was around 95F which definitely factors in when picking up the pace.
My goal was to perform four repeats of 800m (2 laps= 0.5 mile) with 90 sec rest (walking) in between.
I set off fast but not quite all-out. leaving just enough energy to maintain the same speed for the 2 laps.
My main goal when doing intervals is also to ensure the pace of each interval remains as constant as possible, while maintaining a pace that does not feel conservative throughout the workout.
I performed the first 2 laps at 5:43min/mi pace. This was my reference pace for the other intervals. I rested 90sec and I was off again. The second interval felt a bit harder, but I hardly looked at my watch throughout the run. Instead, I tried to focus on a rhythm. I noticed that by the end of the second interval my breathing was getting faster and more labored. It was going to hurt at the end!
I completed interval 2 at 5:48 pace.
Interval 3, as expected was even harder. My pace dropped to 5:54.
The last interval offered the advantage of knowing the end was in sight. However, I was getting tired and my running was feeling slow and sluggish. At the end of the interval I clocked at 6:02/mi.
In my opinion the drop in pace is both good and bad at this early stage of my speed training. On the one hand, it means that I am pushing each interval close to my actual fitness limit. This means that the physiological benefits of this session will likely be strong. However, it also means that my current fitness is not very high. I should be able to maintain a much more consistent pace, especially with only 4 intervals. It 's all about improvement though. And today, I can feel good about my effort. No regrets.
