Last week end (Saturday 10/20/12), I had my 9th and second to last swimming lesson. I finally learned to breathe while swimming. Well, I have so much more to learn! At the moment, I am able to swim about a length of pool and no matter how many times I try to breathe, I always end up completely out of breath on the other side...Next (and last) lesson on 10/29/12.
In the afternoon, I went running with the dogs. The weather was great although a bit warm. I went about 3 hours after a later (and heavy) lunch and really did not feel up to it from the beginning. I pushed through but at mile 8, the knee pain started coming back. I stopped running at mile 9 when the pain was becoming too overwhelming but it meant that I had to walk about 4 miles back home. The dogs didn't seem to mind...I ended up running 9.65 miles total at an average pace of 8:15/mile.
Monday was the start of my new training focused on speed. As I explained before, the goal is to concentrate on speed rather than endurance for the next 18 weeks in order to help improve my running speed. The later part of 2013 will be a transition back to endurance and marathon running and triathlon specific training towards the end of the year with an November Ironman race goal.
For this speed training I am duplicating the training described in my favorite running podcast Marathon Talk. In this podcast, the co-host Tom Williams has completed this training and I have decided to take on the challenge to follow it as well and try and beat his times. In the training I outlined (Excel File on the training page) I score my performance for each speed workout against his.
This first workout on Monday was a brutal 3 x 6 minutes with 4 minutes recovery. The conditions were particularly windy on Monday night. I went to the high school track in Draper and found the wind so strong that I had to lean forward to walk against the wind.
The wind was against me on the long side of the track one way and I had it in my back (which didn't seem to help much) on the way back.
For the first interval, I completed 1.02mile in 6:08 (about 6min /mi pace). In my previous speed workout the week before I had completed a mile in 5:36 with my injured knee so I estimate that the wind was giving me roughly a 25 sec per mile handicap.
When I started the second 6 min interval, it really felt exhausting almost immediately. In 6 minutes I completed only 0.94 mile (6:23min/mi)
Last interval was equally painful: 0.93 mile (6:27min/mi).
Okay Tom... this time you beat me.
On Tuesday, I wanted to run an easy 10k but my knee remembered the abuse of the day before. I could only manage 4.74 miles at 7:15min/mi pace.
Wednesday was the second speed workout of the week. A weird 1000m, 600m, 400m with a full 15 minutes recovery in between.
I went to the West Jordan high school after work and nobody was at the track. That night was pretty glacial too and I have to get used to breathing hard that cold air. Probably not a good idea but I started the workout without warm up. It was already 7:30pm and I was eager to get back home...
As a result, I started the first 1000m way too slow but I did not realize it before the first lap of the track was over. I pushed hard towards the end but managed only a disappointing 3:34 (5:46min/mi).
It was so cold, that I went to recover in my car for the 15 minutes between the intervals.
I started the 600m much faster, determined to make up some time on Tom. I completed the second interval in 1:37 (4:57min/mi)
I finished the last interval (0.26mi) in 1:12 (4:34min /mi).
Performing a weighted average of the paces puts me just in front of Tom for this workout with 5:16 min/mi against 5:24 min /mi.
After 2 workouts Tom: 1 / Me : 1
Now it is rest time until Saturday's race...
Hopefully my knee does not give me any trouble, but given that I have not been able to run more than 8 miles on it without pain, this week end's half marathon may prove to be one painful ordeal...
In the afternoon, I went running with the dogs. The weather was great although a bit warm. I went about 3 hours after a later (and heavy) lunch and really did not feel up to it from the beginning. I pushed through but at mile 8, the knee pain started coming back. I stopped running at mile 9 when the pain was becoming too overwhelming but it meant that I had to walk about 4 miles back home. The dogs didn't seem to mind...I ended up running 9.65 miles total at an average pace of 8:15/mile.
Monday was the start of my new training focused on speed. As I explained before, the goal is to concentrate on speed rather than endurance for the next 18 weeks in order to help improve my running speed. The later part of 2013 will be a transition back to endurance and marathon running and triathlon specific training towards the end of the year with an November Ironman race goal.
For this speed training I am duplicating the training described in my favorite running podcast Marathon Talk. In this podcast, the co-host Tom Williams has completed this training and I have decided to take on the challenge to follow it as well and try and beat his times. In the training I outlined (Excel File on the training page) I score my performance for each speed workout against his.
This first workout on Monday was a brutal 3 x 6 minutes with 4 minutes recovery. The conditions were particularly windy on Monday night. I went to the high school track in Draper and found the wind so strong that I had to lean forward to walk against the wind.
The wind was against me on the long side of the track one way and I had it in my back (which didn't seem to help much) on the way back.
For the first interval, I completed 1.02mile in 6:08 (about 6min /mi pace). In my previous speed workout the week before I had completed a mile in 5:36 with my injured knee so I estimate that the wind was giving me roughly a 25 sec per mile handicap.
When I started the second 6 min interval, it really felt exhausting almost immediately. In 6 minutes I completed only 0.94 mile (6:23min/mi)
Last interval was equally painful: 0.93 mile (6:27min/mi).
Okay Tom... this time you beat me.
On Tuesday, I wanted to run an easy 10k but my knee remembered the abuse of the day before. I could only manage 4.74 miles at 7:15min/mi pace.
Wednesday was the second speed workout of the week. A weird 1000m, 600m, 400m with a full 15 minutes recovery in between.
I went to the West Jordan high school after work and nobody was at the track. That night was pretty glacial too and I have to get used to breathing hard that cold air. Probably not a good idea but I started the workout without warm up. It was already 7:30pm and I was eager to get back home...
As a result, I started the first 1000m way too slow but I did not realize it before the first lap of the track was over. I pushed hard towards the end but managed only a disappointing 3:34 (5:46min/mi).
It was so cold, that I went to recover in my car for the 15 minutes between the intervals.
I started the 600m much faster, determined to make up some time on Tom. I completed the second interval in 1:37 (4:57min/mi)
I finished the last interval (0.26mi) in 1:12 (4:34min /mi).
Performing a weighted average of the paces puts me just in front of Tom for this workout with 5:16 min/mi against 5:24 min /mi.
After 2 workouts Tom: 1 / Me : 1
Now it is rest time until Saturday's race...
Hopefully my knee does not give me any trouble, but given that I have not been able to run more than 8 miles on it without pain, this week end's half marathon may prove to be one painful ordeal...
