speed work

Glorious SF Run #1

February 10, 2011 by Kristy 3 Comments

2/10/11

8 miles

1:10

8:45 avg pace

It’s another beautiful day here in SF. I was so excited to run this morning. Guess who also ran?

I was thinking a lot about my training plan yesterday and realized I’m not doing many miles at goal marathon pace (GMP). I’m either running faster during speed work and tempo runs or running slower during my long runs. That needs to be fixed asap. One of the reasons I was able to PR last October was because I could run a 9:00 pace without a watch. I knew exactly what it felt like because I had spent so much time running at 9:00 pace. I need to start honing in on what 8:45 pace feels like…my breathing, my stride, etc. I don’t want to be a slave to my Garmin for 26.2 miles and constantly need to check-in and make sure I’m on pace. I definitely think this is a flaw with the FIRST training plan. Too much running faster or slower than GMP. I am going to start making some of my tempo runs at GMP, instead of half marathon pace. And a few of my long runs will be fast finish long runs, meaning the last few miles will be done at GMP.

My average pace today was GMP but I was all over the place in the early miles. I didn’t get into the groove until mile 5 or so.

Here are some pictures from my run:

I saved the best for last…the beautiful Golden Gate Bridge! I’ll get some better pics during my long run on Saturday.

Speedy Tempo

February 8, 2011 by Kristy 2 Comments

2/8/11

8 miles

1:09

8:37 avg pace

The training plan called for some nonsense like 3×1-mile repeats at 7:15 pace. I loathe mile repeats. Since I didn’t feel like running a 5K this morning and my legs haven’t 100% recovered from Sunday’s 18-miler, I changed things up. I’ve wanted to do this workout for awhile now…

1 mile warm-up
2 miles at 10K pace – 7:53. Since I haven’t run a 10K in about 10 years, I have no idea what pace this would be…so I estimated just under 8:00.
2 miles at half marathon pace – 8:13. My half marathon time last September was 1:49 (8:19 pace).
2 miles at goal marathon pace – 8:46.
1 mile cool-down

There you have it…a speedy tempo. I’m definitely doing this run again. I really enjoyed it.

This is my last run on the treadmill this week, all my other runs will be outdoors in San Francisco! Woooohoooo! Hello 60+ degrees and sunshine!

Week 5 Recap

February 7, 2011 by Kristy Leave a Comment

Week 5 of NJ Marathon training…

MON: rest
TUE: 7 tempo + yoga
WED: 6 speed
THU: rest
FRI: 8 easy
SAT: ~~lazy~~ rest (should have went to yoga)
SUN: 18 long (duh)

Total of 39 miles. Finally getting up there.

Heading to a power yoga class at RYAH tonight!

Why Speed Work?

February 2, 2011 by Kristy 3 Comments

2/2/11

6 miles speed

What the plan called for: 5x1000m (approx .62 miles) @ 4:28 pace (approx 7:12 min/mile)

What I did: 5x1000m at 7:30 min/mile. I started at 7:12 pace and didn’t have enough kick in my legs. So I dropped my pace to 7:30 so that I could complete 5 repeats. Lesson learned: when doing tempo and speed work on back-to-back days, do the speed work on day 1 and tempo on day 2 (or better yet, DON’T do them back-to-back).

Why do we torture ourselves with speed work? Doesn’t it seem silly to train for 26.2 miles by doing 800m repeats? Does that really help? For me, the jury is still out on that one. I’ve done speed work in the past and off and on recently. I decided to pick it up again this training cycle. We’ll see if it helps me come May but for now I hold more stock in tempo and marathon-paced long runs.

Speed work (aka track workout) improves your VO₂max. What is VO₂max? I found a few good definitions…

From good old Wikipedia –> VO₂max is the maximum capacity of an individual’s body to transport and use oxygen during exercise.

Or for you visual people:

The point at which oxygen consumption plateaus defines the VO₂max or an individual’s maximal aerobic capacity (source).

Most of the time speed work is done at current 5K pace. This is an appropriate pace for marathoners since it will provide a stimulus for improving your VO₂max but still leave your legs fresh for your other training runs. For runners training for shorter distances, speed work can be done slightly faster than 5K pace.

Speed work is usually done in intervals ranging from 400m to 1600m, although I know in the near future I have a 3200m interval on my plan (ouch!). The amount of rest time in between intervals varies. My current training plan allows for very little rest in between intervals. In the past, I’ve rested half the distance of that interval (for example, 800m repeats with 400m rest interval). Jogging or walking for beginners is acceptable for “rest” time.

There you have it – speed work explained. It’s definitely not my favorite choice but I can see why speed work has its place in training.

Off to watch Buried with Matt. Did anyone see it? It’s supposed to be good and (the best part) Ryan Reynolds is in it 🙂 I love me some Ryan Reynolds. RR + psychological thriller = a good night.

Week 4 Recap

January 30, 2011 by Kristy 3 Comments

1/30/11

75 min yoga

3 miles easy

Yikes, my legs are tight! Poses that I did with ease on Friday seemed impossible in class today. Guess that’s what you get for running 20 miles. After yoga I came home with the intention of running 5 easy miles (adhering to my 5 mile training rule) and I couldn’t. My legs weren’t feeling it. I managed 3 miles at 10:00 pace and called it a day. Gotta love adaptive training 🙂

Week 4 Recap
MON: rest
TUE: 5 miles speed
WED: 7 miles tempo
THU: rest
FRI: 60 min yoga
SAT: 20 miles long
SUN: 75 min yoga + 3 miles easy

A total of 35 miles for the week. A little less than I’d like but I was happy with my runs overall this week….and that’s what counts!

Tomorrow is a rest day since I have a CPR re-certification class at night. I have to keep my CPR certification current for my RRCA coaching license.

Good night…I’m exhausted and in a sugar coma thanks to a 1st birthday party today (Happy Birthday Joseph)!

Longing for the Track

January 25, 2011 by Kristy 5 Comments

1/25/11

5 miles speed work

Oh how I miss going to the track to do speed work! Until the weather gets nicer and it begins to get lighter earlier, I’m resigned to do my speed work on the treadmill. Boo. Today’s plan called for a ladder workout. Ladder workouts are increasing intervals (400m, 800m, etc.) and decreasing intervals (1200m, 1000m, etc.). Sometimes you go up the ladder and back down (for example: 400m, 600m, 800m, 1000m, 1200m, 1000m, 800m, you get the idea). Today I got to go just down the ladder and for that I was very happy.

Scheduled workout:
Warm-up
1200m in 5:25
1000m in 4:28
800m in 3:33
600m in 2:38
400m in 1:44
Cool-down
*with 200m rest interval in between

This workout is hard to do on the treadmill. On the track I would know “run a lap and a half in 2:38”. For the treadmill I had to figure out that 600m roughly equals .37 miles and I should aim to run it at 7:00 pace. So I had to keep an eye on my distance the whole time, meaning no towel to cover up my misery! My attention to Gossip Girl was seriously interrupted too.

I’m hoping to get in a tempo run tomorrow, depending on the weather. Yes, that will make for 2 hard days back-to-back but I have a reason. I have a 20-miler on Saturday that I’m really excited about. I want to take Thursday as a rest day and do some easy miles on Friday so my legs are well rested come Saturday.

Off to catch up on The Bachelor. Can wait to hear more about Brad’s opening up and crazy Michelle’s antics.