Firming up
Feeling very much 'bleugh' at the start of this week. Finished much stronger for the last 3 days.
Interesting watching Strava, especially now I'm down to the bare bones. It's so easy to get lost in other peoples training and start to second guess your own plan. One thing is for sure, watching paces - mainly genuine easy/steady paces of good runners against average runners is the biggest thing I notice. The sessions vary massively. Some good runners put down some bang average sessions but their overall training is what sets them apart. The funniest I find is average runners who put crazy paces down as easy. I always remember Ed Spread saying he just couldn't run slower than 6.50 pace. He never said that at mile 17 of his marathon when he was down to 8s and heading for 9s !!
Stick to the plan, don't get caught up in other peoples.
Tuesday - session was decent but on rested legs. Hitting the right numbers and can def go quicker on that.
Wednesday - very bleugh. 7 @ low 7s but felt like hard work towards the end. Legs feeling a bit fatigued.
Thursday - almost canned the session. Legs felt very poo beforehand and it was tough but got it done. Not sure it achieved the aim but mentally good to bank this one. Bit concerned with the aches and pains.
Got the call from Mr Turner to run which means something must be going in the right direction though !!
Easy / steady run with DC tomorrow and same again Saturday with the coach. Hopefully the legs pep up a bit as it would be nice to get through Sunday feeling strong this week. If not may need to look at backing off things next week.
Not testing on Saturday means I can hope to run strong through the last 3 runs at decent paces. Sunday last week I was properly fucked. Will be nice to feel good running longer this week (if I can)
Interesting to see the effects of diet changes. Starting to get mentally up and down, paces are not a million miles of where are needed to be right now so lets see if we can feel good doing it! Diet is the last corner turned down. It's annoying as I love eating junk and boozing - it's a reward for the hard work - but I think it's the root of my struggle to feel good. Just need a better balance is all.
Friday - Diet update.
Day down - successful crap. Happy days. Def feel bit better this morning - less achy. Had one coffee - will see if things stay the same feeling wise but am thinking the sugary crap and the dairy is probably causing issues (both guts and general feeling). Def woke up with more energy so that's something and don't feel like someones been at my legs with a baseball bat. Interesting to see how today's run goes. Starting later today and tomorrow so hopefully again things will feel much better.
The run - 8 miles with DC @ 6:47/mm. Felt much much easier today. Would say effort wise that was slightly harder than easy but no doubt that easy would be 7.10 pace today. Great run, nice route really enjoyed that.
Saturday - early one with Ian. Felt little achy heading out and achillies was grumbling. Met up at the end of the Cambourne path and did a loop of Cambourne. Separated then back home. Progressive run and bang in the steady zone. 7 miles @ 6:31/mm average which is getting close to where these need to be. I have no idea why but I am making a big deal of steady runs being sub 6:20/mm to be where I need to be. Pretty comfortable today and conversational at that pace. Coupe of big breaks to say hello and good bye but a solid run that. Last 3 miles were down from 6.20s to sub 6.10 and that felt pretty relaxed on the steady side.
Not sure why but I am obsessed with getting the paces where they need to be. In my head I am thinking I need easy runs to be 7.15/mm or below (genuinely easy 145 bpm) and steady runs under 6.20/mm (150-155 bpm through the card). The steady one is the main one as that really gives me confidence that I am running comfortably at 1 min mile slower than race pace. I think if I can get there then the speed work takes care of the rest. Occasional threshold work should be in the 5.3x range then.
Not a million miles off but I am preparing for a bump in the road at some stage! This heatwave makes HR higher so that has to be allowed but I am honestly thinking I am only 8 weeks away from pinging form. Those paces can come down over time, as long as I stay healthy the plan is to chip away weekly at the paces. The treadmill sessions are paying huge dividends. I am really surprised how much value they give and I am really benefiting from the lack of doms that you get from track!
Easy long(ish) with Monkey & DC tomorrow which will be nice. Decent mileage week again, paces lifted and a step closer to where I need to be.
Sunday - up early. Legs grumbly. Fuckers! Don't really do enough to prep but seem ok once I lace up and head to the meet spot. First 3 miles are uphill and my legs are really not happy! Once that's over they come back to life and by 5/6 miles starting to feel good. DC is still coming back to form so he's going to struggle on these until he gets conditioning (it won't take long) and Dan likes to run 8s so we settle down a bit on the way home and it's all good. Finish up with 12 miles @ 7:13/mm feeling nice and easy. No HRM today but this is definitely in the right zone.
Rest day tomorrow. Feeling much less rinsed than I did last week. Step up in paces which is nice. Am happy to keep the routine going while it's working.
Next week, cornerstone is to make sure those Tues / Thurs sessions are done right. Weds & Sunday easy pace needs to feel even easier. Friday keep as-is, nice steady run but easy side of steady. Think I may have a TT on Saturday but if not that 'proper' steady pace needs to come down again.
Really happy with progress. Few minor niggles now but responding well enough.
431 TSS this week for 42.1 miles. CTL at 55 so couple of spots up from last week.
6:51/mm avge pace.
Feel much stronger, don't see any reason to change anything right now as it's working.
Long term, that long run could go to 14-15 miles maybe but not sure the benefit of that as I want to keep it easy. Happy enough not doubling for now as the sessions are key and need recovery.
Comments
Post a Comment