It's amazing how, when I am preparing for a race, that time seems to go by fast. Following a set training schedule becomes the rhythm of life. I don't look at a calendar the same way. I don't see the month, day and year, I see a daily training plan. It's not Monday anymore, it's an easy run, Tuesday becomes a speed day, Wednesday a strength training day and so forth, you get the idea. I guess when I'm committed, I'm committed.
You may remember from a few weeks ago that I said that I was working on training for a 5K on May 12. Until this race, I had never "trained" for a distance shorter than a marathon, but I recently made the decision that I wanted to start doing some shorter distances. Ultimately, my goal is to improve my overall strength and speed in the marathon, and I am experimenting with a bit of a new training philosophy to train smarter.
The only way a person can get faster is to practice running faster. This speed work not only works different muscles in your legs, but it opens the air pockets in your lungs for greater sustainability in the shorter distances. I figure that if I push myself to run shorter intervals that my lungs will be better prepared to take in more oxygen later. In other words, instead of the longer intervals in my speed, say 800-1600 meter sprints, I'm doing 400 meter sprints. What I'm finding is that the 400 meters is almost harder to complete because I am more prone to run significantly faster per interval.
In fact, based on the numbers from my last workout, I am running each of the 400 meter intervals at an average lap time of 1:30, which, if I could maintain that for 1600 meters, would be a 6 minute mile. Now, I am at death's door by the time I'm done with the one lap- so I can't maintain a 6 minute mile yet, but I have also mixed in some 1 mile repeats on a different day, which I have averaged a 6:45 minute mile. I'm pretty sure I can't yet sustain that for 3 miles consecutively, but it means that my lungs and legs are getting a good workout. Today's workout, I did 2 mile intervals 2 times. My goal was to maintain an average pace over two miles of 7:30, I averaged 7 minute miles. So, I'm thinking that the speed work is helping.
Another thing I'm doing as part of this new training plan is the other two days that I run. I've been attempting trail running, which for me lately has equated to climbing mountains (hill work) to get to the ridge where the good trails are. I think this has helped in 2 ways: first, it keeps me focused on why I run- for enjoyment and challenge. I like the adventure of a new distance, speed, and course; second, when I'm trial running, I don't focus on time or distance, just the joy of the run, which gets lost on me if all I do is monitor splits, time and distance.
The only other difference has been the strength workouts, for which I have been hitting the free weights. I've done upper body, core, and of course some challenging leg work. I'm looking for balance.
If you are interested, I have my training plan below. I just finished with week 3, so the numbers in weeks 1-3 will reflect what I actually did, and the numbers from weeks 4-7 are what I want to do. Nothing is set in stone and the most important parts of course are the speed workouts.
I publish this rather dry blog entry mainly because I want to encourage you to try new workouts of your own, new challenges or even the same old challenges in a different way. Enjoy, and God bless!
Saturday Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
Week 1 10 miles Strength Train 10 mi 400meter sprint x 4 Strength Train 3 x 1 mile repeats (avg 6:55 pace) Off
Week 2 10 miles Strength Train 10 mi 400meter sprint x 6 Strength Train 3 x 1 mile repeat (avg 6:45 pace) Off
Week 3 10 miles Strength Train 8 mi 400meter sprint x 6 Strength Train 2 x 2 mile repeat (avg 7 pace) Off
Week 4 14 miles Strength Train 8-10 mi 400meter sprint x 10 Strength Train 2 x 2 mile repeat (avg 7 pace) Off
Week 5 12 miles Strength Train 8-10 mi 400meter sprint x 12 Strength Train 3 mile tempo (avg 7:15 pace) Off
Week 6 14 miles Strength Train 8-10 mi 400meter sprint x 4 Strength Train 3 x 1 mile repeat (avg 7 pace) Off
Week 7 Lynn Spittle Memorial 5k Race, Tower City- registration form is attached to a previous post... please come out!
No comments:
Post a Comment