Definitely one of the most bizarre races I've ever been in. They had a chip timing tent you had to pass through to get to the pens. There was a bit of a backlog in the tent which was impossible to predict from outside and the idiots started the race when there must have been 50 of us still in the tent.
Not an auspicious start as I also got a stitch on the first hill immediately after the start (I was expecting it after it started during warm-up). I got to the top of the hill at the back of the field and got trodden on which I found out later ripped my relatively new spikes and badly cut my little toe which kept me up last night.
Apparently the course wasn't too muddy for there but it was like a bog to run in. I got to the point where there seemed to be no point running hard up the muddy hills because it meant double the energy for a couple of seconds benefit. A combination of that plus the stitch restricting my breathing meant I was quasi-out of breath all the way round but in an uncomfortable rather than 'race' way.
No idea where I came or of my time. I won't do it again and it seemed to have absolutely no relevance to what I train for. It's like who can plug round the fastest, despite my immense respect for the people at the front of the field.
Although to take something useful out of it - my leg strength really needs some work. I have some hills scheduled but I think weights would be useful - but my knees won't allow it.
I'm getting to the point where it would be nice to enter a race short enough to feel as though I was actually running fast rather than these loud whispering competitions I keep entering.
Also cocked the start up by being in the tent, spent 3/4 of the first lap stuck behind the fat and the slow. Rach always says I do well in crap conditions as I am a bit stronger than a lot of runners but I didn't enjoy it. The first lap cost me a minute at least and the 2nd lap I was annoyed. Lap 3 I spotted some people I usually beat and got enthusiastic so chased them down. Ran about 62 mins and could have kept going at the pace I was running.
Reminded me a bit about being in a fun run.
I got a good workout and won a Park Run in the morning :¬)
That's some good volume Gobi. I think the overall effect of your weekend's running will be very positive. I hear rumours of a marathon? I already know you're mad but you've infected young Tom with the madness!
I'm not good in mud, hills or at long distances so i was up against it starting in the tent as well. I'm always on time so I was more than a bit fucked off with their obstinance in starting the race when they could see the runners in the tent, when the bottleneck was, essentially, of their doing. As it turned out it didn't matter but I'm sure there were some quality distance runners like yourself for whom it ruined the race. Even I was still overtaking the old and infirm in the second lap.
I am indeed doing the LA marathon which is a little bit sooner than I had planned to return but training has gone well in the last 2 weeks and it is a free holiday :¬)
Target was to make sure I was under 80 secs a lap no matter what the rep, pushed on during the last 2 reps to see what I can really do when tired. Target for this session later in the season is to be under 75 sec per lap no matter what the distance
That 100m session looked tough, the start / stop nature is supposed to be good for developing power but makes it very hard work. That's an awful lots of total volume for quicker than 800m pace - how did the legs feel the next day?
Pyramid session looks like a nicely designed session and well paced to.
I had a 5 * 800m @ 3k pace on tuesday with 400m recovery. It was quickly apparent my legs hadn't turned up. I ended up being pretty slow so concentrated on reducing the time spent to cover the 400m between reps. Think the legs were tired from saturday's race and the new set of physio exercises I was given on monday.
Apparently the various components of my lower body all point in wrong and contrary directions when I run resulting in twisting and therefore my knee pain (as well as my left achilles and sometimes plantar pain). This is due to a combination of weakness and inflexibility.
The physio (he was excellent by the way and recommended) showed me the correct knee postion in relation to the foot plant and toes. Even just standing I was unable to do it because of my lack of ankle flexibility. Without knee pain I'd never have known my biomechanics were so f*cked.
Happy with how things are progressing to be honest, legs next day are always a little tender but they do 90 mins on the turbo anyway, they don't run until the next evening as I have not gone high volume in the runnning yet so they seem to deal with it.
Impressed that you knew to just accept you were tired and improvise the session. Sometimes it is hard to accept you can't hit the numbers. Coaching kids I spend a lot of time talking about race effort rather than race pace.
I may be on light duties for a few days as I hit my ribs off a railing when I lost control of my bike yesterday. They feel a little sore but I'm off to the Time Trial anyway and will see how they feel during the warm up. I can jog and move ok just HARD efforts may feel uncomfortable. Shall report back later.
Sounds painful - hope it clears up soon. Was it a youtube moment?
I was ambushed by a pit bull yesterday who ran down the slope from my blindspot and jumped up at me ("10 ME109s, out of the sun"). Fortunately a ridiculously friendly one but I had to stop as it wouldn't leave me alone. It isn't the dog's fault it was the gormless owner who just shouted and made no effort to come and get his dog.
When do you go high volume or are you sticking with the current mix of biking / running?
I'm trying hard with the acceptance of crappy workouts and focus on effort. Yesterday I had planned to do an 11 mile run including progression of 7 miles at MP / Half MP / Tempo. It just wasn't happening as I couldn't even maintain MP - so I did MP effort for 7 miles.
A few factors this week - physio exercises (glutes were throbbing by the end yesterday), bit of a cold, last sat's race and looks like I'm on course for about 80 miles this week. As you can see, the excuses are in full flow!
gobi i am 42, my pb for 800 having had a brief flirtation with the distance in my 20,s is 2.04. however last season my pb was 2.12.03 when i did 2 races, i know i can hopefully smash that this year, been doing Moraghans drills this year and felt the benefit of them yesterday, feel i have more spring in my step
M: a.m. 3m recovery p.m. 6.29m easy. T: a.m. 3m easy p.m. 10.6m easy w / drills, strides and 5 * 800m at 3k pace with 400 rec. W: a.m. 3m easy. p.m. 9.64m easy w / 6 * 100m strides. T: p.m. 7m easy. F: a.m. 3m; p.m. 10.38m easy w / 7m at marathon effort. S: a.m. 3m easy p.m. 3m easy - cut short because of back pain. S: a.m. 14m easy out / steady back, ice bath. p.m. massage
Total Mileage: 75.91m.
Odd week. Hurt my back on friday and everything was a bit slower than usual. I think it's due to a slight cold and all the physio exercises I am having to do - they are knackering. I've now completed the 9 weeks of Phase 2 of base and averaged 64 miles per week. Reduced mileage week next week - only 9 weeks of base to go before the real fun starts.
Tried an ice bath today and managed 15 minutes with 1kg of ice. Very painful on the feet and cheated by not letting the ice melt before getting in.
SB - nice times, leaving me for dead over 800 :¬)
After yesterdays surprise at the TT I ran XC today and off another cautious start had my best run of the year. Funny how things work. I hurt a little but it is manageable.
Cutback week today - coincidentally my cold now seems to have come out, good timing I suppose.
It's the first week of Phase 3 of base. In this phase I will be reorganising the week a little as an experiment and concentrating more on speed. I will also be pushing the end of non-quality runs a little more. The following refers to non-rest weeks:
M: Basic speed alternating weekly with 800m pace work.
T: Easy
W: 1500m pace work or hills.
T: Mid week longer run.
F: Off / recovery
S: Endurance based running (tempo / vo2 maintenance).
S: Long run
Early morning runs (execpt long run and recovery days) will remain hyf and at 3 miles until I've proved to myself I am ready for more.
I have a 5k on the 14th March in Baltimore,USA and then a semi-peak for the British Vets Indoor 3k on the 28th March.
I plan to establish my ideal racing weight for the race on the 28th march, so have started watching the diet. Using Tanita bf scales these are weekly averages (6ft 1.5"):
6ft 4 inches- 164lbs, been that weight since i was 18 years, can eat what i like, when i like, just polished off fried liver, onions, homemade chips and an egg and still starving, too much fat probs but i am scottish and i was really looking forward to liver
Gobi - the 800m sessions I referred to earlier will be 8 - 10 * 150m @ 800m pace with 250m jog recovery. That's for the next 4 week block. Sounds like I'm on the right track. I love this sort of session.
The last 4 week block of this phase will be 2 * (3 * 200) @ 800m pace with 100 jog between reps and 400 between sets.
In the past I have raced successfully when 156lbs on the morning of the race. I really want to experiment between 151 and 153 before the real racing season starts. I'll look like an accelerating twig!
if you have time could you have a look through this schedule which i will be starting in april for the track.
I am 1500/3k runner and I am looking to run 4;00/ 8;45 for this season. i want to peak from wk 10 to wk 15. after that i would like to improve either 3k/800 time in the end of july and august
Many thanks
Each week I will also do 2 runs of 30 mins and longer run of 60 mins. after a 30 min run i will also do 8 100m acceleration runs as you have suggested.
Wk1 800m- 6 x 300m @ 43 secs 3 min rec
1500m- 2 x 3 x 400m @ 64 secs same rec as rep time, 5 min btw sets
5k- 6x 1000m @ 3:10 2 min rec
Wk2 change of pace- 3x 3 x 300m 1st 3k pace , 2nd 1500m pace, 3rd faster than 1500m pace Rec 100m jog, 400m jog btw sets
1500m progressive- 5 x 1000m @ 2:57 rec 4 mins
3k- 6 x 800m @ 2;24 rec 90 secs
Wk3 close to 800m- 2 x 3 x 400,300,200 (4 mins, 3 mins, 2 mins) 4 mins btw sets
1500m- 2 x 4 x 400m @64 secs same rec as rep time, 5 min btw sets
3k race
Wk4 3k/5k/10k pace- 1,2,3,4,4,3,2,1 pyramid- 90 sec jog btw each
Wk5 change of pace- 200, 220, 240, 260, 280, 300. 200 at 1500 pace. Add 1.5-2 seconds each successive rep. 300 should be at 400 race pace or close to it. Jog back recoveries.
1500m- 4 x 600m @ 1:36 with double rec of rep
5k- 5x1000m @ 3;05 3 min rec
Wk6 1500m race
4x400 @ 59 secs 4 min rec
1500m race
Wk7- 3k/5k/10k pace- 1,2,3,4,4,3,3,2,1 pyramid- 90 sec jog btw each
1500m progressive- 3 x 1000m @ 2;45 rec 6 mins
3k- 5 x 800m @ 2;20 2 min rec
W8- 1500m – 3 x 800m @ 2;08 double rec of rep
5 x 300/100- 300 @ 48 sec 100m full out 3 min rec
3k race
W9- 3 x 1000m 1st 400- 62 next 600- 1:45 5 min rec
staffs - got some tough workouts ahead mate with ambitious goals, both of which are great!
Random observations....
First observation is that you have no LT work in there and are still doing VO2 max sessions. From my point of view you should be trying to maintain both LT and VO2 early in this schedule rather than just VO2.
Second, on your major race weeks I would include some race pace reps, but keep the recovery fairly long and the reps short. Think of it as fine tuning your race rhythm without knackering you out.
Third, I think you have omitted one type of workout that will be crucial. That’s a race simulation workout with very short recoveries which will help develop your power and tolerance. An example for 1500m would look as follows:
- 2 * (5 * 300m) @ 1500m pace with 20 second standing recovery and long rest between sets.
- 2 * (3 * 500m) @ 1500m pace with 40 second standing recovery and long rest between sets.
- 2 * (3 * 400+1 * 300m) @ 1500m pace with 30-45 second standing recovery and long rest between sets.
My suggestion would be to use these instead of your later season VO2 max workouts. You've been working on vo2 max all year and I don't think it's a wise investment of your time to keep thrashing away at them. Don’t worry it won’t disappear.
Fourth, have you considered doing some 400m or even 200m races to develop your speed? You could substitute them for a short speed session perhaps.
Fifth – I think you will find the 3 * 1000m @ target race pace very, very hard. Don’t get despondent or give up on your goal if you can’t complete them all on target.
Finally, I have a feeling that if your wk 10 to wk 15 is truly a peaking period then you are working a little bit too hard, i.e. too many lengthy workouts that will rob energy from the races. To a certain extent you need to have confidence in the training gone before and concentrate on rest, racing and short quality. You could for example race a little more often in place of the longer harder workouts (such as wk. 13’s 5k pace session – far too late for that sort of thing IMO).
Simon – looking good, the 1200’s are at current 5k pace I presume? What were the rests in the pyramid workouts?
I upped the speed a little yesterday. Instead of the normal 10 * 100m fast relaxed I did 4 * 100m fast relaxed and 6 * 40 accelerations. (Plus one 200m @ 800m pace at the end). Today my legs are extremely sore, God knows what the DOMS will be like tomorrow! It’s all good though and shows that the accelerations are stressing muscles in new ways.
Comments
Yes, here's my report:
Definitely one of the most bizarre races I've ever been in. They had a chip timing tent you had to pass through to get to the pens. There was a bit of a backlog in the tent which was impossible to predict from outside and the idiots started the race when there must have been 50 of us still in the tent.
Not an auspicious start as I also got a stitch on the first hill immediately after the start (I was expecting it after it started during warm-up). I got to the top of the hill at the back of the field and got trodden on which I found out later ripped my relatively new spikes and badly cut my little toe which kept me up last night.
Apparently the course wasn't too muddy for there but it was like a bog to run in. I got to the point where there seemed to be no point running hard up the muddy hills because it meant double the energy for a couple of seconds benefit. A combination of that plus the stitch restricting my breathing meant I was quasi-out of breath all the way round but in an uncomfortable rather than 'race' way.
No idea where I came or of my time. I won't do it again and it seemed to have absolutely no relevance to what I train for. It's like who can plug round the fastest, despite my immense respect for the people at the front of the field.
Although to take something useful out of it - my leg strength really needs some work. I have some hills scheduled but I think weights would be useful - but my knees won't allow it.
I'm getting to the point where it would be nice to enter a race short enough to feel as though I was actually running fast rather than these loud whispering competitions I keep entering.
You?
Reminded me a bit about being in a fun run.
I got a good workout and won a Park Run in the morning :¬)
Did 18 today so a solid weekend.
That's some good volume Gobi. I think the overall effect of your weekend's running will be very positive. I hear rumours of a marathon? I already know you're mad but you've infected young Tom with the madness!
I'm not good in mud, hills or at long distances so i was up against it starting in the tent as well. I'm always on time so I was more than a bit fucked off with their obstinance in starting the race when they could see the runners in the tent, when the bottleneck was, essentially, of their doing. As it turned out it didn't matter but I'm sure there were some quality distance runners like yourself for whom it ruined the race. Even I was still overtaking the old and infirm in the second lap.
* best blog I've read in a long time
Edited to take offence at that "old and infirm" remark
Funnily enough I saw your name the top of the list of a set of marathon results this afternoon
7 x 4 x 100 off 30 seconds with 2 mins between sets Hard but controlled.
17.5/17.5/17.4/17.6
16.6/17.5/17.5/17.6
16.5/16.6/16.2/17.0
15.7/16.6/16.4/17.1
15.5/16.4/16.3/16.6
15.5/16.2/16.4/16.3
15.9/16.2/16.3/17.0
Reps were under 800 metre pace which given the stop start nature and my inability to pick up quickly from stationary I am quite happy with this.
rep - Time - rec
200 - 0.36.5 - 70
400 - 1.18.1 - 140
600 - 1.57.2 - 140
800 - 2.36.4 - 140
600 - 1.57.7 - 140
400 - 1.11.7 - 140 (98% effort)
200 - 0.31.3 - 70 (100% effort)
Target was to make sure I was under 80 secs a lap no matter what the rep, pushed on during the last 2 reps to see what I can really do when tired. Target for this session later in the season is to be under 75 sec per lap no matter what the distance
That 100m session looked tough, the start / stop nature is supposed to be good for developing power but makes it very hard work. That's an awful lots of total volume for quicker than 800m pace - how did the legs feel the next day?
Pyramid session looks like a nicely designed session and well paced to.
I had a 5 * 800m @ 3k pace on tuesday with 400m recovery. It was quickly apparent my legs hadn't turned up. I ended up being pretty slow so concentrated on reducing the time spent to cover the 400m between reps. Think the legs were tired from saturday's race and the new set of physio exercises I was given on monday.
Apparently the various components of my lower body all point in wrong and contrary directions when I run resulting in twisting and therefore my knee pain (as well as my left achilles and sometimes plantar pain). This is due to a combination of weakness and inflexibility.
The physio (he was excellent by the way and recommended) showed me the correct knee postion in relation to the foot plant and toes. Even just standing I was unable to do it because of my lack of ankle flexibility. Without knee pain I'd never have known my biomechanics were so f*cked.
Happy with how things are progressing to be honest, legs next day are always a little tender but they do 90 mins on the turbo anyway, they don't run until the next evening as I have not gone high volume in the runnning yet so they seem to deal with it.
Impressed that you knew to just accept you were tired and improvise the session. Sometimes it is hard to accept you can't hit the numbers. Coaching kids I spend a lot of time talking about race effort rather than race pace.
I may be on light duties for a few days as I hit my ribs off a railing when I lost control of my bike yesterday. They feel a little sore but I'm off to the Time Trial anyway and will see how they feel during the warm up. I can jog and move ok just HARD efforts may feel uncomfortable. Shall report back later.
regards
Sounds painful - hope it clears up soon. Was it a youtube moment?
I was ambushed by a pit bull yesterday who ran down the slope from my blindspot and jumped up at me ("10 ME109s, out of the sun"). Fortunately a ridiculously friendly one but I had to stop as it wouldn't leave me alone. It isn't the dog's fault it was the gormless owner who just shouted and made no effort to come and get his dog.
When do you go high volume or are you sticking with the current mix of biking / running?
I'm trying hard with the acceptance of crappy workouts and focus on effort. Yesterday I had planned to do an 11 mile run including progression of 7 miles at MP / Half MP / Tempo. It just wasn't happening as I couldn't even maintain MP - so I did MP effort for 7 miles.
A few factors this week - physio exercises (glutes were throbbing by the end yesterday), bit of a cold, last sat's race and looks like I'm on course for about 80 miles this week. As you can see, the excuses are in full flow!
then 1 mile at 5.19 after 3 mins recovery
Ran 17.22 at the time trial yesterday after a very cautious start so know that it is just bruising.
Sounds like you were nearly liked to death :¬)
I shall be staying largely low volume and Xtraining my way through 2010.
SB - those are good reps, what is your 800 PB ?
however last season my pb was 2.12.03 when i did 2 races, i know i can hopefully smash that this year, been doing Moraghans drills this year and felt the benefit of them yesterday, feel i have more spring in my step
Good workout sawney.
Nice race Gobi - hope the ribs heal quickly.
I've resurrected the blog again at www.cunningrunt.blogspot.com
This week:
M: a.m. 3m recovery
p.m. 6.29m easy.
T: a.m. 3m easy
p.m. 10.6m easy w / drills, strides and 5 * 800m at 3k pace with 400 rec.
W: a.m. 3m easy.
p.m. 9.64m easy w / 6 * 100m strides.
T: p.m. 7m easy.
F: a.m. 3m;
p.m. 10.38m easy w / 7m at marathon effort.
S: a.m. 3m easy
p.m. 3m easy - cut short because of back pain.
S: a.m. 14m easy out / steady back, ice bath.
p.m. massage
Total Mileage: 75.91m.
Odd week. Hurt my back on friday and everything was a bit slower than usual. I think it's due to a slight cold and all the physio exercises I am having to do - they are knackering. I've now completed the 9 weeks of Phase 2 of base and averaged 64 miles per week. Reduced mileage week next week - only 9 weeks of base to go before the real fun starts.
Tried an ice bath today and managed 15 minutes with 1kg of ice. Very painful on the feet and cheated by not letting the ice melt before getting in.
After yesterdays surprise at the TT I ran XC today and off another cautious start had my best run of the year. Funny how things work. I hurt a little but it is manageable.
Moraghan - odd week indeed :¬0
A nice weekend of racing Gobi!
Cutback week today - coincidentally my cold now seems to have come out, good timing I suppose.
It's the first week of Phase 3 of base. In this phase I will be reorganising the week a little as an experiment and concentrating more on speed. I will also be pushing the end of non-quality runs a little more. The following refers to non-rest weeks:
M: Basic speed alternating weekly with 800m pace work.
T: Easy
W: 1500m pace work or hills.
T: Mid week longer run.
F: Off / recovery
S: Endurance based running (tempo / vo2 maintenance).
S: Long run
Early morning runs (execpt long run and recovery days) will remain hyf and at 3 miles until I've proved to myself I am ready for more.
I have a 5k on the 14th March in Baltimore,USA and then a semi-peak for the British Vets Indoor 3k on the 28th March.
I plan to establish my ideal racing weight for the race on the 28th march, so have started watching the diet. Using Tanita bf scales these are weekly averages (6ft 1.5"):
W/e 24th Jan: 160.5 lbs, 5.8%
W/e 31st Jan: 159.7lbs, 6%
W/e 7th Feb: 158.75lbs, 5.33%
5ft 9 and 168lbs
I use to play Ice/Roller hockey and spent years in the gym. Oh and I like food :¬)
SB - I was born in Scotland and don't like liver :¬)
8 x 150 tonight started slow around 26 and finished with a 22 each rep a little quicker. Recover was 2 - 2.30 as we walked back.
Gobi - the 800m sessions I referred to earlier will be 8 - 10 * 150m @ 800m pace with 250m jog recovery. That's for the next 4 week block. Sounds like I'm on the right track. I love this sort of session.
The last 4 week block of this phase will be 2 * (3 * 200) @ 800m pace with 100 jog between reps and 400 between sets.
In the past I have raced successfully when 156lbs on the morning of the race. I really want to experiment between 151 and 153 before the real racing season starts. I'll look like an accelerating twig!
400/800/1600/800/400 recovery was a jogged 400(2.20)
78/2.48/5.43/2.46/76
Between the wind/cold and tired legs never got up to speed BUT I did get a very good workout.
hi moraghan
if you have time could you have a look through this schedule which i will be starting in april for the track.
I am 1500/3k runner and I am looking to run 4;00/ 8;45 for this season. i want to peak from wk 10 to wk 15. after that i would like to improve either 3k/800 time in the end of july and august
Many thanks
Each week I will also do 2 runs of 30 mins and longer run of 60 mins. after a 30 min run i will also do 8 100m acceleration runs as you have suggested.
Wk1 800m- 6 x 300m @ 43 secs 3 min rec
1500m- 2 x 3 x 400m @ 64 secs same rec as rep time, 5 min btw sets
5k- 6x 1000m @ 3:10 2 min rec
Wk2 change of pace- 3x 3 x 300m 1st 3k pace , 2nd 1500m pace, 3rd faster than 1500m pace Rec 100m jog, 400m jog btw sets
1500m progressive- 5 x 1000m @ 2:57 rec 4 mins
3k- 6 x 800m @ 2;24 rec 90 secs
Wk3 close to 800m- 2 x 3 x 400,300,200 (4 mins, 3 mins, 2 mins) 4 mins btw sets
1500m- 2 x 4 x 400m @64 secs same rec as rep time, 5 min btw sets
3k race
Wk4 3k/5k/10k pace- 1,2,3,4,4,3,2,1 pyramid- 90 sec jog btw each
1500m progressive- 4 x 1000 @2:50 rec 5 mins
1500m race
Wk5 change of pace- 200, 220, 240, 260, 280, 300. 200 at 1500 pace. Add 1.5-2 seconds each successive rep. 300 should be at 400 race pace or close to it. Jog back recoveries.
1500m- 4 x 600m @ 1:36 with double rec of rep
5k- 5x1000m @ 3;05 3 min rec
Wk6 1500m race
4x400 @ 59 secs 4 min rec
1500m race
Wk7- 3k/5k/10k pace- 1,2,3,4,4,3,3,2,1 pyramid- 90 sec jog btw each
1500m progressive- 3 x 1000m @ 2;45 rec 6 mins
3k- 5 x 800m @ 2;20 2 min rec
W8- 1500m – 3 x 800m @ 2;08 double rec of rep
5 x 300/100- 300 @ 48 sec 100m full out 3 min rec
3k race
W9- 3 x 1000m 1st 400- 62 next 600- 1:45 5 min rec
1000, 600, 400, 300, 200 5 min rec
3k- 5 x 800m @ 2;20 2 min rec
W10- 1500m race
5k- 5x1000m @ 3;05 3 min rec
W11- 800m – 4 x 400m @59 secs 4 min rec
1500m first championship race
W12- 3k/5k/10k pace- 1,2,3,4,4,3,2,1 pyramid- 90 sec jog btw each
3 x 200/200/200/200- 1st 200m- 34 secs 2nd 200m- 32 secs 3rd 200m- 30 secs 4th 200m- 28 secs 5 mins rec
3k- 10 x 400 1 min rec
W13- 800m race
5k- 5k- 5x1000m @ 3;05 3 min rec
W14- 1000, 600, 400, 300, 200 5 min rec
3k race
W15- 10 x 150m strides
1500m big race/championship
Alright again lads! - must stay with this thread more often!
last Thurs at Track pyramid
200 - 0.40
400 - 1.20
800 - 2.37
1k - 3.17
1600 - 5.17
then came back a bit faster I think - can't remember the rest apart from 63 for the 400 and 30 secs for the 200, so getting in the right direction
Yesterday 5 x 1200 on the wet grass, first 2 4.05, second 3 were 3.57 each.
Good to see all trying to get some speed in - pissed off that its snowed again here in beds, might cock up the track tomorrow
staffs - got some tough workouts ahead mate with ambitious goals, both of which are great!
Random observations....
First observation is that you have no LT work in there and are still doing VO2 max sessions. From my point of view you should be trying to maintain both LT and VO2 early in this schedule rather than just VO2.
Second, on your major race weeks I would include some race pace reps, but keep the recovery fairly long and the reps short. Think of it as fine tuning your race rhythm without knackering you out.
Third, I think you have omitted one type of workout that will be crucial. That’s a race simulation workout with very short recoveries which will help develop your power and tolerance. An example for 1500m would look as follows:
- 2 * (5 * 300m) @ 1500m pace with 20 second standing recovery and long rest between sets.
- 2 * (3 * 500m) @ 1500m pace with 40 second standing recovery and long rest between sets.
- 2 * (3 * 400+1 * 300m) @ 1500m pace with 30-45 second standing recovery and long rest between sets.
My suggestion would be to use these instead of your later season VO2 max workouts. You've been working on vo2 max all year and I don't think it's a wise investment of your time to keep thrashing away at them. Don’t worry it won’t disappear.
Fourth, have you considered doing some 400m or even 200m races to develop your speed? You could substitute them for a short speed session perhaps.
Fifth – I think you will find the 3 * 1000m @ target race pace very, very hard. Don’t get despondent or give up on your goal if you can’t complete them all on target.
Finally, I have a feeling that if your wk 10 to wk 15 is truly a peaking period then you are working a little bit too hard, i.e. too many lengthy workouts that will rob energy from the races. To a certain extent you need to have confidence in the training gone before and concentrate on rest, racing and short quality. You could for example race a little more often in place of the longer harder workouts (such as wk. 13’s 5k pace session – far too late for that sort of thing IMO).
Simon – looking good, the 1200’s are at current 5k pace I presume? What were the rests in the pyramid workouts?
I upped the speed a little yesterday. Instead of the normal 10 * 100m fast relaxed I did 4 * 100m fast relaxed and 6 * 40 accelerations. (Plus one 200m @ 800m pace at the end). Today my legs are extremely sore, God knows what the DOMS will be like tomorrow! It’s all good though and shows that the accelerations are stressing muscles in new ways.
.