Speed training this morning wasn't something I was looking forward to. My legs were super tight and if I'm honest a bit wobbly - as I walked down the stairs I was half thinking of jacking it in and going back to bed. No matter how much I sleep I am still tired. But the important thing is that I didn't.
I met my Dad and we set off down Piccadilly, dropping down into Green Park and then to St James' Park for 8 x Yasso 800's with 400 metres recoveries. The first three weren't THAT bad, but the last three were not nice, although funnily enough I found a massive burst of speed for the last 80 metres of the last 800. A slow two mile jog home and by 8.30 ish 10 miles were in the bag.
All that and the pelicans were out. Each lap was definitely made easier by the knowledge that I'd be seeing pelicans again soon. Let's hope the killer pelican wasn't about
Showing posts with label Speed Training. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Speed Training. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Speed Work
I'm pretty disciplined with my long runs, and usually I'm good at sticking to my marathon training plan, but I'll admit that one area where I've fallen down has been my speed work. My excuse has been that whilst working it's been difficult to fit in, especially when my run has often doubled as my commute home, and trying to add speedwork into a run down the Fulham Road is never going to be easy when you have to stop, start and weave through crowds.
Speed is my main downfall. I'm a slow runner, and I'm not great at picking up my pace, but my personal trainer keeps telling me that a 4 hour marathon is within my reach. I'm sceptical about this, but I'd be over the moon if I could make this happen.
I'm not working this week, so I took time this evening to go out and do some speed work, namely Yasso 800s. I was expecting it to be a bit of a chore, but I actually found it fun, the breaking up a run into smaller chunks really makes all the difference. The workout involved a 2 mile ish warm up and cool down either side and then the Yasso 800s in the middle - running 800 metres in 4 mins and then a 400 metres of slow jogging to take about the same time as it took to complete the 800. I repeated this 6 times and found it if not easy (the pace for me was a challenge but not undoable, I was pushing myself, but not to the limit by any means), then very, er, entertaining. It was probably my most enjoyable 9 miles to date.
It also helped that I did my speedwork in nice repeating laps around St James Park. I do like a bit of order with my workouts.
Speed is my main downfall. I'm a slow runner, and I'm not great at picking up my pace, but my personal trainer keeps telling me that a 4 hour marathon is within my reach. I'm sceptical about this, but I'd be over the moon if I could make this happen.
I'm not working this week, so I took time this evening to go out and do some speed work, namely Yasso 800s. I was expecting it to be a bit of a chore, but I actually found it fun, the breaking up a run into smaller chunks really makes all the difference. The workout involved a 2 mile ish warm up and cool down either side and then the Yasso 800s in the middle - running 800 metres in 4 mins and then a 400 metres of slow jogging to take about the same time as it took to complete the 800. I repeated this 6 times and found it if not easy (the pace for me was a challenge but not undoable, I was pushing myself, but not to the limit by any means), then very, er, entertaining. It was probably my most enjoyable 9 miles to date.
It also helped that I did my speedwork in nice repeating laps around St James Park. I do like a bit of order with my workouts.
Image from Google Maps.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
The Marathon Training Begins
Well, the New Year is upon us and I have to start really running if I'm going to get round a marathon course without any tantrums.
The London Marathon is on Sunday 17th of April, so I have 14 weeks to train from tomorrow. I can run 10 miles pretty comfortably with my current standard of fitness and run 5 - 8 miles home from work once a week at least.
I have written out my marathon training on a calendar - I always find it easier to assess what is in front of me if I have to physically write it down. On the whole it doesn't look too bad. The long runs on a Sunday will be a bit of a bugger just with regards to the number of hours they'll eat of my weekend, but hopefully I can get in the groove of a 2 or 3 hour run and use that time to think and reflect, activities I currently do in bed. I'm hoping the time shouldn't be too hard, after all I do run for about 90 minutes on my longer runs at present without any real difficulty.
The other thing I'm slightly nervous about is the speed training portion - in particular how I determine I've covered 800 metres and now have 400 metres to cool down before I start again? I've lost my Garmin forerunner 50, so I'm using a Nike GPS app for my iPhone, but I can't see the distance as I run. I could go to a running track, but I don't fancy running 10 miles in a circle, or indoors on a running machine. Anyone have any tips?
The London Marathon is on Sunday 17th of April, so I have 14 weeks to train from tomorrow. I can run 10 miles pretty comfortably with my current standard of fitness and run 5 - 8 miles home from work once a week at least.
I have written out my marathon training on a calendar - I always find it easier to assess what is in front of me if I have to physically write it down. On the whole it doesn't look too bad. The long runs on a Sunday will be a bit of a bugger just with regards to the number of hours they'll eat of my weekend, but hopefully I can get in the groove of a 2 or 3 hour run and use that time to think and reflect, activities I currently do in bed. I'm hoping the time shouldn't be too hard, after all I do run for about 90 minutes on my longer runs at present without any real difficulty.
The other thing I'm slightly nervous about is the speed training portion - in particular how I determine I've covered 800 metres and now have 400 metres to cool down before I start again? I've lost my Garmin forerunner 50, so I'm using a Nike GPS app for my iPhone, but I can't see the distance as I run. I could go to a running track, but I don't fancy running 10 miles in a circle, or indoors on a running machine. Anyone have any tips?
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