Improvement

Had a good couple of weeks of training, despite catching a stomach virus.

I guess all these trainers, coaches and runners’ magazines I’ve been reading actually know something about getting faster.  ; )

My training plan for the rest of the year follows a pattern suggested by many sources and each week consists of a long run, a shorter one with long intervals or a tempo segment, a day of medium intervals on the track or hills, a day of shorter intervals on the track or hills, and a short easy day.  Five days of running.  Sometimes six if I throw in another short easy day or a sprint workout.  I keep planning on doing a couple of days in the gym to augment it all, but I’ve been resting those days since my joints and muscles just feel like they need the break.  Maybe in another couple of weeks I’ll be stronger and used to it.  I won’t be finished tiling the downstairs and remodeling the bathroom, which has added to the pain in my joints, but I’m hopeful I’ll get to the point I can do all the work that the really fast people do.

My mileage has increased nicely as well.  I did just over 30 miles this week.

This coming week will be shorter, because I like to go back and forth between long weeks and short weeks to help my body adjust, but each cycle I should be increasing the numbers.  More reps, longer steady and tempo runs, and maybe some two-a-days will all serve to increase my mileage and conditioning.  I can’t believe I’d actually get to covering 50 or 60 miles in a week like a lot of milers do (read that professional, world class milers), but I’ve been surprised dozens of times by something I actually accomplish.

The Short Hill workout this past week was one of those things.

 

It doesn't look like much of a hill in this picture, but it's decent.

Two weeks ago I did the workout where I’m supposed to do 10 reps of a .21 of a mile steep hill near my house and run them all in about 1:20 or less.  This was the first time on this workout since last July and I could only get four reps in and all were over 1:23.  Very sad.  I felt horrible during the second two and just about collapsed when I got to the top for the last one.  It is a hard workout, and every “first” workout of any kind is especially difficult because your body is just not used to it.  Think about the first time you ever swung a kettle bell.  30 seconds of that and your heart feels like it’s going to pop out of your chest.  But then maybe three workouts later you’re doing it for half an hour!

The same is true in running when you haven’t worked a particular muscle group.

After those hills I stuck to my plan and did the following runs over the next two weeks before hitting the Short Hill again.

A 10 mile moderately paced run followed by a 7 mile run with three 1 mile intervals in there at VO2max, and then an easy 7 mile run.  After a day of rest I did a 10 x 400 workout on the treadmill, and then another day of rest.  That brought Saturday back around and another 10 mile run which was relaxed but almost 30 seconds per mile faster than the week before.  On Sunday I did a 100 meter full out sprint workout where every one of my reps was under 15 seconds for the first time since I began doing sprint workouts.

Another rest day followed by a short pyramid workout on the track, then another 7 mile run with mile intervals inserted in there.  One more easy 5 mile run then back to the Short Hill.

This time on the Hill was completely different starting with the very first “conservative” rep.  I crested the top, eased my pace as I came up to my finish point and stopped my watch.  Glancing down I saw 1:16!

“Seriously?” I asked myself, “Ed, you better slow down or you’ll never get to six.”

I reset my watch and jogged back down the hill and got to the bottom right about the two minute mark which meant I get almost a full minute to stretch, do some Lamaze breathing and bring my heart rate down.  I promised myself to go easy this time up so I didn’t hose the workout and have to cut it short.  My start was strong and I throttled back before the half way point and allowed it to feel slow the rest of the way.

1:17.  “Slower, Ed.  Go slower.”

The next one I did in 1:19 which felt very easy.  Since I was half way and only had three more reps to go I decided to just go with the feel, but to keep it relaxed feeling, no real strain.  The point of the workout is for form as much as it is strength.  Getting my knees up high.  Lengthen my stride by pushing further out behind me as opposed to reaching out in front of me.  Run on my toes and balls of my feet.  All that stuff.

Number four was 1:16, and I slipped with my gloves and stopped number five’s rep at 1:17.  I was feeling it now, but only had the one rep left for the workout this week, so it was Go Time.

I pushed off strong at the bottom of the hill and ground my way to the top with my thighs and lungs burning despite it being below freezing outside.  I began to feel rubbery, but told myself I didn’t want to waste such a nice start of that rep, so just forced the last four or five strides to the finish.

1:08.

My fastest rep ever on that hill.

I didn’t think I was going to come close to that.  I was thinking 1:13, maybe a 1:12, but I believe those little sprint workouts are really helping.

In fact I’ve had several other confidence building workouts just in the last couple of days.

Friday I did my 6 x 800’s with a target pace of 3:10 and this time my rest would be jogging a 400 instead of standing there for 3 minutes.  The first three were 3:08, 3:07, and 3:08 and I was feeling really good with them, so I just went with the body from there and the last three were 3:03, 3:00, and 2:49.  Hurt so good.  The following Saturday I went out for my 10 mile run and followed another suggestion by multiple sources: on long runs that are supposed to be moderately paced, don’t look at your watch.  Running so your breathing is not really labored just shortened is the goal and an hour or so of that pace is what the perfect target zone for your body to maximize building mitochondria and improve your body’s ability to process oxygen efficiently.  Not to mention improve your muscle endurance without straining them.

I only looked at my watch twice: once at halfway and once at the finish.  I was just under 40 minutes at 5 miles and was under 1:20 at 10.  All said and done what felt like a casual run was at 7:57 pace, and my legs never felt fatigued the entire day.

Sunday morning was a “Cutdown” or “Breakdown” workout which I had never heard of until last week.  It sounded cool, and looked like another good shorter speed workout so I put it in for the day after my long run thinking that my legs might not have a lot of pop, but that’s kind of the objective right now.  It’s called “work” for a reason.

This workout is designed for 800 runners and it goes like this.  You run a 600, jog or walk 200 meters then run a 500.  Jog or walk a 200 then run a 400.  Then a 300 and finally a 200.  The key is each 200 meter average is to be one second faster than the previous one, so you’re accelerating with each progressively shorter run.

I used the McMillan calculator to get my goal paces and then decided that I’d start at 44 seconds per 200 making my 600 a 2:12.  Then step down until my final 200 would be a 40.  The weather, however, was going to make all that difficult.

 

Into the wind.

When I left the house this morning to run the one mile up to the high school track it was 30 degrees outside with a windchill of 21.  Winds gusting to 30mph.  Nice.  Every time around that track I was either going to be flying along like Usain Bolt or I was going to be running with an open parachute behind me.  I told myself it was the average that would be the goal today and not ever split.

Didn’t matter.  I cruised the 600 in 2:10, walked for a few seconds then jogged the rest 200.  The 500 went by right at the 43 second goal pace of a 1:47 then I just got faster.  Again going with feeling the increased effort each time as opposed to looking at my watch 25 meters ahead of each split.  I covered the 400 (goal pace of 1:24) in 1:19.  The 300 goal was 61-62 seconds and I hit it in 56 seconds.  I walked almost half of the last rest 200 breathing hard, then lined up for the last 200.

I smiled because the final 100 meters was right into the wind.  “Make you strong, wuss boy.”

The goal for the final 200 was 40 seconds, and with the wind shoving my backwards down that final 100 I finished in 34!

It’s hard to describe the surprise I felt.  My legs were tired; I started that last rep with my heart all ready pounding and my lungs doing all they could to keep up, and I still cruised.  I have no idea how this will all translate into an 800 race, but I’m beginning to think I could get to a 2:30 this early in the season.  That’s getting fast, but I need to get well below that to reach my goal of a sub 5 mile.

Having a well thought out plan (taking advice from experts and experienced runners) is making a big difference.  I am seeing first hand and encourage everyone to make a plan first, start out conservatively and build slowly.

And put then put work in consistently.