Settling into a good groove with a solid week since the Toughman Alabama.  Also had a coach swap and things are going great.

The next big event will be the Craft Classic in Atlanta which will be a half marathon and I am really looking forward to it.

So let’s see how this past week went.

 

August 22 to August 28 – 13 Weeks to Race Day!

Monday

Recovery Day

 

Tuesday

 6 by 2 Hill Intervals

Warm up 15 min. 2 min intervals at 10 out of 10 RPE. These are ALL OUT. No pacing. Just make sure the effort level is there. Equal recovery time between intervals. Cool down remaining time.

Results: 8:07, 8:02, 8:08, 8:12, 8:29, 8:08, for the 6 hill intervals

This session felt much better than the first one.  I was able to keep the times and effort level more consistent. I sure was glad to have them done, I was really feeling it by the end and to be fair the last one had some downhill, which is why that one was a little faster than you would expect.

i think if / when I run this again, I will be able to improve the times and effort level. 

 

Wednesday

Recovery Run 40 minutes at 10:30/mile or slower

This run happened on the treadmill in the basement, I learned you can adjust the incline so I put it a 2% grade.

 

Thursday

 Running Intervals 4×3 minutes

Warmup: 15min easy running, 10:30/mile

main: 4X3min RI, RPE-10 (7:35/mile or faster). RBI= 3min easy running (10:30/mile)

Cool Down: 15min easy running, 10:30/mile

Perform RI on flat to rolling roads. This can also be done on the tmill (set the % grade to 2%).

 This session was fantastic. I was able to hold the fast pace the entire time my intervals were at 7:26 7:24 7:11 and 7:07. It was not until the last minute of the last interval that I really started to feel it.  That is not to say the others were easy, it is just that the last bit was really starting to catch up to me.

 

Friday

Workout 1: Recovery Run 30 minutes

Ran on the treadmill, everything felt good 

The coaches notes say my HR should be between 73 and 105, my HR was 129.  Need to find out if I should slow down or it is okay to have a HR in the upper 120’s during a recovery run.

 

Workout 2: Swim 2000 Yards

wu: 200swim, 200kick, 200pull
main: 5X (50drill, 50swim) 10sec
4X 250y [200 EZ, 50 HARD] 20sec
3X [50kick, 50swim] 10sec
6X 25y SPRINT 15sec rest
cd: 300 choice

 The swim went well.  If you were to add up all the yards in the above workout it would be way over 2000.  I think the goal was to warm up pick a few drills or options and have it total to about 2000 yards.  When I talk with the coach, I will find out what the best plan is.

 

Saturday

 This was another 4 by 3 min interval session.  

Warmup: 15min easy running, 10:30/mile

main: 4X3min RI, RPE-10 (7:35/mile or faster). RBI= 3min easy running (10:30/mile)

Cool Down: 15min easy running, 10:30/mile

Perform RI on flat to rolling roads. This can also be done on the tmill (set the % grade to 2%).

I did it in the same place and had a good experience. Since the intervals did well last time and talked with the coach I decided to push the intervals to be a little faster and focus on the last minute of each interval.

So when I started the first interval, I could definately feel some soreness and fatigue from the week.  It was not horrible just noticeable.

The interals all went well except the last one. That is not to say it was bad, I just was not able to get to the speed I needed to be, it could be b/c it started up hill. In actuality I could have been coming close to my limit.  So it started out slow then when I hit one minute left, I dug in, rembering the coach saying to focus on the last iminute.  So I did my best to give it everything I had for the last minute.

My times were 7:01, 7:06, 7:11, and 7:34.

All in all everything was good and had good times, except the last interval which was very tough, I do feel good that I was able to pick the pace back up for the last minute of the last interval.

 

 

Sunday

 This was a 12 mile endurance run at a 10 min pace.

Everything felt good and I could feel some soreness at the beginning of the run.

One question I will have for the coach is about stops or breaks during the run.  This one had several for different reasons. Stop 1 to go to the bathroom, Stop 2 fill up water bottle and take gel at half way point. Stop 3 fill up water bottle at the top of the hill. Stop 4 saw a neighbor who was looking for a dog who was running accross a busy road, Stop 5 letting the people who own the dog, know that their dog was running accross a busy road.

So none were due to exhaustion. Just curious if these short stops during an endurance run are big or little deal.  I imagine stops during intervals would be much less desirable than endurance run.  Just interested to get the opinion of the expert.

The run was good and I think I averaged around a 9:45 pace so a little faster than the prescribed pace but the entire run felt very conversational.

 

Summary

 It was a good solid week with the new coach. I feel good about the work i got done and looking forward to the next week. The week after that will be the Craft Classic Half Marathon.  Really looking forward to that.

Looking forward to Week 7! See you then  🙂 

 

 

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