Speed Build: Week 6
I took Monday and Tuesday off. I had a rare morning where I didn’t need to be out early to train or to train clients. I jumped out of bed at 5:45am on autopilot without realising what I was doing. I could have taken my time, but my quick bed-exit was an unconscious culmination of a prior dream state, which I recall quite vividly. I was sat on a hospital bed after taking a tablet form of a general anaesthetic. The nurse told me to follow her downstairs to another ward, where we would wait for the affects of the drug to take hold. As we descended the spiral steps, my vision blurred, quickly followed by falling unconscious; the last sensation being that of my head cracking against the wall. The next thing I knew I was stood, conscious, by the side of my bed. Waking from deep sleep can leave you feeling like a zombie… I was so glad to not be running on this morning. Aside from lifting, my day was fairly relaxed. Tuesday was more of the same.
I had contemplated taking Wednesday off, but when I heard about the session Holly had been set, I couldn’t resist. I felt well recovered from my short break, and since we’re in Cornwall next week, I felt I should probably do as much productive work as I could before we go.
The set up was this: 5/4/3 mins hard off 3 mins recovery. Rest 3 mins then run 20 minutes at half marathon pace. I completed the VO2 work outside and the 20 minutes on the treadmill.
The first 5 mins were at a 3:34 pace. My plan was to hold 3:36 since this was just faster than my 5k pace and would allow me to run faster on the subsequent 2 reps. The second rep was a 3:32. I thought I had worked harder than this and so decided to really hammer on the final rep, ticking off a 3:24k. That last rep really hurt. The idea of running 3:53 per k for 20 minutes on the treadmill felt like it might be tough, and in fact, I’ve never run a sub 20 minute 5k on the treadmill as part of a session. Incredibly, it felt like I was running marathon pace. At first I thought my cadence must be slow, having drained a little speed from them during the VO2 work, but no; when I looked my cadence was at 200spm. I guess I’ve just become much more accustomed to running sub 4 minute k’s. I passed 5k in 19:48 feeling comfortable - this speed work seems to be, well, working.
Thursday was an easy 8 miler, and despite having been bored out of my skull the last time I attempted to do so, I took the easy option of the treadmill. I’m attempting to diversify my reading as I get older. My go-to favourites are biographies, without shadow of a doubt. I can’t do fiction. This morning I attempted to listen to a podcast on establishing good business practices (I rarely listen to anything whilst running) and, as invariably happens, I almost instantly switched off. ‘Building a bigger, better, more profitable business’ talk just sends me to sleep. Politics, on the other hand, I do find interesting. I’m midway through a book called ‘All Out War’ which explains everything ‘Brexit’. It’s a biography of sorts, non-fiction, and full of crooked politicians doing what crooked politicians do - highly recommended.
Friday was a 9 miler easy.
Saturday was a threshold session of sorts. A continuous run on the treadmill, 1k at 3:49 followed by 1k at 4:20, for 10k. Average HR was 158. This sort of session always brings me back to one of the very first sessions Holly set me just 12 months ago; 6x3 mins at 3:55 per k. The reps were way too fast for me back then. I don’t remember the length of the recoveries, but I know that I walked them. The final couple of reps saw me flailing my arms, totally out of control, collapsing on completion of the last rep. In contrast, todays reps were longer and faster, and my ‘recoveries’ were just shy of sub 3 marathon pace. And it felt totally comfortable. I need these very clear delineations to really recognise the difference a year has made to my fitness, otherwise I doubt how much progress I have actually made.
Sunday was a 12 mile easy run. Easy as in I spent the first 6 miles between 5:30-6:30 per k. Just like last week, it took me forever to warm up and find a rhythm. I understand that it would have felt better had I not had a session the day before. Luckily the last 6 miles clicked and I rattled off between 4:18 to 4:59 per k at an avg HR of 132.
Not a clue how many miles I hit this week and honestly, I’m not interested. My focus is on executing the sessions as well as possible. The volume will come, but at the moment, the work I am doing feels like plenty.