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| About to start the heavy lifting |
According to the Hanson plan, I can run any combination of miles from one to three per repeat. I thought I would get the heavy lifting out of the way and run a three mile repeat at the beginning. Then the plan was to do a two mile repeat. After completing the three miler, and a recovery walk, I started my two mile repeat. At the end of the first mile of the two miler, I was gassed. I decided it would do more damage to try and force the second mile as my form was getting shaky and legs were straining, so I cut my 2 mile repeat to one mile. Then I did a recovery walk to get my legs and lungs to recover.
I crossed over the bridge next to the track on Argyle and did my last mile on the North Branch River Trail. After I was done, I got this photo from a familiar spot. Anyone recognize it?
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| At least I'm smiling at the end of my repeats |
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| Same location a few weeks ago... |
Anyway, here are my splits:
1.75 mile warm-up
3 miles at 6:43, .25 mile recovery
1 mile at 6:58, .25 mile recovery
1 mile at 6:57
1.75 mile cool-down
Analysis: I started too fast, running the three mile repeat about 20 seconds too fast, and paid the price during my last two miles. These runs should be done either at a steady, even pace or with the last interval faster than the first. So, I really need to dial it in and focus on starting slower and finishing faster. If I do this, I will get more benefit from my track workouts, as I will be fresher near the end and have better form. As much as I want my repeat pace to be slower, I have a problem of reigning the speed in early. Maybe I need a coach to yell at me to slow down, especially early on? Anyone want to yell at me at the track?
Next Week: I am going to skip my track workout next Thursday morning and run a time trial at the Oktoberfest 5k in the evening so I can figure out my marathon pace using the McMillan calculator.
Pacing during intervals is so hard! I tend to start out too fast too and then struggle through the last one instead of finishing strong. I'm excited to see how your 5k goes. I think its smart to do a time trail and see where your fitness is right now!
ReplyDeleteYes, it is difficult to start slow doing intervals. I overcompensate because I think I will run the initial ones too slowly. I also associate running on the track with doing 400s and 800s, so my legs naturally want to move fast when they hit the track. We'll see how my time trial goes! :)
DeleteUm, I was going to guess that spot anyway. If you want to do intervals on Monday, we can all watch and yell at you!
ReplyDeleteYeah, I guess I gave away the answer too soon. So much for me having a gift card giveaway contest on my blog! Maybe save the yelling for Thursday for the first mile of the Oktoberfest 5k! On top of that, maybe Declan can yell alongside me for the race. On second thought we tend to run too fast together. Forget that idea.
DeleteI mean if you want to slow down, just do the first mile with me and call it a warm-up (something that every 5k needs, obviously) :) If we yell at you at the 5k, does it have to be in German?
DeleteJa, it must contain at least one German word. Example: "You are the wurst runner ever!"
DeleteBut that could apply to any of us :)
Deletedamn homie! 3 miles at 6:43 and a .25 recovery??! BEAST BEAST BEAST . Even hanson gives us a 1 mile recovery for 3 miles. Time to adjust your time goal again to wreck it hard like a sausage eating contest after lent
ReplyDeleteI was playing with fire going that fast and risked burning the sausages. I may need to chill on the strength workouts as there is no need to run that fast since my marathon pace will be much slower.
DeleteI am horrible about pacing intervals during the little speedwork that I do (hence why I like doing fartleks, LOL). Your splits are AMAZING, though. I only wish I could ever run a sub-8:00 mile, let alone a sub-7:00 mile in training the way you do!
ReplyDeleteHave you had a lot of success with the McMillan calculator? For me, it usually predicts that I will do my distance races faster than I actually do, given my time on 5Ks, etc.
Yeah, I think McMillan's calculator usually needs some adjustment for me, especially for distances longer than a half. But it is usually dead on predicting times from the 5k to the half. So, I may have to take the marathon time it predicts based on my 5k, and add 5 minutes just to be safe!
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