End of the month

End of the month today, and the total distance run is 181km.

Previous highest I have recorded is 160km in July last year.

Weekly tally:

33km
33km
39km
58km

Plus the new week beginning on Monday 29, totalling about 16km so far. I seem to be in good shape and handling the workload at this moment. I have to run fast in the speed runs and _slow_ in the long easy runs - ie 50 mins or more, or I increase risk of injury or burn out.

I have a 15 minute effort coming up in 2 days, and a 10km race planned on 11th April. I want to do that to gauge where I am at and determine appropriate training paces, as I feel I am able to run faster now than any of my best races to date show.

Leading up to April 11 I am going to do a mini taper. I have another 2 hour run on Sunday, and a mix of speed runs during the weeks leading up to the race so it should work well.

Also I have a foot pod now to measure cadence - I find that in a easy 50min run I average cadence of 83 strides/min. At that pace and over the 50 minute run that equates to a stride length of 1.22metres. I will see what my cadence is on this 15 minute effort run I am doing this Friday - I expect both cadence and stride length to increase.

Knowing these data points may lead to a slight adjustment in running form - and I plan to use a metronome as a tool to help me do that.

Planned run 50 minutes

Date: 31 Mar 2010
Time: 51:31 min
Distance: 10:39 km

http://connect.garmin.com/splits/28479275

Another 'easy' run - I sought out as many hills as I could on this run, just to get a work out from them. I tried to surge up the hills rather than settle settle down and just survive the climb like I usually do.

On this run, it certainly was not as 'easy' as previous long easy runs, the hills make a big difference. My average speed was again near 5min/km at 4:57. My heart rate was way down again too at 145 average. That is an increase of 5 bpm compared previous slow runs, and the hills caused that.

This is also the first time I have used my foot pod to measure cadence in a run. It confirms what I have found using a metronome previously - My natural 'easy' cadence is 82-84 strides per minute.

Ultimately I aim to do a fast run using a cadence of about 90. I shall see what cadence I naturally do in an 'effort' run I have scheduled for Friday.

I would like to point out that I do not obsess about statistics and numbers when I run. It is all mostly about how I am feeling at the time that determines pace. It is just my geeky gratification when I am not running that motivates me to collect the data and obsess over it after the run is over :)

I am apparently a 'Software Engineer' after all!! At least in job description right now.

15 hill repetitions speed, jog recovery

Date: 30 Mar 2010
Time: 27:54 min
Distance: 6 km

http://connect.garmin.com/splits/28394514

Chose an easy incline, about 200 metres long. Ran at about 4min/km uphill. I was steady for most of the run, but lost speed as the edge was lost. My slowest was lap 13, 4:11min/km. The fastest was 3:32min/km pace on the very first one. I guess it may be ok to consume that initial energy burst while it is there ;)

Heart rate did not go beyond 166bpm peak, average was 151bpm. Perhaps I could have done it a bit faster on both uphill and on the recovery downhill to make it hurt more. The type of hill repetition I did today is apparently known as 'Kenyan Hills' after the style of training run Kenyan athletes have been known to do.

I felt good in this session. I find that I can put in a repeated effort and recover for another one quite rapidly on the down hill jog, much better than I ever have before. I feel I could have worked harder, but I am trying to be a little thoughtful and systematic in training, doing the pace that I have determined to be correct for this type of run. I blogged about the recommended paces I should be doing based on my research and current personal best races, here is a copy:


Some notes on pace:

* Easy distance runs should be at 5:19 to 5:25 pace ( ie Sunday long run )
* Tempo runs at LT 4:25 to 4:30 (ie during a shorter distance run when I put on a speed burst for 1-2-3 km)
* Max VO2 speed 4:04 ( Time Trial type runs , ie 1,2 or 3km TT, as well as this Hill/Speed run today )
* Speed form 3:40 to 3:46 ( 30 seconds speed, 1km, 2km speed etc )

I feel that the easy pace is far too easy, as I am able to hold 5min/km with comfort these days. Tempo pace is probably about right. Max VO2 run is about right too, as is the speed/form type pace.

I think I should occasionally push a little harder in all the runs, depending on how I am actually feeling. Right now I am feeling pretty darned good physically. I should go out of my comfort zone at least once or twice every 2 weeks I think.

I might put in a surge on my long runs, and do a slow build tempo run each week. I could even do a fartlek run sometime. Haven't done one in a long time.

Planned run 2 hours

Date: 28 Mar 2010
Time: 120:41 min
Distance: 24.03 km

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/28215108

A really good honest 2 hour run. Managed 24kms - felt fresh for the first 15, and felt ok up to around 18. I tried to surge on the 18th km, and did my ultimate 4:40min/km pace then. I died off a lot in the last 6km's but held it together ok to end up with 5:01min/km average.

This long run felt better that any of the runs I did last year leading up to the half marathon. I recall really struggling for those, so I am suddenly getting better over a longer distance.

Next week is lower kilometres than this last week gone - This last week I did 58.73km, which is the highest I have ever done. Also over this month I have done 165km, another highest ever. I have a speed week coming up, starting with 15 speed hill reps, a 50 minute run and a 15 minute effort.

I plan to practice tempo with a metronome for the effort run.

Injury wise, I have a sore left Achilles tendon and heal, as well as a sore right heal. I also have a sore left knee - My old injury has flared up. I am reasonably confident that icing it will calm it down, so no real worries with that. What is very pleasing is that my energy levels in the run and after it were quite good.

Planned run 50 minutes

Date: 26 Mar 2010
Time: 50:10 min
Distance: 10.61 km

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/28056461

I did this run on Friday 26 March, after a week of easy 50 minute runs. I did this one a bit faster, near my ultimate pace that I am aiming for in the full marathon I will do in July. I want to do 4:40min/km average, which is a pretty difficult thing to do in my first marathon.

Issys third run

Another of Issys runs. She has adapted very rapidly to running. Her first run she told me she was sore a few days after. The next run she had no soreness.

Today she ran further and ran quite well!!
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/28056426

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/28056449

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/28056453


I did these runs too, on the morning of Friday 26 March.

Planned run 50 minutes

Date: 24 Mar 2010
Time: 50:06 min
Distance: 10.19 km

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/27870004

Another slow run in this recovery week. In this one I stopped at a couple of places to get water. Again I deliberately took it easy. But I also took to the grass verge as much as I could to ease impact.

I ended up 2 seconds slower per km than yesterdays run, and my heart rate ended up lower at 139bpm average - compared to 143bpm yesterday. It may be the extra day/night recovering from the recent HM race I did that led to a lower heart rate.

Such a low heart rate is quite amazing to me. Compared to last year it is around 7bpm lower generally, and that is indicative of greater efficiency overall.

I plan to use my hilly course on my next run, I have a rest day tomorrow, then run next day.

Issy's second run

I took my nice Issy out for another run this AM. She didn't seem as keen this time :) She tells me that after her first run she felt good, next day not sore, but the second day after she was a bit sore. That is to be expected.

Anyway, again Issy ran well, this time 2:30 run with 1:30 walking rest. Did 5 of those - Issy had breakfast a little while before we left, and started to feel a bit berky after the third run, so we rested a little more.

Again it was really nice to spend some time with her, and I hope she keeps it up ( the running ). She said she will start running by herself during the week. She is well placed to take a run any time, lots of good pathways for her. And running is a loners sport mostly, we get together at start/end so it is important to get your lone runs happening :)

Issy's run:

http://connect.garmin.com/splits/27784654

Planned run 50 minutes

Date: 23 Mar 2010
Time: 54:01 min
Distance: 11.06 km

http://connect.garmin.com/splits/27778596

This run was done slow and comfortable. Funny how after a year or so, 'Slow and comfortable' ends up being as fast as my fastest 10km race from last year :)

This run also follows the half marathon I did two days ago. I am slightly sore from that and this run will stack a bit more sore on to of it. My toes on right foot are fine, the really bad one on my left foot little toe flared up a bit again, and got more fluid in the blister. Not a big deal, no real pain from it at all. I used these gel tube things over the toe, they work really well.

My heart rate average over the run was 143, which is really slow. This is a good sign that my fitness is improving. The training from now on is going to be a whole lot harder, I have another 50 minute run tomorrow, which will be very tough. Another Friday and a 2 hour run again Sunday. Injury wise, I have never been better. Left knee seems to be under control. I ice it and wear a pressure tube on it as a precaution, and that seems to be working.

Planning my next race

My training schedule has me doing a race on May 16. I found that the Sydney Morning Herald HM is on that day. Do I want to travel to Sydney for a HM? Maybe not.

The only other HM on around that time is the Noosa HM http://www.usmevents.com.au/nwf/event_marathon.html on Sunday 23rd May.

I would have to re-arrange the schedule a little to get the race in. I think that maybe it is not a great idea to fiddle too much at that time of training, because I consider the 3 hour runs that come up straight after 23 May are critical. I need them to ne done and done well for good preparation. So I have decided to not do the Noosa HM. Would have been fun and get a personal best in, but I have to think about the full marathon..

So on with training, as per my schedule.

Planned run 120 minutes

Date: 21 Mar 2010
Time: 1:39:05 min
Distance: 21.23 km

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/27713192

I have been sick all bloody week, woggy feeling, threw up Thursday. And Sunday again I woke with a headache, stomach ache, and generally feeling _terrible_. So frustrating.

I decided that since I had paid the entry fee I might as well front up and do the run - Twilight Half Marathon. I took 4 panadol and one aspirin to try and fight it off. DIdn't work!!

It was humid but reasonably cool. I took off following the 1:35 pace runner. I held on to the pace for the first 13km or so but still had my headache and stomach problem. To top it off, the new shoes I used - Brooks ST-4 'racing flats' - caused a couple of really bad blisters. The one on my left little toe is quite horrible, blood blistered and black/purple. Christine tells me she has never seen anything like it :)

So I slowed a lot, walked at a couple of the water stations. This lost me a far bit of time. I was about 1 minute up on my previous best race at Gold Coast in July last year, up until around the 18km mark, and lost all of that in that last 3km. I need to toughen up and retain that advantage. My next half will be much better if I am healthy and injury free I am sure.

I have done a total of three HMs so far:

Gold Coast, July 5 2009 01:39:09 on my watch, 1:38:58 from the race timing
Mooloolaba, September 19 2009 01:43:10 on watch
Twilight Half March 21 2010 01:39:05 on my watch

I am faster now for sure, just need a bit more endurance and to be healthy to get a faster HM done. I can hold a 4:30min/km pace quite well.

Planned run 10x30 sec speed with 30 jog recovery

Date: 18 Mar 2010
Time: 11:21 min
Distance: 2.7 km


http://connect.garmin.com/activity/27362014

I have had a sore throat since Monday 15 March 2010. It was not too bad, just hanging around. It did not make me feel sick, so I kept up the training. After my run Wednesday I could hardly speak, voice nearly gone. Started to feel bad in the night, odd dreams, sweaty etc. Woke Thursday with a voice that was ok at low soft volume. As soon as I tried to speak normally all I could do was squeak.

I worked from home Thursday, and started to feel progressively worse, until I was sweating and shivering badly. Kept working, throat got worse. Suddenly at around 3PM I had to throw up, felt extremely ill. Returned to my desk, and had to rush off again. Threw up all that I had eaten ( breakfast of porridge etc). Yuck..

In what seems like a matter of minutes after all that I started to feel better. Head cleared, throat stopped hurting, and not ill. No more sweats. And I got ravenously hungry again. Had a mad craving for Braised Steak and Onions, so went and got some, ate it and a big drink of juice. Felt really good.

What a very odd thing. Anyway, I had the planned run 10x30sec speed with a jog recovery. Usually it is pretty easy as far as energy is concerned, only pushes heart rate a bit. So I decided I would go and start the run and see how I feel. If I felt bad, I would pull up. I did not feel bad at all. And ended up doing the best run of this style I have ever done. Felt strong and fast all the way.

So after all that, I seem to be in pretty good shape. Writing this today, I feel pretty good, at work no problem at all.

I have a HM race in 2 days, today off, Saturday off, and look forward to it. My head tells me to treat the race as a training run, do it slow and easy, but I know that I will end up pushing myself. I am faster in shorter distances than I ever have been ( even at my peak when I did the HM in July last year) but I feel I lack distance endurance. I might just go out hard for a fast first 10km and see if I can hold it together for the rest of the race.

Planned run 50 minutes

Date: 18 Mar 2010
Time: 47:50 min
Distance: 10.39 km


Did this session as an experiment on cadence - that is the number of steps per minute. I did this fairly loosely, first just trying to find out what 170 feels like, then 180. 180 is the cadence I will try to run in speed form type runs, and ultimately one day may be able to do for a 10km run or longer.

Anyway, I found that I naturally run at around 164 which is quite slow - around 160 to 170 I end up doing 4:30 to 4:40 pace depending on how tired I am. It seems I must not stride out so much as I tire out. So it appears I have some improvement to be made if I can simply get myself to run at a higher cadence and maintain a good stride length. And that speed improvement will be made by practising that higher cadence I think. Hopefully practising the higher cadence will improve strength and help me to hold a good running form longer.

One other thing I want to do is try and get myself to pace better/ more evenly over a longer run. I will experiment with that later in other long runs.

I recorded the following runs for this cadence experiment:

Cadence 170:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/27271594

Cadence 180:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/27271665

Cadence 160:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/27271745

Cadence 162:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/27271823

Cadence 164:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/27271869


Oh yeh and I have a really sore throat as I write this. It felt like I was losing my voice last night when I did this run. I don't feel particularly ill, just really sore throat that makes it hard to speak. I want to knock this on the head real quick as I have a Half Marathon Race in three days !!

First run with Issy

I took my 14 year old niece Issy out for a short run 16 March 2010. She asked me a couple of weeks ago if she could run with me, so I made up a small plan for three weeks just to introduce her to the 'joys' of exercise ;) Here is her recorded run:

http://connect.garmin.com/splits/27132236

Our initial plan is - for three weeks Issy and I are going to meet on Tuesday and Friday - 2 days a week. The first run we did today:

5 x 2 minutes jog, 1:30 walk

Isabella did that _so_ easily. She has a great natural running style, and has natural speed. She manages a 5 min/km pace effortlessly. First 2 minutes, averaged about 5 min/km, and the rest we made an effort to slow down. No need to work hard at all initially.

The next run Issy and I will do will be pretty much the same as today, and we plan to do it on Friday morning. I might extend the run to 3 minutes as Issy did 2 minutes so easily.

We did a total of 2.3 km's today. It was so much fun to spend a little time with her :)

Planned run 3km time trial

Date: 16 Mar 2010
Time: 11:56 min
Distance: 3.00 km


http://connect.garmin.com/activity/27110324

A small mile stone reached today. I have several goals - ultimately I want to be able to break 40 minutes for 10kms. That goal seems pretty far off for me right now, so I some interim goals :

- Break 12 minutes for 3kms (done)
- Break 20 minutes for 5kms - Soon !!
- Break 32 minutes for 8kms - Maybe this year?
- Break 40 minutes for 10kms - A big one, not even sure I can do it

It has taken pretty much one year to get to a state were I can do sub 4 min/km over 3 consecutive kilometres. Considering I have not really been training with speed as a focus, this is pretty good. In my training I am trying to gain enough fitness to run a full marathon with some dignity, ie run the full distance. I am hoping for a time in the full marathon around 3:30 or better. So speed generally is not the main focus at all.

Once I have the full marathon done I will swing back to a 10km training focus. I should be pretty strong and perhaps handle speed training better after having done training to run a marathon. I plan to do a full 4-6 week recovery period after the full marathon before hitting speed training.

I recorded the run today as usual using my Garmin 405. But the heart rate was not recorded. Need to investigate what happened there. Would have been so nice to have the heart rate data..

So, what has contributed to the speed gain? I think general fitness, and strength. A whole year of regular training. I also bought new lighter shoes yesterday, Brooks Racer ST4 ( Pretty close to racing flat style shoe ). They are so different to the Glycerin 8's I have been wearing on long runs. The Glycerin 8's are about 13 ounces, the ST4 about 8.6. I can really feel the difference, and I am afraid I don't like the feel of the Glycerin 8's now.

What I really want is a shoe as light as theRacer ST4's but hard wearing. I will continue to wear the G8's for long runs, the ST4's for speed/form runs and races.

Planned run 120 minutes

Date: 14 Mar 2010
Time: 1:11:06 min
Distance: 13.75 km

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/26915319

Date: 14 Mar 2010
Time: 17:55 min
Distance: 3.27 km

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/26915417

This was a very poor run. I had to get up early to help with Brisbane Road Runners race day and got home after at around 9AM. Took off for my 120 minute run at about 9:20AM.

I felt really heavy and tired, and felt burn in my legs as soon as I hit the first hills. I carried my water belt which weighed me down a bit. Still it is a bit odd that I am feeling this way quite consistently in my long runs. There might be something wrong, or I may just need to build up some more.

I tried to get water into me, and when I emptied my water bottles I stopped to get more and go to the toilet, at around 13km mark. The urine colour was terribly dark, so I immediately decided to stop and get as much water as I could, and lay down for 5 minutes. That is the first 1:11 recorded. I then took off and did another 3.27km. I began to get a headache and decided it is best to pull up and go home.

Maybe I need to drink more water along the run. I certainly went slower today, perhaps I need to go even slower. Quite weird.

Writing this the next day I still fell like crap, slight pain in stomach, headache, and a generally fogy feeling. I thoght giving up drinking for 6 months and doin regular exercise was supposed to make you feel better!! Shall see how I feel tomorrow. 3km TT, I was aiming to get under 12 mins for that for the first time. Maybe I won't.

Planned run 4x1km speed with 1:30 standing rest

Date: 12 Mar 2010
Time: 21:41 min
Distance: 4.22 km

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/26758468

Good solid speed run. I concentrated on cadence ( foot speed ).

I read that an ideal cadence is 180 steps per minute, so I got a sound player ( on a computer ) that has a metronome pluggin. I set it to play 180 beats per minute, and listened to it. I tried to commit the beat to memory, and then run to that beat.

180 BPM is quite fast when you are not used to it. I concentrated on being relaxed but fast, and it is a bit tricky. I managed to do a good pace overall, all but one of the 4 laps under 4min. Pretty sure I am right now the fastest I have ever been for a run like this, so that is a great sign.

Planned run 40 minutes

Date: 10 Mar 2010
Time: 40:03 min
Distance: 8.77 km

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/26580437

In my last blog post I mentioned I planned to run this one in 'tempo' style. According to my research this style run is supposed to build speed until you reach a medium to fast pace and hold it for a few km's. I did not really do that very well today.

I did begin reasonably slowly, 1st km at 4:50 pace, next one at 4:30, and the third at 4:16. But I should be running at 4:50 for about the first 2 at least, and then build to only around 4:30-4:25. So I built too early and went too fast. It feels like a 4:15 pace is about right for a brisk run, and one day I will be able to do that for a 10km distance I think. Just need to keep building fitness.

Also in this run I had to stop for water a few times as well as toilet. I also had to stop to wait for a train to cross in the last 2km's. I did not carry my water belt, shall do so for all longer runs, but I just forgot it today.

The overall pace was pretty quick at 4:34min/km average. It is looking good to be able to run that fast in a training run, particularly after the long 21km run three days ago and the speed run yesterday. My legs burned a little bit, and I was pushed aerobically. But it was not too bad at all.

Rest day tomorrow, I plan to get to the gym and do a circuit session. In that I will try to get heart rate up a bit initially using seated rowing machine or bike for 5-10 minutes. And then use the machines to do a full body work out. Between each machine, maybe hit the rowing machine or bike again to get HR back up, and do some burpies and sit ups too.

Planned run 6x500 metres speed with 1 minute standing recovery

Date: 9 Mar 2010
Time: 17 min
Distance: 3.23 km

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/26505616

Did a pretty good speed run today. Felt slightly sore from the 21km run on Sunday (2 days ago), but I feel I recovered quite quickly from that run.

As far as pace goes I am supposed to do this type of run at 3:40mn/km to 3:46min/km pace. The splits I did today:

03:31
03:32
03:53
03:44
03:40
03:39

The blowout rep of 3:53 was an accident - instead of running until the watch told me the end of the rep, I ran to a landmark ( on auto pilot ), stopped, realised my error and then took off again. The pace was much better than that shown.

The first two reps were far too fast, and for the rest pretty much spot on pace wise. Felt quite good too, I feel like I can push harder and reach a painful place with more confidence. ie I don't feel like I am dying :)

Some notes on pace:

Easy distance runs should be at 5:19 to 5:25 pace ( ie Sunday long run )
Tempo runs at LT 4:25 to 4:30 (ie during a shorter distance run when I put on a speed burst for 1-2-3 km)
Max VO2 speed 4:04 ( Time Trial type runs , ie 1,2 or 3km TT )
Speed form 3:40 to 3:46 ( speed runs like today )

For tomorrow, I have a 40 minute run - I plan to run at easy pace initially, and build to a faster pace, reaching the Tempo run speed of around 4:25 to 4:30, and hold that pace for 2-4 kms.

Injury wise, my left knee is coming along really well now. I am still icing it and weary a pressure bandage in bed, and that seems to be enough. I feel I may be completely injury free in the next month or so so long as I don't hurt the knee or accumulate a new injury.

Planned run 105 minutes ( 1 hour 45 )

Date: 7 Mar 2010
Time: 1:40:23 min
Distance: 19.33 km

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/26424816

I did about 2km warm up before I started the timer on this run, so overall I did about 21.3km. I set off deliberately slow, trying to conserve myself for the later stages of the run. According to some calculations I have done I should be aiming for a 5:20 pace for these types of training runs.

I ended up with a 5:11 min/km average , and the last 3 km's were substantially slower than that. I faded really badly in the last 2-3 kms, mainly in the legs. I felt pretty ok overall though, and injury wise I am in good shape. I am finally getting over the left knee problem that has been troubling me since at least August last year.

I carried my water belt for the full distance too, and ran/drank the whole time. Only 860ml over the 21km distance. I did the run in the afternoon too, due to weekend activity disruptions. I got to bed at 12:15AM and thus slept in instead of running in the AM.

I graduate to 2 hour runs this Sunday, 4 in a row over the next 4 weeks according to my schedule. However I have a Half Marathon Race on 21st (Two weeks away). If all goes well I will finish that much earlier than 2 hrs !!

I then have 3 2hr 20 runs in a row, and move to 2hr 30s on 2 May. At that time I should be pretty shagged, and so the schedule drops back to a 2 hour run May 9. I have a 2 hour 40 run ( or a HM race ) on May 16 and then finally three three hour runs each week for three weeks. And then I back off the mileage for the taper leading to the race in July.

So I have a long way to go to get in shape for a half decent marathon race. As per last year when I was preparing for the HM, the most important things are to avoid injury, get rest and recover properly. When I get sick, make sure I do all I can to recover from that as quickly as I can.


Overall distance this week 33.6km
Overall last week 39.7km

6x2 minutes speed with 1 minute standing recovery

Date: 5 Mar 2010
Time: 18:00 min
Distance: 3.59 km

http://connect.garmin.com/splits/26090563

I woke this morning with a headache, slight stomach ache and feeling generally crap again. This happens on a weekly basis it seems. It is not enough to stop me functioning, but it is enough to tempt me to not run!!

Anyway, I had two paracetamol, and some creatine with juice a while before the run and survived. I just feel really tired now after the run.

I have decided I need to get more used to running with my water belt, so I have resolved to wear it in all runs leading up to the marathon. Considering how I felt and the fact I carried extra weight of 860 grams the run is not bad at all. I managed an almost identical pace to the last 2x6 run I did on 26 Feb a week ago.

I think I paced myself a little better today, slightly slower and consistent at the beginning. I blew out at the 5 rep with a pace of 4:00 average. I actually stopped with maybe 35 seconds to go - absolutely out of it, feeling sick. I decided to try to get to the end so began running again and just managed to get the exact 4min/km pace. I think I was pushing harder again in that rep, just a little bit too hard. I made up for it in the last rep.

I am pleased to have managed to get the run in as I was in doubt that I could do it.

Planned run 40 minutes

Date: 3 Mar 2010
Time: 40:04 min
Distance: 8.66 km


http://connect.garmin.com/splits/25954275

This I think may be the fastest 40 minute run I have done in training. I went fast just because it felt ok. This is a bad habit, as I nearly always slow down substantially at the end of a run. I need to learn to pace properly, go slightly slower at the beginning.

The problem is that the pace I naturally reach is the one I did today in the first 6 km or so. I do think this pace is the right one, it is a good natural rhythm for me, and my breathing feels ok too. I think that given a bit more fitness and speed sessions I will eventually reach a point where my body is up to the task of holding that speed over a longer distance. The speed is generally about 4:20 min per km pace.

I have recovered quite well from the long run on Sunday, legs felt good, still ever so slightly sore. I have a 6 x 2 minute run on Friday, and a 1hour45 Sunday. Next week is a 3km TT, a 50minute run and a 10x30 speed session to sharpen up before a race on Sunday 21st March. I have entered the Twilight Half Marathon.

6x1 minute speed with 45 second standing rest

Date: 2 Mar 2010
Time: 10:30 min
Distance: 2.06 km

http://connect.garmin.com/splits/25908615

Managed a pretty good speed run today. I seem to have recovered quite ok from the hard run Sunday. I was very sore yesterday amd all day today. We decided to run in the evening because I was so tired this morning.

I was significantly faster today than the last one too. In one lap I missed the start by 15 seconds because I was going to the toilet!!

A 40 minute run tomorrow morning, and another speed run Friday. I will do a gym session tomorrow night too to get some cross training in.