Based on my 3km pace achieved today, I have revised my training paces:
5:12 min/km Easy run training pace
4:20 min/km Tempo run training pace
3:54 min/km Maximum oxygen training pace
3:36 min/km Speed form training pace
5:12 - 5:53 min/km Long run training pace
3:13 min/800 Yasso 800s training pace
I plan to do a 10km race next weekend and will revise the paces again based on that.
Friday, April 2, 2010
Planned run 15 minutes effort
Date: 2 Apr 2010
Time: 14:27 min
Distance: 3.65 km
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/28634714
Pretty good speed run.
I pulled up at 14:27 instead of the full 15 minutes because I ran along the waterfront to meet up with Christine and our new dog. We picked the dog up from the RSPCA dog refuge in Toowoomba ( a town near Brisbane).
We have named him Max, full name Maximum or possibly VO2 MAX ;) . According to the details we got from his carers at RSPCA, Max had a very difficult and cruel start to his life, which makes me both sad and enraged at the same time. He had to be carefully nursed back to health after a severe case of neglect. He was voluntarily surrendered by the owners, after they were threatened with prosecution by animal welfare inspectors.
He is only 1 year old and is a Staffordshire Bull Terrier Cross. He has the Staffy face and head and is a bit taller and slimmer than a typical Staffy. First night with him and he has proven to be wise beyond his years, a perfectly gentle nature and so quiet !! I think so far we have gotten very lucky with Max, he is a perfectly behaved little fellow, and I cannot believe anyone could be cruel to him at all. And he has a perfect trot that will suit a long slow run pace. We won't take him on a run any longer than 50 minutes though - I won't run with him as I think I may be too fast for him over a long run, but Christine will be perfectly suited to take him. We took him on his first long walk with a little bit of running, and he is now snoozing at my feet as I write this :) I think he's pretty happy here to so far.
We recently introduced him to a friend's dog, a smaller female cross. He was an altogether different dog suddenly. Given a bit if time we will have him trained to be better behaved.
Anyway back to running, today I used my foot pod for the second time. I did an average cadence in this speed run of 91spm. That is pretty much spot on what I want to do. For geeky gratification again, I will calculate the stride length:
Distance : 3.65km == 3650 metres
Time : 14:27 == 867 seconds
Cadence : 91 strides per minute == 1.52 strides/second
Number of strides == 1317.84
Distance covered per stride == 2.77metres.
Stride length is 1.38 metres.
My slow run I did a couple of days ago, stride length was 1.22metres
I managed to do 3km in 11min45sec today - better than my last 3km TT where I did 11min56sec. So a tangible improvement again in a period of about three weeks. 11:45 is the fastest 3km I have done.
I do think I can go faster than that as I ran pretty well within my self today. I did not extend or push as hard as I could. I took off faster at 3:47 pace for the first 1km, 3:51 for the next and a 4:05 for the third km. I backed off ever so slightly for the rest of the run, and heart rate dropped by one bpm. Perhaps 4:08 is a maintainable pace for me right now based on the slight recovery of heart rate as I dropped speed.
Cadence did drop gradually over the distance:
1st km - 3:47min/km, 92spm cadence HR 141 av, MAX 159
2nd km - 3:52min/km, 92spm cadence HR 162 av, MAX 164
3rd km - 4:05min/km, 90spm cadence HR 165 av, MAX 166
4th km - 4:08min/km, 89spm cadence HR 164 av, MAX 165
I think if I do a proper warm up for this type of run, get my heart rate up a little and really push I will get below 11:30 for 3kms. I am getting close to 4min/km for 5 km distance too.
This all looks really good, I appear to have an appropriate cadence over a pace run, and a slightly longer stride length. That does not mean I actually stride out more at all, it is just that I travel further for each stride I take due to the higher speed I am moving at. I will revisit using the metronome next week for the speed runs I am scheduled to do, as that will help me in maintaining the consistent cadence.
Time: 14:27 min
Distance: 3.65 km
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/28634714
Pretty good speed run.
I pulled up at 14:27 instead of the full 15 minutes because I ran along the waterfront to meet up with Christine and our new dog. We picked the dog up from the RSPCA dog refuge in Toowoomba ( a town near Brisbane).
We have named him Max, full name Maximum or possibly VO2 MAX ;) . According to the details we got from his carers at RSPCA, Max had a very difficult and cruel start to his life, which makes me both sad and enraged at the same time. He had to be carefully nursed back to health after a severe case of neglect. He was voluntarily surrendered by the owners, after they were threatened with prosecution by animal welfare inspectors.
He is only 1 year old and is a Staffordshire Bull Terrier Cross. He has the Staffy face and head and is a bit taller and slimmer than a typical Staffy. First night with him and he has proven to be wise beyond his years, a perfectly gentle nature and so quiet !! I think so far we have gotten very lucky with Max, he is a perfectly behaved little fellow, and I cannot believe anyone could be cruel to him at all. And he has a perfect trot that will suit a long slow run pace. We won't take him on a run any longer than 50 minutes though - I won't run with him as I think I may be too fast for him over a long run, but Christine will be perfectly suited to take him. We took him on his first long walk with a little bit of running, and he is now snoozing at my feet as I write this :) I think he's pretty happy here to so far.
We recently introduced him to a friend's dog, a smaller female cross. He was an altogether different dog suddenly. Given a bit if time we will have him trained to be better behaved.
Anyway back to running, today I used my foot pod for the second time. I did an average cadence in this speed run of 91spm. That is pretty much spot on what I want to do. For geeky gratification again, I will calculate the stride length:
Distance : 3.65km == 3650 metres
Time : 14:27 == 867 seconds
Cadence : 91 strides per minute == 1.52 strides/second
Number of strides == 1317.84
Distance covered per stride == 2.77metres.
Stride length is 1.38 metres.
My slow run I did a couple of days ago, stride length was 1.22metres
I managed to do 3km in 11min45sec today - better than my last 3km TT where I did 11min56sec. So a tangible improvement again in a period of about three weeks. 11:45 is the fastest 3km I have done.
I do think I can go faster than that as I ran pretty well within my self today. I did not extend or push as hard as I could. I took off faster at 3:47 pace for the first 1km, 3:51 for the next and a 4:05 for the third km. I backed off ever so slightly for the rest of the run, and heart rate dropped by one bpm. Perhaps 4:08 is a maintainable pace for me right now based on the slight recovery of heart rate as I dropped speed.
Cadence did drop gradually over the distance:
1st km - 3:47min/km, 92spm cadence HR 141 av, MAX 159
2nd km - 3:52min/km, 92spm cadence HR 162 av, MAX 164
3rd km - 4:05min/km, 90spm cadence HR 165 av, MAX 166
4th km - 4:08min/km, 89spm cadence HR 164 av, MAX 165
I think if I do a proper warm up for this type of run, get my heart rate up a little and really push I will get below 11:30 for 3kms. I am getting close to 4min/km for 5 km distance too.
This all looks really good, I appear to have an appropriate cadence over a pace run, and a slightly longer stride length. That does not mean I actually stride out more at all, it is just that I travel further for each stride I take due to the higher speed I am moving at. I will revisit using the metronome next week for the speed runs I am scheduled to do, as that will help me in maintaining the consistent cadence.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
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.
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.
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.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
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.
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.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
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.
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.
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.
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