The old Andrew is back
Why, it is Saturday. That means tempo.
For some strange reason my desire to run is back at full throttle. It came on suddenly, maybe like the arrival of Spring. But no matter, I'm hot and I'm cold. We all know that by now. I used to say I'd like to try to stay 'hot' but I've given all that up. Just go with it I guess.
So this morning I was pleased as anything to be faced with an up-tempo day. But I have made one important change. I am no longer shooting for any specific time or HR range per se. I like to see a certain HR when I'm done but now I run according to effort and recognize that many times the effort has to be a little less than optimal. This is because my muscles can't keep up with my lungs. While I feel the heart could deliver a bit more speed, the muscles start to strain and that will shorten my training cycle dramatically.
I think this is the point I missed the last go around. The heart was doing great, my speed improving, my stamina building. One last 5:20 mile and it was over.
So today I went out to do a 2 mile warmup / 6 mile tempo / 2 mile cooldown for my 10 miles. The tempo was by feel and it took into consideration how the legs felt after yesterday's pleasant 18 miler. Splits:
9:21 warmup
8:48 warmup
7:00
6:52
6:57
6:48
6:30
6:29
8:38 cooldown
8:13 cooldown
Total: 10.24 miles 1:17:21 (7:33 pace / 145 HR). Tempo 6.13 miles 41:24 (6:45 avg pace).
Wx 30F, slight wind, sunshine. Ran at the airport.
For some strange reason my desire to run is back at full throttle. It came on suddenly, maybe like the arrival of Spring. But no matter, I'm hot and I'm cold. We all know that by now. I used to say I'd like to try to stay 'hot' but I've given all that up. Just go with it I guess.
So this morning I was pleased as anything to be faced with an up-tempo day. But I have made one important change. I am no longer shooting for any specific time or HR range per se. I like to see a certain HR when I'm done but now I run according to effort and recognize that many times the effort has to be a little less than optimal. This is because my muscles can't keep up with my lungs. While I feel the heart could deliver a bit more speed, the muscles start to strain and that will shorten my training cycle dramatically.
I think this is the point I missed the last go around. The heart was doing great, my speed improving, my stamina building. One last 5:20 mile and it was over.
So today I went out to do a 2 mile warmup / 6 mile tempo / 2 mile cooldown for my 10 miles. The tempo was by feel and it took into consideration how the legs felt after yesterday's pleasant 18 miler. Splits:
9:21 warmup
8:48 warmup
7:00
6:52
6:57
6:48
6:30
6:29
8:38 cooldown
8:13 cooldown
Total: 10.24 miles 1:17:21 (7:33 pace / 145 HR). Tempo 6.13 miles 41:24 (6:45 avg pace).
Wx 30F, slight wind, sunshine. Ran at the airport.
posted by Andrew at 8:47 AM
2 Comments:
That's good news. I always did like the old Andrew better.
All right, a nice 18 miler followed by a 10 miler with 6 miles of tempo. You are definitely coming back at a steady rate, but please don't tell me you're doing a 20-some miler tomorrow instead of recovering a bit after two quality days.
I don't want you disappearing again on us. Remember, it wasn't really just the one straw (or one mile at 5:20) that broke the camel's back.
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