Running

15:37 on the track, 16:06 road. (16:11 parkrun.)

23:32 for a 5k on the dreadmill today, definitely feel it coming back now. not bad for 104kg. another 10kg and I should be flying again.

had a really complicated specific session to do this morning, focussed around form/cadence, but decided that I'd just leave everything at home and go for a good old fashioned jog, was lovely and have found a new quiet road with a nice steep hill for future hill sessions.

my only regret is that I briefly thought about taking the dog with me, and decided not to tire her out as she is going out for a long walk later = error, she looked really disappointed when I put the lead back down, but being half Labrador the two treats I left her with soon made her forget and she was fast asleep on the sofa when I got back. I will make it up to her at the weekend...

Interesting:

Sub 20 at local Parkrun. Nice to be carrying bike commute fitness over as run training has been next to nowt of late.

^ Nice. Sub-20 is a target I don't think I'll ever reach without serious effort, and it doesn't really help with my goals of long distance stuff. Still, it depends on what happens if I keep the weight coming off.

Knocked two minutes off my parkrun time from last week with better pacing and not starting off too easy. Still 2 minutes to go to get back to where I was before and then another 2 and a bit minutes to go to get to sub-22.

Long distance has to be your focus though for now, so the 5k target can wait until you're done and need new challenge.

If you concentrate on your technique and efficiency as well as distance for the long stuff this'll help your training when you go for shorter distance time improvements.

If you concentrate on your technique and efficiency as well as distance for the long stuff this'll help your training when you go for shorter distance time improvements.

Yup, at the moment I'm using Parkrun as the weekly tempo run that the marathon training plan calls for. It helps me push myself harder to have other people to keep pace with and overtake me, can't quite find the same motivation on a solo run.

Have joined local running club (that also does tri stuff) and so I'll go along to a coaching session at some point to have my technique pulled apart and rebuilt.

Around Christmas I should be down to the weight I was when I did my parkrun PB (which was April last year from a September start) so I should be ahead of the game this time.

Major focus is on keeping the long easy runs at a sensible pace and not going too fast, have been running most on HR rather than worrying about pace. Each of the last 3 10k runs (over the last 8 days) have been slightly faster than the one before and with slightly lower HRavg each time, which is nice. Running slowly is hard.

Wow. Tips on getting my 5k down?.. I heard working on the mile is a good start..

All sounds sensible, looking forward to progress updates.

I'm going back to running by HR because I can't be trusted to train properly on feel, I just end up aimlessly bimbling.

First gentle interval session today to ease back in, might need to revisit my HR zones, which I think will require doing an HRMax test. The joys.

The reason to run local races.

That carrot cake was about the size of my head.

1 Attachment

^ yum.

45 mins half in the woods then half along flooded river banks, lots of high stepping through puddles.

Used it as chance to try this waist bag, picked up cheapz at a cycle jumble it fits the f.r.a. kit list items plus upto two drink bottles. Moves about a tiny bit and made my t-shirt run up my back a couple of times but nowt so bad i wouldn't use it in events.

1 Attachment

First gentle interval session today to ease back in, might need to revisit my HR zones, which I think will require doing an HRMax test. The joys.

How do you do your HR Max test for running? I did one on the bike recently which came out at a level that seemed ok to me. Went for a hilly run a few days later and managed to blow the max of that away by a fair margin. Guess I wasn't pushing it hard enough on the bike but it might be worth me doing it via running in the future.

HRmax is absolute, but HRpeak is sport specific (so you've got a HRpeak per sport).

You're unlikely to get to your HRmax whilst cycling or swimming, but it's much easier to get there running. I get my highest HRs whilst playing 5-a-side football, easily 10+bpm up on what I can get even running (but this is probably because my legs give out before I get to HRmax).

Cycling: 185bpm max
Running: 189bpm max
5-a-side football: 201bpm max

HR zones for running will always be higher than cycling. During a running race, I'm usually around 180BPM - This is probably my max on the bike.

I use this:
http://home.trainingpeaks.com/blog/article/joe-friel-s-quick-guide-to-setting-zones

Cheers, I guess that makes sense then. Cycling was 169bpm but I knew that I wasn't going all out as that was the first I had done the test in a while. Running came out at 179bpm. Presumably this means that if your using HR zones for training then they are sport specific as well?

Presumably this means that if your using HR zones for training then they are sport specific as well?

Yep - Joe's suggestions are in my link above

unlikely to get to your HRmax whilst cycling

Hardknott Pass will get you close.

Oddly enough, my highest recorded running HR was running *down*hill.

^Fear.

Depends what your training looks like at the moment. If your mileage is low, you can progress just by running more; running 4/5 x/wk is better than running 3 x/wk, and getting a weekly long run up to 10 miles is better than only doing 4 or 5. 30 miles/week is better than 20, etc.

If you feel you've got a good aerobic base and/or can't spare any more time than you are at the moment, then you want to be doing some sessions specific to 5k pace, which can include intervals, e.g. 6-8 x 800, 4-6 x 1km, 3-4 x mile, but also some continuous tempo runs around 10k - half marathon pace, to improve threshold. A good weekly schedule might have 1 x interval session (3k - 5k pace), 1 x tempo run, 1 x long run and a couple of easy/recovery runs. If you're only running 4x/wk, maybe alternate interval and tempo runs, and just have the one quality session (plus long run) each week, because you want a reasonable proportion of your running being an easy pace.

So it depends what your schedule looks like at the moment. Get your miles up if you can, and only add in extra quality sessions gradually.

When I set my zones last time I think I did 5 reps up a hill flat out.

I then went higher during a Parkrun of all things where I actually felt as if I was at some kind of limit. (Really not suited to the shorter distances).

Good Post PhilPub.
My Spine training continues. I'm now convinced its more mental strength than physical, plus having good kit and admin. Had a jaunt up to Malham - Hawes (done all the Coke n Hawes jokes) at the weekend via Pen - y - Ghent got drenched and cold, Storm Agatha was a slut. Proper spooky on the roman road to Hawes, pitch black at 5.30 pm with visibility down to 1m in the low cloud. Since my Iphone drowned in my super doper Montaine "waterproof" jacket pocket I was totally dependant on my head torch. If it had packed up there was a fair chance that I was brown bread. More shopping required, top of the list is a back up torch and neoprene gloves and socks(Sealskinz are great until the stop working and at £30 a pop they aren't cheap.)

Really helpful.

Thank you.