Speed training

Tuesday run club was speedwork at both sessions.

At the beginners session we ran to a local underpass and jogged down the slopes and then attempted some speed up the inclines. The beginners need a bit of encouragement to run fast. I usually use the "shout loudly" approach, although I was quite kind this time because we had some new club members and I didn't want to put them off. I didn't really achieve much speed, because I was at beginners in a "support role".

At the intermediates session, we ran to a local open road and did 4 x 200 m sprints followed by 2 x 400 m sprints. I don't like sprint intervals so I didn't really give it my all, blaming my lack of effort on "post-race recovery". The 400 m intervals weren't all that bad really, we ran 300 m and then had to "kick" with 100 m to go, and I did manage that OK.

Wore the New Trainers again, they are starting to feel like part of my foot rather than a tight uncomfortable lump of plastic.

Low HR recovery run in new trainers

I felt quite good on Monday after Baldock Beast, my legs weren't stiff and the only ache I felt was in my glutes, which is a good sign because it means I'm finally using my arse when I run.

I was at a loose end in the evening, my husband usually runs on Mondays but he was having a rest day because his legs are hurting him (I keep telling him not to run so fast...). I decided to go for a recovery run, keeping heart rate under 140 bpm.

My aim was between 4 and 5 miles, and I ran 4.8 miles in the end, to Arlesey and back (at running club, we call this The Arlesey Loop, and we hate it because it involves running to Arlesey, no other reason).

My first mile was a bit fast, and HR jumped to 160, perhaps I had some race speed in my legs still. I managed to slow myself down and ran the next 4 miles at 10-10:30 min/mile pace. HR was much lower than 140, sometimes I was struggling to reach 130, and I put this down to tiredness and eating my tea about 90 mins earlier (I had horrible heart burn and reflux, delightful). And being in Arlesey.

I wore my new Adidas Supernovas to wear them in a bit more, they are feeling less tight than last week (they hurt my foot a bit towards the end of the club run on Thursday), but I don't want to risk a run longer than 6 miles in them just yet. I might not wear them for MK Marathon in fact, my pair of New Balance have miles left in them and would be OK. We'll see...

A Challenge: Beat The Husband

My husband started running in January, just a mile or so at first, and now he's running 5 km. I'm very pleased he's enjoying running, but he's annoying the hell out of me because he's so damn fast. He won't take any advice about varying his runs and doing a longer slower paced run, and he won't wear my Garmin so he can accurately see what pace he's running. He's just irritating!

Tonight he was home late from work (so I missed run club). He went straight out for his "fast long loop" run, as he calls it, 3 miles in 22 minutes tonight. I'm impressed he has the energy to run straight away after a day working in (and commuting to and from) London, but he finds it best. Anyway, he got back from his run and challenged me to run the same distance in the same time after my Pilates class. Well, I do like a challenge.

I decided to break in my new Adidas Supernovas, since it's about time I started using them. I was feeling a bit sick at the end of Pilates, lots of getting up and down in the class had made me feel dizzy, plus I'd eaten before I went. But I set off on my first mile anyway. The shoes are so light, I was stumbling at first because I wasn't used to how they landed (they feel narrower than my old pairs), and I was able to lift my knees much higher to run, which unbalanced me too.

First mile completed in 7:54, not bad. The second mile started down Hitchin Road, which is downhill. I was flying at this point, despite not really being able to see properly. My jacket was flapping around and I had sweat dripping down my face. Lovely. But I hit Valerian Way at pace, and raced past some chap with his headphones in, who made a startled "hmmmph" noise as I passed him. Second mile in 7:18, which is my fastest mile for about a year! I was running out of steam and road at this point, so only managed another half mile (7:15 pace).

2.5 miles in 18:49 is pretty good for me. Extrapolate it to 3 miles and I'm only 30 seconds behind my husband. HR averaged around the high 150s (although it was at 165+ for the last 1.5 miles), which shows I might have been able to give more, but nausea, dizziness, and sweat-blindness didn't really help. Love the shoes though, I reckon it's down to them!

(PS, no knee pain!)

New Trainers Please! It's Janathon!

New trainers! Adidas Supernova Glide 5

I don't need new trainers, but I never say no if I get the chance to buy new ones. Today we visited Sweatshop in Hatfield because I needed to swap the pair I bought my husband for Christmas. (His excuse for not exercising is that he doesn't have the gear. Well now he does!) Anyway, this lovely pair of Adidas shoes was reduced to half price, and they're pink! And neutral. So I bought them. They're going to stay pristine for a few more weeks, because I need to wear them for a special occasion coming up, but once that has happened I'll be free to run through puddles in them.

Getting back to Janathon, the day will come (probably around day 29) when I count the 1 minute running on the treadmill in the shop as my Janathon effort. Today is day 1 though, so I dragged myself out in the rain for a 2 mile loop of town. I paid no attention to pace, and I didn't wear my heart rate monitor, I just took it easy. I enjoyed myself, despite the rain and the wind. It's much better weather than last year, when I was struggling to run on ice and snow. 

I've weighed myself this evening too, to see how much damage I did to myself over the past month (first weigh-in in 35 days). That was fun. Now I'm off over to the World According to Sog to plan some salads...