Last weeks 'recovery' run certainly did the trick. My legs weren't too sore on during the week. I don't think that the 20+ run was 'suicidal' as suggested by Grellan but it certainly has taken longer to recover than from a more normal 15+ mile long run.
On Tuesday with still 'heavy legs' I attempted a progression run over my usual 5.66mile route around Ballincollig. The mile splits pace ranged from 7:16 to 6:42 with a 'sprint' at 6:26min/mile pace for the last 0.66miles!! It all felt a bit too hard really. After the first mile my heartrate was in the mid 170's and I was only just breaking the 7 minute barrier. In all 5.66miles @6:58min/mile (39:24mins @ 169bpm avg).
So, on Wednesday I decided to take a proper 'recovery' and not run.
A lunchtime out of the office meeting on Thursday meant that if I wanted to run it had to be early in the morning. So I set the alarm from 5:30am but ignored it and got up at 6:15am instead!! It almost felt like a lie in!! At least the early start gave me another excuse for having heavy legs (still recovering from last Sunday). I headed into town at a steady 7:05min/mile pace reaching the turn around point in 24:58min and a low average heartrate of 144bpm. The overall 77m elevation drop may have been a factor but I was feeling good so on the return leg I decided to 'up' the pace. In general the average pace was less than 6:45min/mile and including the climb up Maryborough Hill I made it home in an average of 7:01 giving an overall of 49:24 (155bpm) for the 7.04mile early morning jaunt.
I spent the weekend in Ardmore so on Friday afternoon I ran the beach and cliff route. An overall distance of 7.47miles at an average of 7:29min/mile (160bpm) - 55:54 minutes. Interestingly, although the last couple of months have been a bit erratic in running terms they appear to be showing some dividends - when I ran this route at the start of June my average pace was 7:50+ and 164bpm.
My wife's family had a clan gathering on Saturday so time for running was out of the question - replaced by time on beach and in the pub.
Unfortunately, the rain came in during the night on Saturday so when the alarm went off I turned over. The extra couple of hours sleep helped clear the Guinness out of my system and when I eventually arose I deferred my run until the afternoon. I also changed the plan and instead of the 'easy' 13+ mile run I went for a 2x4mile progression run (Ardmore to Kiely's cross and back). The first 4 miles were 'steady' uphill at 7:11min/mile (158bpm). After a 2 minute recovery I headed back downhill starting out at 6:22 pace increasing steadily to 5:48min/mile (overall average 165bpm). Although the pace was helped by the downhill it felt good to let loose and put in some fast miles.
Week Total (17/08/09 - 23/08/09) - 5 sessions
33.96miles - 4:06:13 - 7:15min/mile - 159bpm - 77rpm
Summer is now officially over, the family is back from Ardmore and the girls start school on Thursday. So today I was back on the roads around Ballincollig for a 5.66mile run. The pace progressed from 7:10min/mile (143bpm) to 6:24min/mile (171bpm) - it was supposed to be an 'easy' run but I think I overcooked it a bit!! I blame the new running shoes...... Tomorrow will be better.....
A blog about my ongoing attempts to delay the ageing process......
5 comments:
Good to see your blogging again, don't lose any sleep over giving the Great North run a miss this year, I did it once and never again, to many people and to much hassle, its just over rated full stop!
that 78 revs is still a bit on the slow side! maybe you should try some 30 second surges where you concentrate on picking up your cadence without increasing stride length!
Rick - with so much going on during the summer it's difficult to find time to sit down at the PC!!
I've run the GNR the past 2 years and really enjoyed it - particularly last year when I didn't have to run around load of fancy dress costumes!!!. With so many 'fun runners' starting in Zone A is the only way to really race the GNR. There's always a good atmosphere on the course too but I agree that there is alot of hassle associated with it particularly, getting out of South Shields, accomodation etc etc. Flights are also awkward from Cork this year so I think I'l defer. Next year...
I'm trying some drills to increase my cadence but I think it's going to be a long process. I've years of reprogramming to overcome!! Also I'm not sure if it will actually increase my speed... time will tell.
I think you might be trying to increase stride rate without decreasing stride length, think these video's might help;
http://www.5min.com/Video/An-Introduction-to-Evolution-Running-3-29683888
and
http://www.5min.com/Video/An-Introduction-to-Evolution-Running-4-29683892
Thanks Rick I'll look at the videos this evening (blocked by firewall here).
I too think that there may be little to be gained by decreasing stride length. In general, I don't think that I'm heel striking (i.e. overstriding) so any benefit would be from increasing turnover.
if you find the video clips of use I will be happy to send you a full length copy, just email your address to runningcool@tiscali.co.uk
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