Training Camp Update

The internet connection is a bit sketchy here and once we get a connection I have to share it with 4 kids, so this is a rare chance to post a quick update.

Holidays are great! Since I no longer have to spend several hours of the day sitting down, the pain in my left leg has completely disappeared; the only time I felt some discomfort was the day we drove for several hour to visit my mum, which was the only day I had to sit down for prolonged times. Any other day has been completely pain free.

It’s not quite as hot as last year, though we’re heading back into 30 degrees today after a few cooler days. I was a bit worried about my long run on Saturday but it was actually quite cool that morning and the sun did not come out until later, so that passed without a problem.

On Thursday morning I had a decision to make. The legs didn’t feel great and I was very close to binning speed work for a second week in a row but my head seemed to look forward to it, so I made a snap decision and went ahead. The coach had prescribed a ladder session, 1600-1200-800-600-400-200 with decreasing rest and increasing speed. I found it got easier as the session progressed. Having learned from the past I never tried to run ahead of myself and concentrated more on running relaxed rather than fast, apart from the last 200 which was close to as fast a sprint as I could handle on tired legs at the end of a session. Hey, I never claimed to be particularly fast – and I doubt that will change much!

However, immediately after that speed session I felt really good and I’ve felt pretty good ever since. Maybe my legs needed some kind of wakeup call, I don’t know, but now I’m glad that I went ahead with that session.

Saturday was a long run and for many miles I felt like I was just about to get tired but somehow I never really did and finished the run feeling almost the same as I had at the start. The pace had been very slow – that was deliberate. The one thing I am not happy about was the HR which rose gradually with each mile, from the 130s at the start to the 150s at the end, even though the effort was pretty much the same throughout. Having said that, during my 18 mile run 2 weeks ago the same had happened but the average HR had come out as 150, so the 144 from this week are actually a nice progression already.

Apart from that speed session and long run it was all easy running with the HR monitor. The pace is slower than I would have expected but the higher temperatures may have something to do with that, so I’ll wait and see how the numbers are once I’m back home in more familiar territory and conditions.

8 Aug

9 miles, 1:22:24, 9:09 pace, HR 133

9 Aug

9 miles, 1:24:34, 9:23 pace, HR 136

10 Aug

3.6 miles, 34:33, 9:32 pace, HR 131

11 Aug

10 miles, 1:24:44, 8:28 pace, HR 150

     1600-1200-800-600-400-200 at 6:42/6:27/6:27/6:22/6:09/5:29

12 Aug

3.55 miles, 33:35, 9:27 pace, HR 132

13 Aug

20 miles, 2:57:46, 8:53 pace, HR 144

14 Aug

3.65 miles, 34:36, 9:28 pace, HR 134