Yesterday: 8K w/5x200m @85%. Legs felt tired from all the weekend landscaping/home improvement. Got out there anyway and did the workout. Weather was amazing at 13.9C (57F) and calm and clear. Calvin came with me (yay!) and regaled me with snippets of funny YouTube videos. We brought the dogs, but regretted bringing Powder, as she was totally lagging. She did that last time too...I guess she's not a distance dog. We are both so annoyed with her that she might be relegated to casual walks.
Other than that, the walk went well. I did 6:25/km for 51:22 with ave HR 142. Then I did the 200s. Calvin did them too :). I did them a bit harder than 85%. It took me 5:28 to do all 5, which was decent I guess. Calvin did his in 3:59!!! He's getting to be a good runner.
Garmin data here and here.
Today: I woke up with tired legs. I think they were tired from the weekend's yard work/house work plus from yesterday's walk, especially the 200s. I was apprehensive and definitely thinking too much. Calvin volunteered to come along to encourage me; he was worried I'd go too fast for him but I told him that even my fastest would not be a challenge for him and that was true. At least the weather was very, very nice. It was 12.2C (54F) and calm and clear. Perfect.
I started off and my Garmin was off on the first 500m, as it sometimes is. Annoying! It had me down for 3:45 and I am sure it was more like 3:15 pace. No matter. I kept going and though my legs were slow to warm up, I did the first 2.5km in 16:56 (though I'm guessing it was really more like 16:30...darn the track for being closed!). Then next 2.5km was in 15:59, and I wondered how I'd go faster - thought my legs were pretty dead. But I turned off my brain and found another gear. Calvin encouraged me a lot especially on the last 2.5km :) :) :). The next 2.5km was in 15:32 and the last in 15:08. OK, that's kinda slow, but we're starting where we are starting, and that's what came out. I was working SO hard and my HR was 168 at the end, so I was really burning it. Total time was a very slow 63:33 (63:03???? Not sure about that first 500m) but hey, I got it done. Next time it'll be easier.
Hamstring: felt good except afterward I walked the dogs, and Powder stopped suddenly to sniff a dead bird; I fell over and pulled it a bit :( :( :(. It was sore at work but not too awful and I think it'll be OK. I am really annoyed because I made it through the whole weekend of yard work keeping it safe. Oh well.
Garmin data here.
Showing posts with label kickdown. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kickdown. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 31, 2016
Tuesday, November 10, 2015
10K kickdown
Yesterday: planned rest day.
Today: 10K kickdown. I've only done one of these in the last 3 years - in April this year, and didn't do any in 2013 or in 2014. This is a reminder of just how sick I was, and just how far I've come to feel good enough to do 10K kickdowns again :).
It was raining and cold this morning, and up at the U it has been snowing all morning (not sticking, but snowing), and so I opted for the temperate clime of the indoor track. Seriously love the indoor track - it's a lifesaver when there's weather like this, which is a good portion of the year here.
The indoor track is 292.6m, so 34 laps is 9948m, more or less. Close enough!
Jim wanted me to start nice & easy, at about 16:20-16:30 for the first 2.5km. I did start really easy, but that pace ended up at 16:02.8 for 8.5 laps, which converts to 16:07.8 for 2500m, and my HR was in the low 140s - very easy for sure. For the next segment I did 15:35.8 (15:40.7 for 2500m) with HR high 140s-low 150s. My mouth was super dry (indoor in winter! dry!) so I quickly got a drink at the water fountain before doing the next 5km, and adjusted my music :). The next segment was 15:12.8 (15:17.6 for 2500m) with HR upper 150s, and I was starting to feel it - definitely pushing comfortably hard by the end of that segment, but still feeling I had another gear. The last segment I did in 14:30.9 (14:35.5 for 2500m) with HR in upper 160s, and really giving it a lot. I am very happy with that time! It's 15 sec faster than I did it back in April, and a great start to serious training again.
Total time: 61:22 (10km 61:42, adjusted) with overall ave HR 152. Nice!
Garmin data here.
Today: 10K kickdown. I've only done one of these in the last 3 years - in April this year, and didn't do any in 2013 or in 2014. This is a reminder of just how sick I was, and just how far I've come to feel good enough to do 10K kickdowns again :).
It was raining and cold this morning, and up at the U it has been snowing all morning (not sticking, but snowing), and so I opted for the temperate clime of the indoor track. Seriously love the indoor track - it's a lifesaver when there's weather like this, which is a good portion of the year here.
The indoor track is 292.6m, so 34 laps is 9948m, more or less. Close enough!
Jim wanted me to start nice & easy, at about 16:20-16:30 for the first 2.5km. I did start really easy, but that pace ended up at 16:02.8 for 8.5 laps, which converts to 16:07.8 for 2500m, and my HR was in the low 140s - very easy for sure. For the next segment I did 15:35.8 (15:40.7 for 2500m) with HR high 140s-low 150s. My mouth was super dry (indoor in winter! dry!) so I quickly got a drink at the water fountain before doing the next 5km, and adjusted my music :). The next segment was 15:12.8 (15:17.6 for 2500m) with HR upper 150s, and I was starting to feel it - definitely pushing comfortably hard by the end of that segment, but still feeling I had another gear. The last segment I did in 14:30.9 (14:35.5 for 2500m) with HR in upper 160s, and really giving it a lot. I am very happy with that time! It's 15 sec faster than I did it back in April, and a great start to serious training again.
Total time: 61:22 (10km 61:42, adjusted) with overall ave HR 152. Nice!
Garmin data here.
Monday, April 27, 2015
10K kickdown
Yesterday: Rest day. Today: 10K fartlek!
Last night I got the pre-workout jitters. I knew I hadn't done one of these in a long time, and I was nervous. I looked up how long it had been...drum roll...the last time I did one was Dec 18, 2012. Wow. That shows you just how sick I have been and for how long. I should just feel really happy that I can do the workout again now, but I'm also sad for all the lost time. Not that I could do anything about it - I tried everything I could think of to get better sooner, but the illness remains a mystery.
Anyway, I was really nervous, and chatted a bit with my coach, who reassured me that it just didn't matter how I did on the workout. At this point, it's just money in the bank, so to speak. I was still apprehensive, but felt a bit better reminding myself that there was no pressure.
I had a hard time waking up. I have forgotten just how much extra sleep I can need when training hard, and I have been shorting myself a little on sleep. I had gotten into the habit of reading a lot more, but recently I have also played the piano more and have kept reading just as much, which means that I have been staying up too late. I'm writing this to remind myself that I need to prioritize sleep when training hard.
I arrived at the track and there was a big concrete truck there (see photo at left). They have been doing construction on the south end of the track, building something. New stands? More restrooms? I'm not sure, but I'm curious. So today they were pouring concrete, and I had something to watch for the first bit of my workout that wasn't so hard. Once it gets hard, watching them pour concrete is the last thing on my mind.
I was very glad I'd chosen the track, as I needed the pacing help. It's easy to know your pace when you can check every 100m. I'd have started out too fast otherwise. Jim wanted me to do 6:30/km pace for 2.5km, then 6:20, then 6:10, then all-out. 6:30/km is 39 seconds per 100m - easy to monitor on my watch. 6:20 is 38 seconds, 6:10 is 37 seconds, and then...well...I'd see what would happen. When I started I felt really good; my legs recovered perfectly from the 15km and were not sore or tired at all on Saturday afternoon or Sunday.
My first 2.5km was right on target at 16:13.7, and it felt easy. The second 2.5km also felt fairly easy, and at 15:43.2 was slightly faster than intended (15:50 was the goal) but in the ballpark. The third 2.5km I was definitely working, but not too hard, and did a 15:20 (goal was 15:25), so my pacing was pretty much right on. Then I just prayed I could hang on for the last 2.5km! I did 2:57.5 and 2:58.6 for the first two 500s, and felt my legs flagging a bit, then did 3:00.2 for the next one. I told myself I had this in the bag, and willed my legs to move faster, and finished with 2:59.1 and then gave it my all for a 2:54.7 for the last one :). Total for the last 2.5km was 14:50.1, and I am very happy with that for my current level of not-very-in-shape-just-yet. That predicts about a 59-min 10K, which seems about right for my level of fitness.
Jim called me after the workout (hey, it was only 12:15am there :) but he likes to stay up late) and pointed out that my last 3K was under 18:00 (it was 17:55.2) and that my last 5K was 30:10 (on the nose!). I'm pleased with that since my 8K fartlek FIRST 3K was over 18 min last week... yeah, I was on tired legs from the half marathon, but still, doing the last 3K of a kickdown workout faster is much harder in many ways. The kickdown is deceptively difficult because your legs get complacent and then it's hard to move them faster. Anyway, I was glad for the phone call and it was so nice to actually have good news for my coach.
Total time: 62:07 with average HR 154 and max 171. I averaged in the upper 160s on the last 2.5km, so I was definitely working it hard.
Last night I got the pre-workout jitters. I knew I hadn't done one of these in a long time, and I was nervous. I looked up how long it had been...drum roll...the last time I did one was Dec 18, 2012. Wow. That shows you just how sick I have been and for how long. I should just feel really happy that I can do the workout again now, but I'm also sad for all the lost time. Not that I could do anything about it - I tried everything I could think of to get better sooner, but the illness remains a mystery.
Anyway, I was really nervous, and chatted a bit with my coach, who reassured me that it just didn't matter how I did on the workout. At this point, it's just money in the bank, so to speak. I was still apprehensive, but felt a bit better reminding myself that there was no pressure.
I had a hard time waking up. I have forgotten just how much extra sleep I can need when training hard, and I have been shorting myself a little on sleep. I had gotten into the habit of reading a lot more, but recently I have also played the piano more and have kept reading just as much, which means that I have been staying up too late. I'm writing this to remind myself that I need to prioritize sleep when training hard.
I arrived at the track and there was a big concrete truck there (see photo at left). They have been doing construction on the south end of the track, building something. New stands? More restrooms? I'm not sure, but I'm curious. So today they were pouring concrete, and I had something to watch for the first bit of my workout that wasn't so hard. Once it gets hard, watching them pour concrete is the last thing on my mind.I was very glad I'd chosen the track, as I needed the pacing help. It's easy to know your pace when you can check every 100m. I'd have started out too fast otherwise. Jim wanted me to do 6:30/km pace for 2.5km, then 6:20, then 6:10, then all-out. 6:30/km is 39 seconds per 100m - easy to monitor on my watch. 6:20 is 38 seconds, 6:10 is 37 seconds, and then...well...I'd see what would happen. When I started I felt really good; my legs recovered perfectly from the 15km and were not sore or tired at all on Saturday afternoon or Sunday.
My first 2.5km was right on target at 16:13.7, and it felt easy. The second 2.5km also felt fairly easy, and at 15:43.2 was slightly faster than intended (15:50 was the goal) but in the ballpark. The third 2.5km I was definitely working, but not too hard, and did a 15:20 (goal was 15:25), so my pacing was pretty much right on. Then I just prayed I could hang on for the last 2.5km! I did 2:57.5 and 2:58.6 for the first two 500s, and felt my legs flagging a bit, then did 3:00.2 for the next one. I told myself I had this in the bag, and willed my legs to move faster, and finished with 2:59.1 and then gave it my all for a 2:54.7 for the last one :). Total for the last 2.5km was 14:50.1, and I am very happy with that for my current level of not-very-in-shape-just-yet. That predicts about a 59-min 10K, which seems about right for my level of fitness.Jim called me after the workout (hey, it was only 12:15am there :) but he likes to stay up late) and pointed out that my last 3K was under 18:00 (it was 17:55.2) and that my last 5K was 30:10 (on the nose!). I'm pleased with that since my 8K fartlek FIRST 3K was over 18 min last week... yeah, I was on tired legs from the half marathon, but still, doing the last 3K of a kickdown workout faster is much harder in many ways. The kickdown is deceptively difficult because your legs get complacent and then it's hard to move them faster. Anyway, I was glad for the phone call and it was so nice to actually have good news for my coach.
Total time: 62:07 with average HR 154 and max 171. I averaged in the upper 160s on the last 2.5km, so I was definitely working it hard.
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
10K kickdown - PR!
Well, the extra rest day didn't hurt :). I know it wasn't ideal as I'm supposed to be training hard right now, but it really was unavoidable. And you know what? I got to walk with Kelly today, which was way better than doing it alone yesterday anyway.
It was 33F (1C) and threatening snow, and pitch dark for the whole workout (we finished about 7 am and it doesn't get light until well after that now). It got colder and started to snow later this morning after we finished, but happily it waited for us to be done.
We went by feel this morning instead of trying to hit certain times. That seemed to work out well. We started off nice and easy, and then each 2.5km went a bit harder, and the last 2.5km was pretty much as hard as we could. I know on the last 500m I was breathing pretty out-of-control. But I stayed with Kelly! We were together the whole time - she never got more than a step or 2 ahead of me and vice-versa.
Here are our splits: 15:13.8, 15:02.4, 14:45.4, 13:49.0 (!under 14 for the first time!), for a total of 58:50.6. My HR got up to 169 and I don't know about Kelly's but her breathing was really hard and we were working it hard. Her left knee looked a lot better today than it has looked; I only saw it bent once or twice. I am pretty sure my knees were good too. In the middle of the workout I wasn't sure I'd be able to do well, but then I started to feel a little better and managed to stay strong to the finish with none of the jello-legs thing I felt last week on this workout, and it showed in my times. My last five 500s (and Kelly's) were 2:46.2, 2:42.4, 2:45.3, 2:49.7, 2:45.4.
Now I'm really tired/sleepy, and my legs feel pretty trashed. Hopefully I'll be up for another hard one on Thursday.
Garmin data here.
It was 33F (1C) and threatening snow, and pitch dark for the whole workout (we finished about 7 am and it doesn't get light until well after that now). It got colder and started to snow later this morning after we finished, but happily it waited for us to be done.
We went by feel this morning instead of trying to hit certain times. That seemed to work out well. We started off nice and easy, and then each 2.5km went a bit harder, and the last 2.5km was pretty much as hard as we could. I know on the last 500m I was breathing pretty out-of-control. But I stayed with Kelly! We were together the whole time - she never got more than a step or 2 ahead of me and vice-versa.
Here are our splits: 15:13.8, 15:02.4, 14:45.4, 13:49.0 (!under 14 for the first time!), for a total of 58:50.6. My HR got up to 169 and I don't know about Kelly's but her breathing was really hard and we were working it hard. Her left knee looked a lot better today than it has looked; I only saw it bent once or twice. I am pretty sure my knees were good too. In the middle of the workout I wasn't sure I'd be able to do well, but then I started to feel a little better and managed to stay strong to the finish with none of the jello-legs thing I felt last week on this workout, and it showed in my times. My last five 500s (and Kelly's) were 2:46.2, 2:42.4, 2:45.3, 2:49.7, 2:45.4.
Now I'm really tired/sleepy, and my legs feel pretty trashed. Hopefully I'll be up for another hard one on Thursday.
Garmin data here.
Monday, December 10, 2012
10K kickdown
Met Kelly at 5:40am. It was cold (28F, -3ishC), dark, and snowing lightly. We are either tough or crazy or both. We met at Liberty Park to do the 10K kickdown starting on the south end of the park. We really must switch to the north end of the park - it's psychologically much easier because of the slight downhill you get on the last hard interval. Starting on the south end of the park, you have to do a slight uphill as part of your last hard interval. It hurts.
It hurt more today because I was tired for some reason. Nothing felt sore, but my walking just felt a bit stilted and uncomfortable. I knew I wouldn't be fast. I tried to psych myself up, to no avail. The first 5K was OK, and even up to 7.5K wasn't so bad, but the last 2.5K I had a lot of trouble going faster, and I was slow compared to what I can do when I'm feeling good. Still, it wasn't too awful, considering I felt lousy. Kelly did better than me, doing the last 2.5K about 10 seconds faster.
Here are my splits (2.5km):
15:34, 15:29, 14:48, 14:32. HR was up to 170, so I know I was working it.
Edited to add total time 60:23
Garmin data here.
***
Afterward I went home but I did do my glute exercises - 3 different ones. 3 sets each of one-legged getting up from chair (3x10 each leg) and also lunges front + back (3x10 each leg). 2 sets of step downs (2x10 each leg).
My glutes are quite sore/tired now! Tomorrow could be interesting...
It hurt more today because I was tired for some reason. Nothing felt sore, but my walking just felt a bit stilted and uncomfortable. I knew I wouldn't be fast. I tried to psych myself up, to no avail. The first 5K was OK, and even up to 7.5K wasn't so bad, but the last 2.5K I had a lot of trouble going faster, and I was slow compared to what I can do when I'm feeling good. Still, it wasn't too awful, considering I felt lousy. Kelly did better than me, doing the last 2.5K about 10 seconds faster.
Here are my splits (2.5km):
15:34, 15:29, 14:48, 14:32. HR was up to 170, so I know I was working it.
Edited to add total time 60:23
Garmin data here.
***
Afterward I went home but I did do my glute exercises - 3 different ones. 3 sets each of one-legged getting up from chair (3x10 each leg) and also lunges front + back (3x10 each leg). 2 sets of step downs (2x10 each leg).
My glutes are quite sore/tired now! Tomorrow could be interesting...
Monday, December 03, 2012
8K kickdown
Yesterday was an optional day, so I rested :). I was a bit stiff on Saturday afternoon after the 20K but felt totally fine yesterday.
I was ready to go this morning for an 8K kickdown, at least physically. Mentally I was in a bad space because I ate too much chocolate last night :(. Sigh. Still analyzing that one to figure out what went wrong...but I digress. Back to the workout.
It was 35F (about 2C) and calm. Pretty warm for December; it's nice when it's above freezing. We met at Liberty Park, which is basically flat but has some slight ups and downs, all gradual. We got going and did the first 500m nice and slow, in 3:13 by Kelly's watch. I messed up my watch and somehow turned off the GPS so at 2km I powered it down and back on and got the last 6K on my Garmin. Good thing, as you'll see. Our first 2K was very easy, but we were still fast, in 12:17 (we'd planned on 12:40 or so), but we weren't worried because it felt super easy. We tried to just speed up only a little on the next one, and it was a slight uphill for part of it, so that worked out OK. The next 2K was 12:12, and we were still feeling really good.
We sped up a little, but the first 500m of the next 2K was a slight uphill, and we were a bit slow (3:02 by my watch, and I think 2:59 by Kelly's?). During that 500, though, Kelly suddenly screamed. She had rolled her ankle badly on a small pinecone, and was in a good deal of pain. She tried to walk some more but really couldn't and she had to stop and walk back to the car (which was close, since we were doing 2K loops). I continued on by myself (glad that my watch was now working), and picked up the pace a little bit, because I felt good. I was surprised to see the next 500m in 2:49! OK, so it was slightly downhill, but that was fast! I felt good and continued on, doing 2:48 and 2:49 before starting the last 2K. I knew I could go faster, but the first 1K of the last 2K is a slight uphill and I did it in 2:53 and then 2:50, but WOW I was faster on the way back with a 2:39 and 2:43. I know my right knee was straight, too, because I was really focusing on it and on my technique, especially at the end.
Total for the 2Ks: 12:17, 12:12, 11:30, 11:06 for 47:05! It was a good workout! Average HR just 151 for the last 6K, and my max was 168.
Garmin data here.
I was ready to go this morning for an 8K kickdown, at least physically. Mentally I was in a bad space because I ate too much chocolate last night :(. Sigh. Still analyzing that one to figure out what went wrong...but I digress. Back to the workout.
It was 35F (about 2C) and calm. Pretty warm for December; it's nice when it's above freezing. We met at Liberty Park, which is basically flat but has some slight ups and downs, all gradual. We got going and did the first 500m nice and slow, in 3:13 by Kelly's watch. I messed up my watch and somehow turned off the GPS so at 2km I powered it down and back on and got the last 6K on my Garmin. Good thing, as you'll see. Our first 2K was very easy, but we were still fast, in 12:17 (we'd planned on 12:40 or so), but we weren't worried because it felt super easy. We tried to just speed up only a little on the next one, and it was a slight uphill for part of it, so that worked out OK. The next 2K was 12:12, and we were still feeling really good.
We sped up a little, but the first 500m of the next 2K was a slight uphill, and we were a bit slow (3:02 by my watch, and I think 2:59 by Kelly's?). During that 500, though, Kelly suddenly screamed. She had rolled her ankle badly on a small pinecone, and was in a good deal of pain. She tried to walk some more but really couldn't and she had to stop and walk back to the car (which was close, since we were doing 2K loops). I continued on by myself (glad that my watch was now working), and picked up the pace a little bit, because I felt good. I was surprised to see the next 500m in 2:49! OK, so it was slightly downhill, but that was fast! I felt good and continued on, doing 2:48 and 2:49 before starting the last 2K. I knew I could go faster, but the first 1K of the last 2K is a slight uphill and I did it in 2:53 and then 2:50, but WOW I was faster on the way back with a 2:39 and 2:43. I know my right knee was straight, too, because I was really focusing on it and on my technique, especially at the end.
Total for the 2Ks: 12:17, 12:12, 11:30, 11:06 for 47:05! It was a good workout! Average HR just 151 for the last 6K, and my max was 168.
Garmin data here.
Thursday, September 27, 2012
10K kickdown
The first week back in training continues to be painful, as expected. Today's workout was a 10K kickdown, and I drove to the track with some apprehension. To make things more complicated, the high school cross country team was there for part of the time (up until about 5km of my workout) and I had to RW in lane 2 for a while because they were doing 400m intervals. Bummer. At least the weather was good; it was lovely at 57F (14C) and clear and calm.
In the first 400m I knew I was in trouble today. I was really stiff and sore, and felt I was walking through mud, with heavy, tired legs. It a lot of concentration to maintain 3:10/500m (6:20/k) to start, as my coach and I had agreed upon. I did 15:44 for the first 2.5km, 6 seconds under the goal of 15:50. Then I had to really focus to speed it up to 3:05/500m. I pulled a couple 3:06s and a 3:05 and then a 3:10 and I groaned inwardly and tried to refocus. I'm ashamed to admit that I nearly quit the workout at several points today. Mentally, I was not in the zone at all, and I kept doubting myself. Why did I need to do the 30K? I could just quit now and spare myself all the hard training, which might go all for nothing again like the 40K. Similar thoughts bombarded me and I couldn't push them away effectively. I finally told myself to take it 500m at a time and just go from there, and managed a 3:01, but I was still only halfway through the workout. The second 2.5km was 15:30, 5 seconds slower than the goal.
Somehow I kept going and managed to go faster. I told myself I could quit if I still wanted to when I got to 7.5km. I did 3:01, 3:01, 3:01, 2:57, and 3:01 for the next 500s, getting to 7.5km in 15:01, only 1 second shy of my goal. I stopped for about 30 seconds to give myself a pep talk and to mentally refocus, as I was doubting everything so much. I don't know how I managed to start again, but I did it, and oddly enough, when I asked for leg speed, there was something there! Strangely, the last 2.5km wasn't so terrible. I felt lousy, true, but had some strength despite that. It was weird. I managed 2:54.0, 2:52.5, 2:54.7, 2:55.2 and 2:51.3 for a last 2.5K time of 14:27.7. That is not even close to my best, but you know, considering how lousy I felt today, breaking 14:30 felt like an amazing accomplishment.
Finishing was the real accomplishment today, though. I felt so mentally weak, and it actually scared me a bit. Time to firm up my desire and motivation and picture some positive results from all this hard work. That's difficult to do following a bad race, but it's what I need to do if I'm going to do well at the 30K. So much of this is in your head.
Total time: 1:00:43
Garmin data here.
In the first 400m I knew I was in trouble today. I was really stiff and sore, and felt I was walking through mud, with heavy, tired legs. It a lot of concentration to maintain 3:10/500m (6:20/k) to start, as my coach and I had agreed upon. I did 15:44 for the first 2.5km, 6 seconds under the goal of 15:50. Then I had to really focus to speed it up to 3:05/500m. I pulled a couple 3:06s and a 3:05 and then a 3:10 and I groaned inwardly and tried to refocus. I'm ashamed to admit that I nearly quit the workout at several points today. Mentally, I was not in the zone at all, and I kept doubting myself. Why did I need to do the 30K? I could just quit now and spare myself all the hard training, which might go all for nothing again like the 40K. Similar thoughts bombarded me and I couldn't push them away effectively. I finally told myself to take it 500m at a time and just go from there, and managed a 3:01, but I was still only halfway through the workout. The second 2.5km was 15:30, 5 seconds slower than the goal.
Somehow I kept going and managed to go faster. I told myself I could quit if I still wanted to when I got to 7.5km. I did 3:01, 3:01, 3:01, 2:57, and 3:01 for the next 500s, getting to 7.5km in 15:01, only 1 second shy of my goal. I stopped for about 30 seconds to give myself a pep talk and to mentally refocus, as I was doubting everything so much. I don't know how I managed to start again, but I did it, and oddly enough, when I asked for leg speed, there was something there! Strangely, the last 2.5km wasn't so terrible. I felt lousy, true, but had some strength despite that. It was weird. I managed 2:54.0, 2:52.5, 2:54.7, 2:55.2 and 2:51.3 for a last 2.5K time of 14:27.7. That is not even close to my best, but you know, considering how lousy I felt today, breaking 14:30 felt like an amazing accomplishment.
Finishing was the real accomplishment today, though. I felt so mentally weak, and it actually scared me a bit. Time to firm up my desire and motivation and picture some positive results from all this hard work. That's difficult to do following a bad race, but it's what I need to do if I'm going to do well at the 30K. So much of this is in your head.
Total time: 1:00:43
Garmin data here.
Thursday, August 09, 2012
10K kickdown - PR!!!!
It was really hot yesterday, setting a record at 103F (39.4C). So, as you might imagine, it was hot this morning too. 79F (26C) at 6am, to be precise. Thankfully, I'd chatted with Jim last night on Facebook and he told me to cut my workout from 15k kickdown to 10k kickdown. I was so grateful, especially with the temps this morning.
Oddly, though, it cooled off a bit between 6am and 6:30, when I arrived at the track. It was only 73F then but still felt warm and humid. By the time I got to 5km, it was 75F, and when I finished it was 78F (25.6C). I felt hot, for sure, but the sprinklers at the track and a slight breeze kept me from dying. That, and stopping briefly each 2k for a quick drink of water.
Despite the heat, I felt good and I did really well today. I had a moment about 6K when I wondered if my body was going to hold up - I felt like it could go either way - but then I got a second wind and felt strong to the end.
2.5K splits were 15:14, 14:57, 14:34, and 14:08! Total time 58:53. I have no idea what my heart rate was - my monitor is dead. I ordered a new one but it won't arrive until 8/18.
The high school football players were out there today (as they were on Monday) at the track, but they were mostly respectful and mostly stayed out of lane 1. Mostly...sigh...for 14-18yo boys they were pretty good.
Garmin data here.
Oddly, though, it cooled off a bit between 6am and 6:30, when I arrived at the track. It was only 73F then but still felt warm and humid. By the time I got to 5km, it was 75F, and when I finished it was 78F (25.6C). I felt hot, for sure, but the sprinklers at the track and a slight breeze kept me from dying. That, and stopping briefly each 2k for a quick drink of water.
Despite the heat, I felt good and I did really well today. I had a moment about 6K when I wondered if my body was going to hold up - I felt like it could go either way - but then I got a second wind and felt strong to the end.
2.5K splits were 15:14, 14:57, 14:34, and 14:08! Total time 58:53. I have no idea what my heart rate was - my monitor is dead. I ordered a new one but it won't arrive until 8/18.
The high school football players were out there today (as they were on Monday) at the track, but they were mostly respectful and mostly stayed out of lane 1. Mostly...sigh...for 14-18yo boys they were pretty good.
Garmin data here.
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
15K kickdown
The weather was better today. 68F (20C) when I started, and 70F (21C) when I finished. The humidity was about 40% when I started, which I think is pretty average here for mornings; it felt fine - not too humid, probably because there wasn't much cloud cover. It's supposed to get up to 95F (35C) today, which is a pretty normal late July day.
True confession time: I'd been dreading this workout a bit. I did a 4-split 15K kickdown in the summer of 2011 and it was 1:31:37, which was good for me at the time. Then I had a very disastrous 3-split 15K kickdown in late December 2011, right before the 50K race. I'd been swimming for x-training the day before and did a bit too much for my legs. It hurt...and I still remember that! I did 1:31:34 and barely broke 30 min on the last 5K! Ouch! Even though my legs were fresh this morning, I still had a bit of apprehension about it.
Coach said to do 6:10/km for the first 5K, 6:00 for the second 5K, and then all-out the last 5K. I followed his instructions really well, I'm happy to say! I did have to stop briefly to drink a bit/refill water bottles - though it was not as hot as it's been, I decided I needed to drink and I'm really glad I did. Despite drinking 36 oz, I still lost 32 oz in sweat during the workout!
I felt pretty good today. The first 5K felt totally fine; a nice easy pace. The second 5K was moderately hard, and the last 5K was a hard effort. Splits: 30:54 (ave HR 139), 29:45 (HR 154, 1:00:38 for 10K), 28:49 (HR 164). Total: 1:29:27 for the 15K, 2 min faster than my previous best (though since my previous best was lousy, that's not saying much?!?). Still, I'm happy with the workout, and relieved it's over.
Garmin data here.
True confession time: I'd been dreading this workout a bit. I did a 4-split 15K kickdown in the summer of 2011 and it was 1:31:37, which was good for me at the time. Then I had a very disastrous 3-split 15K kickdown in late December 2011, right before the 50K race. I'd been swimming for x-training the day before and did a bit too much for my legs. It hurt...and I still remember that! I did 1:31:34 and barely broke 30 min on the last 5K! Ouch! Even though my legs were fresh this morning, I still had a bit of apprehension about it.
Coach said to do 6:10/km for the first 5K, 6:00 for the second 5K, and then all-out the last 5K. I followed his instructions really well, I'm happy to say! I did have to stop briefly to drink a bit/refill water bottles - though it was not as hot as it's been, I decided I needed to drink and I'm really glad I did. Despite drinking 36 oz, I still lost 32 oz in sweat during the workout!
I felt pretty good today. The first 5K felt totally fine; a nice easy pace. The second 5K was moderately hard, and the last 5K was a hard effort. Splits: 30:54 (ave HR 139), 29:45 (HR 154, 1:00:38 for 10K), 28:49 (HR 164). Total: 1:29:27 for the 15K, 2 min faster than my previous best (though since my previous best was lousy, that's not saying much?!?). Still, I'm happy with the workout, and relieved it's over.
Garmin data here.
Thursday, June 14, 2012
10K kickdown - 4 second PR!
Yesterday I didn't get quite as much workout time as I'd like; I managed only 15 min on the elliptical, but then I did 20 min of the glute/hip exercises Jim gave me. They are really good. I worked hard but hopefully won't be as sore as last time.
***
I woke up a little later than planned and had to scramble a bit to figure out how to get my workout done and get the kids to summer camp. It worked out OK, though I ended up being a little late to work. It didn't help that I got a phone call from the vet this morning. Our dog Sahara had surgery last week to remove a mass from near the base of her tail. The vet said it was likely either a hemangioma (benign) or a hemangiosarcoma (malignant). Unfortunately, the pathology came back today showing the latter. In addition, the margins were not 100% clear so she needs to have a little more surgery to remove the rest (which they will do tomorrow). It's a locally aggressive cancer, but apparently it's not that likely to metastasize, which is good news. At least the vet called AFTER my workout. But I digress.
Back to the workout. It was a warm June morning, and it was 64F when I finished my workout. I think it was about 60F (15C) when I started. But the humidity was low and there was a bit of a breeze, so it felt just fine.
I didn't discuss it with my coach beforehand, but I thought I'd try to do my four 2.5 km splits at 3:05/500m, 3:00/500m, 2:55/500m, and race hard for the last one and see what came out. That's pretty close to what I did, and it worked out well. My last split was not as fast as the fastest 2.5K I've done in this workout, but it was solid, and combined with faster early splits it was a new PR by 4 seconds. Here are my 2.5km splits: 15:16.5, 14:58.0, 14:37.1, 14:16.1 for a total of 59:07.5. Not bad! I felt really worked on that last 2.5k, but still managed to pull off a 2:46 for my last 500! I sprinted the last 100m in 31 seconds to do it :).
This workout hurts a lot. I always forget how painful that last 2.5km can be. Good thing or I'd be more reluctant to do it. I was able to focus on my technique despite the hard effort, though, and I'm pleased with how that went. I think it's improving. Oh, and my glutes were not too terribly sore from yesterday's strength training, though tomorrow's 12K might be a little slow. Still, this was a good workout and I'm happy about that.
Side note: I got a little boost from the East High cheerleaders who arrived near the end of my workout. Their coach had them do a few laps (running) and while some of them passed me I was able to stay ahead of most of them :). Gotta love that!
Garmin data here.
***
I woke up a little later than planned and had to scramble a bit to figure out how to get my workout done and get the kids to summer camp. It worked out OK, though I ended up being a little late to work. It didn't help that I got a phone call from the vet this morning. Our dog Sahara had surgery last week to remove a mass from near the base of her tail. The vet said it was likely either a hemangioma (benign) or a hemangiosarcoma (malignant). Unfortunately, the pathology came back today showing the latter. In addition, the margins were not 100% clear so she needs to have a little more surgery to remove the rest (which they will do tomorrow). It's a locally aggressive cancer, but apparently it's not that likely to metastasize, which is good news. At least the vet called AFTER my workout. But I digress.
Back to the workout. It was a warm June morning, and it was 64F when I finished my workout. I think it was about 60F (15C) when I started. But the humidity was low and there was a bit of a breeze, so it felt just fine.
I didn't discuss it with my coach beforehand, but I thought I'd try to do my four 2.5 km splits at 3:05/500m, 3:00/500m, 2:55/500m, and race hard for the last one and see what came out. That's pretty close to what I did, and it worked out well. My last split was not as fast as the fastest 2.5K I've done in this workout, but it was solid, and combined with faster early splits it was a new PR by 4 seconds. Here are my 2.5km splits: 15:16.5, 14:58.0, 14:37.1, 14:16.1 for a total of 59:07.5. Not bad! I felt really worked on that last 2.5k, but still managed to pull off a 2:46 for my last 500! I sprinted the last 100m in 31 seconds to do it :).
This workout hurts a lot. I always forget how painful that last 2.5km can be. Good thing or I'd be more reluctant to do it. I was able to focus on my technique despite the hard effort, though, and I'm pleased with how that went. I think it's improving. Oh, and my glutes were not too terribly sore from yesterday's strength training, though tomorrow's 12K might be a little slow. Still, this was a good workout and I'm happy about that.
Side note: I got a little boost from the East High cheerleaders who arrived near the end of my workout. Their coach had them do a few laps (running) and while some of them passed me I was able to stay ahead of most of them :). Gotta love that!
Garmin data here.
Thursday, March 22, 2012
10K kickdown
Yesterday's workout: 30 min elliptical, core work with Lisa, then biked to work (gorgeous weather).
***
Today I originally had a 12K kickdown. But in light of my recovery from illness, my coach cut it down to 10K. I wasn't going to complain about that! I also was not going to complain about the weather, which was lovely, especially since I walked later than usual, at about 8:30 am.
Backing up a day, yesterday I was up really late at work for a 36-hr time point. I was there from 10pm-11:45 pm, and so I got permission from the boss to come in late this morning. After taking the kids to school and getting ready and driving to Liberty Park, I started in on the workout. By then, it was a nice warm 43F (6C). It was sunny, and there was a slight breeze, and it was just gorgeous. Some of the trees are just barely starting to leaf out with that bright green characteristic of early spring.
I felt good but not great this morning. I started off nice and easy, doing 2.5km in 15:43.6 with ave HR of 145. The next 2.5km was faster but still not too hard; 15:23.8 with ave HR of 150. Then began the real work...15:02.2 with ave HR of 160, and I was really feeling it today. Like I said, I felt good but not great, and so the last part of this workout really hurt a lot. The final 2.5km was really good though - 14:18.3 with ave HR of 169. Yeah, my HR was really high, but I was pretty fast too. I have only done that last 2.5km faster once; 14:08.5 about 2 wk before the 50K. Total for today's workout was 60:27.9 for the 10k, my 2nd fastest.
I'm encouraged that I might be improving. Hopefully my workouts the next few days and weeks will be better as my body recovers more and I continue to train hard.
Garmin data here.
***
Oh, and after my workout, I got ready for work, ate breakfast, and then rode my bike to work :). A little extra cross-training never hurt, and the weather was SO beautiful today, sunny with a high around 70F. So very, very nice for late March! I'll take it!
***
Today I originally had a 12K kickdown. But in light of my recovery from illness, my coach cut it down to 10K. I wasn't going to complain about that! I also was not going to complain about the weather, which was lovely, especially since I walked later than usual, at about 8:30 am.
Backing up a day, yesterday I was up really late at work for a 36-hr time point. I was there from 10pm-11:45 pm, and so I got permission from the boss to come in late this morning. After taking the kids to school and getting ready and driving to Liberty Park, I started in on the workout. By then, it was a nice warm 43F (6C). It was sunny, and there was a slight breeze, and it was just gorgeous. Some of the trees are just barely starting to leaf out with that bright green characteristic of early spring.
I felt good but not great this morning. I started off nice and easy, doing 2.5km in 15:43.6 with ave HR of 145. The next 2.5km was faster but still not too hard; 15:23.8 with ave HR of 150. Then began the real work...15:02.2 with ave HR of 160, and I was really feeling it today. Like I said, I felt good but not great, and so the last part of this workout really hurt a lot. The final 2.5km was really good though - 14:18.3 with ave HR of 169. Yeah, my HR was really high, but I was pretty fast too. I have only done that last 2.5km faster once; 14:08.5 about 2 wk before the 50K. Total for today's workout was 60:27.9 for the 10k, my 2nd fastest.
I'm encouraged that I might be improving. Hopefully my workouts the next few days and weeks will be better as my body recovers more and I continue to train hard.
Garmin data here.
***
Oh, and after my workout, I got ready for work, ate breakfast, and then rode my bike to work :). A little extra cross-training never hurt, and the weather was SO beautiful today, sunny with a high around 70F. So very, very nice for late March! I'll take it!
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
15K kickdown
I'm glad this one is over.
I felt fresh and ready to go, but I obviously wasn't, because even in the first 5K, I knew this workout was going to hurt a lot. The good thing is that I stuck with it and finished it.
I was to do a 15K kickdown, in 3 progressively faster 5K splits. I did actually accomplish that, though I was much slower than I would have liked. And it hurt. A lot. Really a lot. By 12K, I felt I was racewalking through molasses, and that someone had one of those giant PT elastic bands around my hips and was pulling me backward with each stride. Ouch. Slog. Painful.
Here are my splits:
31:12, ave HR 148; 30:29 ave HR 157; 29:52 ave HR 163. Yeah, for me in the shape I'm in right now, that's really ugly. A 29:52 5K should feel pretty easyish...not today, it didn't :(.
I don't feel so good now, about 2 hr after the workout. I just feel really tired and like all my muscles are Jell-O. I almost wonder if I am coming down with something, but I think I'm just very tired.
Jim says that I left my legs in the pool yesterday. An hour of swimming on unaccustomed legs was a bit too much in his opinion. I did kick quite a bit, as we had 2x200 kick intervals, so maybe he's right. I didn't feel sore at all from the swimming, but I guess I didn't have to for it to affect me this way.
I'm tired. Now I have a dinner to prepare for 9 people and my house is a mess. I'd better get to work.
Garmin connect data here.
I felt fresh and ready to go, but I obviously wasn't, because even in the first 5K, I knew this workout was going to hurt a lot. The good thing is that I stuck with it and finished it.
I was to do a 15K kickdown, in 3 progressively faster 5K splits. I did actually accomplish that, though I was much slower than I would have liked. And it hurt. A lot. Really a lot. By 12K, I felt I was racewalking through molasses, and that someone had one of those giant PT elastic bands around my hips and was pulling me backward with each stride. Ouch. Slog. Painful.
Here are my splits:
31:12, ave HR 148; 30:29 ave HR 157; 29:52 ave HR 163. Yeah, for me in the shape I'm in right now, that's really ugly. A 29:52 5K should feel pretty easyish...not today, it didn't :(.
I don't feel so good now, about 2 hr after the workout. I just feel really tired and like all my muscles are Jell-O. I almost wonder if I am coming down with something, but I think I'm just very tired.
Jim says that I left my legs in the pool yesterday. An hour of swimming on unaccustomed legs was a bit too much in his opinion. I did kick quite a bit, as we had 2x200 kick intervals, so maybe he's right. I didn't feel sore at all from the swimming, but I guess I didn't have to for it to affect me this way.
I'm tired. Now I have a dinner to prepare for 9 people and my house is a mess. I'd better get to work.
Garmin connect data here.
Saturday, December 24, 2011
10K kickdown - HUGE PR!
I felt fresh and rested this morning. My legs weren't really that sore after the 25K on Thursday, and so I felt pretty good even yesterday. By this morning, I felt great. I was to do a 10K kickdown in four splits of 2.5K, each progressively faster and the last all-out.
I decided to go later than usual so it would be slightly warmer and the sun would be out. Then I wouldn't have to wear all the reflective gear, and it's mentally so much better to be in the sun than in the dark. I just had to teach a couple piano students later in the morning, so I figured an 8am-ish start would work. It was more like 8:45 by the time I started though!
It was quite cold this morning. My thermometer at home said 16F (-9C). By the time I got back home from the workout it was up to 24F, which is still pretty cold! Still, with the sun out, it wasn't too bad. I wore my tights and a long-sleeved shirt, with fleece layers on top of that, my balaclava, and my fleece headband, plus my gloves. It was just right.
I started off a little awkwardly for the first 500m but soon settled in and once my HR monitor calmed down my HR was in the low 140s and I was doing a good 6:10/km. Nice! My first 2.5K was 3:04.0, 3:07.7, 3:05.5, 3:04.0, 3:02.6 for a total of 15:23.8. (Oh, and the little HR dip was when my piano student for this morning called me...I had to stop and take care of business quickly!). That first 2.5K was faster than I'd planned, but my HR was low and I felt good. The next 2.5K was the slight downhill (very slight) into the park and I took advantage of it, doing 2:56.3, 2:59.4, 2:58.8, 3:04.5 (this split on this part of the park is always slower - weird!), 2:59.6 for a total of 14:58.6 and still feeling great. Now I was thinking this was gonna be a good one! I was psyched!
I knew I'd have to work the third 2.5K as it's a very slight uphill grade, and I did kick it down faster, going 2:56.1, 2:57.2, 2:55.6, 2:59.0, 2:53.4 for a total of 14:41.3. I knew I still had just a little left, and the slight downhill helped as I raced back into the park. I was really working it hard and it felt tough but I felt strong and knew I had it in me to finish well. I was surprisingly fast, doing 2:49.3, 2:46.2, 2:48.4, 2:55.4 (that's that slow split in the park!), 2:49.2 for 14:08.5! Average HR for the workout (substituting 142 for the funky spiking intervals at the start) was 156, and I was up to a max of 175 at the end, which shows how hard I worked this one. And yeah, the last 5K was 28:50 :).
These hard workouts mess with your brain - at the end, I was looking at my watch and thinking I wasn't going to break 60 min and was disappointed...then the watch turned over from :59 to :00 and it was at 59 not 60! Haha couldn't even read my watch!
Total time was 59:12.2, smashing my old PR of 60:28 by over a minute and giving me lots of confidence in my body and my training as I approach the 50K race, which is now just 2 weeks from today.
I decided to go later than usual so it would be slightly warmer and the sun would be out. Then I wouldn't have to wear all the reflective gear, and it's mentally so much better to be in the sun than in the dark. I just had to teach a couple piano students later in the morning, so I figured an 8am-ish start would work. It was more like 8:45 by the time I started though!
It was quite cold this morning. My thermometer at home said 16F (-9C). By the time I got back home from the workout it was up to 24F, which is still pretty cold! Still, with the sun out, it wasn't too bad. I wore my tights and a long-sleeved shirt, with fleece layers on top of that, my balaclava, and my fleece headband, plus my gloves. It was just right.
I started off a little awkwardly for the first 500m but soon settled in and once my HR monitor calmed down my HR was in the low 140s and I was doing a good 6:10/km. Nice! My first 2.5K was 3:04.0, 3:07.7, 3:05.5, 3:04.0, 3:02.6 for a total of 15:23.8. (Oh, and the little HR dip was when my piano student for this morning called me...I had to stop and take care of business quickly!). That first 2.5K was faster than I'd planned, but my HR was low and I felt good. The next 2.5K was the slight downhill (very slight) into the park and I took advantage of it, doing 2:56.3, 2:59.4, 2:58.8, 3:04.5 (this split on this part of the park is always slower - weird!), 2:59.6 for a total of 14:58.6 and still feeling great. Now I was thinking this was gonna be a good one! I was psyched!
I knew I'd have to work the third 2.5K as it's a very slight uphill grade, and I did kick it down faster, going 2:56.1, 2:57.2, 2:55.6, 2:59.0, 2:53.4 for a total of 14:41.3. I knew I still had just a little left, and the slight downhill helped as I raced back into the park. I was really working it hard and it felt tough but I felt strong and knew I had it in me to finish well. I was surprisingly fast, doing 2:49.3, 2:46.2, 2:48.4, 2:55.4 (that's that slow split in the park!), 2:49.2 for 14:08.5! Average HR for the workout (substituting 142 for the funky spiking intervals at the start) was 156, and I was up to a max of 175 at the end, which shows how hard I worked this one. And yeah, the last 5K was 28:50 :).
These hard workouts mess with your brain - at the end, I was looking at my watch and thinking I wasn't going to break 60 min and was disappointed...then the watch turned over from :59 to :00 and it was at 59 not 60! Haha couldn't even read my watch!
Total time was 59:12.2, smashing my old PR of 60:28 by over a minute and giving me lots of confidence in my body and my training as I approach the 50K race, which is now just 2 weeks from today.
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
14K kickdown
This was supposed to be a 15K kickdown, but I overslept my alarm a little bit (was up late helping Calvin on his class project) and I had to cut out 1K - as it was, I barely got the kids to school on time. Whew.
I was to do 3 splits of 5K/5K/5K, but I did 4K/5K/5K instead. The weather was OK; 31F (-1C) and light snow, with a dusting of snow on the road. Mostly it wasn't terribly slippery, but at all the intersections it was a bit iffy, and in a few other places as well. I don't think I lost much time due to the conditions, but I'm not really 100% sure.
I started off slowly and sluggishly. I was not mentally into it - still sleepy and a bit groggy I think. The first 4K I had a watch issue - pressed stop for a second and somehow didn't restart and lost a little more than 0.5km - that 3:40 in there isn't right because I wasn't moving for part of it while I was figuring out what was wrong, and thought the watch was stopped though it wasn't. Oops. The average of my other 500s was 3:08 (6:16/km), which would have been a 31:20 5K. My heart rate was low this morning - Jim says that sometimes when you work out in the morning you have a slow metabolism and no matter what you do the HR won't budge. That's kind of how it was - I gave it 90%+ effort at the end and my HR was about 160, which is low for this workout. No matter.
The second 5K I felt quite good - surprisingly. I told myself I had to get my mind into the workout, and it worked! I just ticked off the km and felt good, finishing that 5K in 30:09 for 6:02/km. I paused for a second before starting the third 5K and told myself "It's a 5K race - go for it!". My legs were moving but the heart rate wasn't; I felt I should have been faster and it was frustrating. However, I did manage to finish in 29:20 for the last 5K, which is pretty good for a kickdown workout. Jim says usually the last split of a kickdown is a bit slower than race pace for the distance. My 15K race in May was 1:29 (29:40/5K) and so this was faster than that by a good bit, reflecting my improved fitness. Still...I think if I'd felt 100% this morning I might have had a sub-29 in me. Well, I get to try again next week for a 20K kickdown!
Average HR for the workout was only 144, with a max of 163.
Garmin connect data here.
I was to do 3 splits of 5K/5K/5K, but I did 4K/5K/5K instead. The weather was OK; 31F (-1C) and light snow, with a dusting of snow on the road. Mostly it wasn't terribly slippery, but at all the intersections it was a bit iffy, and in a few other places as well. I don't think I lost much time due to the conditions, but I'm not really 100% sure.
I started off slowly and sluggishly. I was not mentally into it - still sleepy and a bit groggy I think. The first 4K I had a watch issue - pressed stop for a second and somehow didn't restart and lost a little more than 0.5km - that 3:40 in there isn't right because I wasn't moving for part of it while I was figuring out what was wrong, and thought the watch was stopped though it wasn't. Oops. The average of my other 500s was 3:08 (6:16/km), which would have been a 31:20 5K. My heart rate was low this morning - Jim says that sometimes when you work out in the morning you have a slow metabolism and no matter what you do the HR won't budge. That's kind of how it was - I gave it 90%+ effort at the end and my HR was about 160, which is low for this workout. No matter.
The second 5K I felt quite good - surprisingly. I told myself I had to get my mind into the workout, and it worked! I just ticked off the km and felt good, finishing that 5K in 30:09 for 6:02/km. I paused for a second before starting the third 5K and told myself "It's a 5K race - go for it!". My legs were moving but the heart rate wasn't; I felt I should have been faster and it was frustrating. However, I did manage to finish in 29:20 for the last 5K, which is pretty good for a kickdown workout. Jim says usually the last split of a kickdown is a bit slower than race pace for the distance. My 15K race in May was 1:29 (29:40/5K) and so this was faster than that by a good bit, reflecting my improved fitness. Still...I think if I'd felt 100% this morning I might have had a sub-29 in me. Well, I get to try again next week for a 20K kickdown!
Average HR for the workout was only 144, with a max of 163.
Garmin connect data here.
Friday, August 19, 2011
15K kickdown
In brief - family obligations calling!
Great workout, nice weather. 55F (12.8C) and overcast. Super nice for a workout.
I was to do a 15K kickdown with splits of 4K, 4K, 3.5K, 3.5K. The route was good in that 99% of it was paved (1% was a gravel path) and no stoplights. There was a good amount of traffic in some areas, but I wasn't on the road so that was good (paved path next to the road). Still, despite the road the scenery was nice around the Mercer Slough - wooded and pretty. I saw a cute rabbit and also some slugs and a good number of runners and cyclists. The part under I-90 was cool - very very pretty, but the highway was above and it was an interesting juxtaposition.
The route was gently rolling hills, so my splits are weird. I ended up mostly going by effort and not time on the watch so much. The last split, for example, was 3:13 - but it was a 2:50-2:55 effort. There was a very steep 30-40m long hill that I actually ran up because it was too steep to racewalk. That was the only hill like that on the route, but of course it was right at the end.
Anyway...splits and I've got to split (hahaha).
4K 25:00
4K 24:48
3.5K 21:04
3.5K 20:45
Total time 1:31:37 for the 15K, for 6:07/km with ave HR 149.
I felt great, and even at the end it was a comfortably hard effort. My foot gave a few small twinges but I really focused on keeping the technique sorted out and I think it's much better today than yesterday. I felt smooth and fast.
Tomorrow is x-training, and then 32K beckons on Sunday!
Garmin connect data here.
Great workout, nice weather. 55F (12.8C) and overcast. Super nice for a workout.
I was to do a 15K kickdown with splits of 4K, 4K, 3.5K, 3.5K. The route was good in that 99% of it was paved (1% was a gravel path) and no stoplights. There was a good amount of traffic in some areas, but I wasn't on the road so that was good (paved path next to the road). Still, despite the road the scenery was nice around the Mercer Slough - wooded and pretty. I saw a cute rabbit and also some slugs and a good number of runners and cyclists. The part under I-90 was cool - very very pretty, but the highway was above and it was an interesting juxtaposition.
The route was gently rolling hills, so my splits are weird. I ended up mostly going by effort and not time on the watch so much. The last split, for example, was 3:13 - but it was a 2:50-2:55 effort. There was a very steep 30-40m long hill that I actually ran up because it was too steep to racewalk. That was the only hill like that on the route, but of course it was right at the end.
Anyway...splits and I've got to split (hahaha).
4K 25:00
4K 24:48
3.5K 21:04
3.5K 20:45
Total time 1:31:37 for the 15K, for 6:07/km with ave HR 149.
I felt great, and even at the end it was a comfortably hard effort. My foot gave a few small twinges but I really focused on keeping the technique sorted out and I think it's much better today than yesterday. I felt smooth and fast.
Tomorrow is x-training, and then 32K beckons on Sunday!
Garmin connect data here.
Friday, August 12, 2011
12K kickdown - new PR!
I've only done this workout 4 times now, but despite the fact that I took this one a bit easy (i.e. watched my HR and kept it to upper 150s and low 160s on the last hard 3K), I set a new PR by 20 seconds for the workout. The other three were all last year, when I wasn't in quite as good shape as I am now.
The weather was perfect this morning. Slightly warm at 68F (20C) but just beautiful with low humidity. I'm still loving summer. I want it to stay for a nice long time. I'm savoring every bit of gorgeous racewalking weather while it lasts.
The track was uncrowded, though the football team showed up at 6:45 am to practice and I did have to nicely ask them please not to take up the entire lane 1 around the turn (some of them were sitting on the track and they had their stuff all over it). They mostly complied...sort of...it was a bit of dodge 'em around that corner, but they are nice enough to let me work out there so I can't whine too much.
Because in retrospect Tuesday's 10K fartlek was a bit fast, I planned to go slower today to save some energy for my 10K tomorrow and 30K on Sunday. I decided to do 6:30/km pace for the first 3K, then 6:20 for the next 3K, then 6:10, then 6:00. That's slower than I would do if I were training for a 5K or 10K or even 20K, but I'm not training for that and with the abrupt mileage increases I need to be careful about how fast I do my speed work or I will pay for it on the long days. It felt SO easy starting off at 6:30 pace. I didn't quite hold myself to that pace, but close enough; I did about a 6:24/km. The next 3K felt pretty easy too, at 6:17/km; again a little faster than planned, but my heart rate was low and I was feeling good.
I stopped briefly to take a drink at 6K, as I had just brought a water bottle and not my waist pack. It was warm enough that I definitely needed some water. Continuing on, it felt moderately hard for the next 3K. I was definitely pushing a little but not too much, and I completed that 3K at a 6:06/km pace, faster than planned, but well within myself. The last 3K was a moderately hard to hard effort, with 500m splits of 2:59 down to 2:53 (yup, pulled out a 2:53 for the last one). I definitely COULD have gone faster on the last 3K, but I was trying to save myself for the next few workouts. The last 3K was a 5:55/km pace on average. Hopefully that was slow enough so that my 30K on Sunday will not be too miserable!
3K splits:
3K goal 19:30, actual 19:12. Ave HR for 6 x 500m splits ranged from 122-140.
6K goal 19:00, actual 18:51. Ave HR 142-149.
9K goal 18:30, actual 18:17. Ave HR 145-154 (stopped very briefly at 6K for a drink, so HR dropped).
12K goal 18:00, actual 17:45. Ave HR 156-162.
Total time: 1:14:05. Ave HR for whole workout was 147. Garmin connect data here.
The weather was perfect this morning. Slightly warm at 68F (20C) but just beautiful with low humidity. I'm still loving summer. I want it to stay for a nice long time. I'm savoring every bit of gorgeous racewalking weather while it lasts.
The track was uncrowded, though the football team showed up at 6:45 am to practice and I did have to nicely ask them please not to take up the entire lane 1 around the turn (some of them were sitting on the track and they had their stuff all over it). They mostly complied...sort of...it was a bit of dodge 'em around that corner, but they are nice enough to let me work out there so I can't whine too much.
Because in retrospect Tuesday's 10K fartlek was a bit fast, I planned to go slower today to save some energy for my 10K tomorrow and 30K on Sunday. I decided to do 6:30/km pace for the first 3K, then 6:20 for the next 3K, then 6:10, then 6:00. That's slower than I would do if I were training for a 5K or 10K or even 20K, but I'm not training for that and with the abrupt mileage increases I need to be careful about how fast I do my speed work or I will pay for it on the long days. It felt SO easy starting off at 6:30 pace. I didn't quite hold myself to that pace, but close enough; I did about a 6:24/km. The next 3K felt pretty easy too, at 6:17/km; again a little faster than planned, but my heart rate was low and I was feeling good.
I stopped briefly to take a drink at 6K, as I had just brought a water bottle and not my waist pack. It was warm enough that I definitely needed some water. Continuing on, it felt moderately hard for the next 3K. I was definitely pushing a little but not too much, and I completed that 3K at a 6:06/km pace, faster than planned, but well within myself. The last 3K was a moderately hard to hard effort, with 500m splits of 2:59 down to 2:53 (yup, pulled out a 2:53 for the last one). I definitely COULD have gone faster on the last 3K, but I was trying to save myself for the next few workouts. The last 3K was a 5:55/km pace on average. Hopefully that was slow enough so that my 30K on Sunday will not be too miserable!
3K splits:
3K goal 19:30, actual 19:12. Ave HR for 6 x 500m splits ranged from 122-140.
6K goal 19:00, actual 18:51. Ave HR 142-149.
9K goal 18:30, actual 18:17. Ave HR 145-154 (stopped very briefly at 6K for a drink, so HR dropped).
12K goal 18:00, actual 17:45. Ave HR 156-162.
Total time: 1:14:05. Ave HR for whole workout was 147. Garmin connect data here.
Friday, August 05, 2011
10K kickdown - PR by one second for this workout :)
Yesterday, all I did was 30 min on the elliptical. That was a good move, as I felt really good this morning. The weather echoed my general well-being, at 66F (19C) and nice LOW humidity of about 35%. It felt much cooler than earlier this week because of the lower humidity.
I was to do a 10K kickdown (acceleration workout) in 4x2.5 km splits. Jim told me that it was very important not to push too hard today. He said if I felt lousy to take it really easy, and if I felt good it was OK to go harder but not too hard. I'm so used to training for the short stuff that I have almost forgotten that when training for the marathon you have to do your speed work nice and easy. I like that!
I started off really slow on purpose to ease into it. I did my first 500m in 3:18, but then was feeling good so picked it up to about 3:05-3:10 pace for the rest of the first 2.5km, getting there in 15:45 total, just about 5 sec under my goal time of 15:50 for the first 2.5K. Good. I felt super, and it felt easy. Continuing on, I did the next 2.5K in 15:11, getting to 5K in 30:56 and still feeling really good and easy.
Then it was time for the work to begin. I pushed comfortably hard for the next 2.5K, and got there in 15:01, for 45:57. I was getting a little tired now, and my glutes were starting to complain, but I still felt well within myself. I kicked it up a notch and did the next two 500s in 2:50 and 2:51, and though I was pushing hard, it was not too hard. I did have to slow, doing about 2:55 and 3:00 for the next two in order not to push too much. I finished with a nice fast 2:54 on the downhill for 14:30 for my last 2.5K total. I'm sure if I'd have pushed and done it all-out I could have been at least 10 sec faster, but it wasn't needed, and I'm glad I didn't. My max HR was 168, and the average on the two last splits was 167 and 166, so there was a little left there.
A few hours later, I still feel pretty good. I am now relaxing in the downtown library while waiting for my car to get fixed (A/C knob got pushed into the dash by my laptop bag smacking into it, believe it or not...grrrrrrrrr not a cheap repair....). I biked over here and will have to bike back (gentle uphill) so hopefully that will keep me from stiffening up too much.
Total time: 60:28, ave HR 152, ave pace 6:03/km. And yes, it was a PR by one second. When Jim was here, on 6/28, I did 60:29 for this workout, and it hurt a LOT more than it did today. I'll take that as a good sign that things are going well :).
Garmin connect data here.
I was to do a 10K kickdown (acceleration workout) in 4x2.5 km splits. Jim told me that it was very important not to push too hard today. He said if I felt lousy to take it really easy, and if I felt good it was OK to go harder but not too hard. I'm so used to training for the short stuff that I have almost forgotten that when training for the marathon you have to do your speed work nice and easy. I like that!
I started off really slow on purpose to ease into it. I did my first 500m in 3:18, but then was feeling good so picked it up to about 3:05-3:10 pace for the rest of the first 2.5km, getting there in 15:45 total, just about 5 sec under my goal time of 15:50 for the first 2.5K. Good. I felt super, and it felt easy. Continuing on, I did the next 2.5K in 15:11, getting to 5K in 30:56 and still feeling really good and easy.
Then it was time for the work to begin. I pushed comfortably hard for the next 2.5K, and got there in 15:01, for 45:57. I was getting a little tired now, and my glutes were starting to complain, but I still felt well within myself. I kicked it up a notch and did the next two 500s in 2:50 and 2:51, and though I was pushing hard, it was not too hard. I did have to slow, doing about 2:55 and 3:00 for the next two in order not to push too much. I finished with a nice fast 2:54 on the downhill for 14:30 for my last 2.5K total. I'm sure if I'd have pushed and done it all-out I could have been at least 10 sec faster, but it wasn't needed, and I'm glad I didn't. My max HR was 168, and the average on the two last splits was 167 and 166, so there was a little left there.
A few hours later, I still feel pretty good. I am now relaxing in the downtown library while waiting for my car to get fixed (A/C knob got pushed into the dash by my laptop bag smacking into it, believe it or not...grrrrrrrrr not a cheap repair....). I biked over here and will have to bike back (gentle uphill) so hopefully that will keep me from stiffening up too much.
Total time: 60:28, ave HR 152, ave pace 6:03/km. And yes, it was a PR by one second. When Jim was here, on 6/28, I did 60:29 for this workout, and it hurt a LOT more than it did today. I'll take that as a good sign that things are going well :).
Garmin connect data here.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
10K kickdown w/the coach. PR for this workout!
Yesterday: 30 min elliptical (sooooo busy!!!)
Today: It's late. Busy day w/the coach, getting in a workout, showing him around our city, and watching him give our club a racewalking clinic. Then the club took him out to dinner at Squatter's, a local brew pub. Nice day! But now it's late and I haven't posted.
Today's workout was a 10K kickdown. A toughie, though 12K or 15K or 20K or even 25K kickdowns are possible...however, in my not-quite-trained state the 10K was enough of a challenge. This one was in 4 splits of 2.5K each, with each segment a bit faster. By the last one, yeah, you're dying. Coach talked me through it, riding alongside on the bike. We were going to do it at the track, but the running club was there :( and it was too crowded for me to have lane 1. So, off to Liberty Park we went.
Results: 60:29 total time, and my splits were 15:38, 15:24 (31:02), 15:01 (46:03), and 14:28 (60:29). Ave HR was 156 for the whole thing, but for the last 2.5K it was in the low 170s. Ouch. Yeah, it hurt. A lot. But it's done now and it's fitness in the bank, so to speak. And it was a PR for this workout, since my last 10K kickdown PR was 60:40. Not bad.
Garmin connect data here.
Today: It's late. Busy day w/the coach, getting in a workout, showing him around our city, and watching him give our club a racewalking clinic. Then the club took him out to dinner at Squatter's, a local brew pub. Nice day! But now it's late and I haven't posted.
Today's workout was a 10K kickdown. A toughie, though 12K or 15K or 20K or even 25K kickdowns are possible...however, in my not-quite-trained state the 10K was enough of a challenge. This one was in 4 splits of 2.5K each, with each segment a bit faster. By the last one, yeah, you're dying. Coach talked me through it, riding alongside on the bike. We were going to do it at the track, but the running club was there :( and it was too crowded for me to have lane 1. So, off to Liberty Park we went.
Results: 60:29 total time, and my splits were 15:38, 15:24 (31:02), 15:01 (46:03), and 14:28 (60:29). Ave HR was 156 for the whole thing, but for the last 2.5K it was in the low 170s. Ouch. Yeah, it hurt. A lot. But it's done now and it's fitness in the bank, so to speak. And it was a PR for this workout, since my last 10K kickdown PR was 60:40. Not bad.
Garmin connect data here.
Friday, June 17, 2011
8K kickdown - exhausted.
I'm trashed. Enough is enough.
Work stress & extra hours.
Loren's surgery.
Being away all weekend last weekend.
Not enough sleep due to all of the above.
So, my 8K kickdown FELT horrible. It wasn't fast either. But it's done now. I confess I start to worry about how I will handle a race when I can't even do this little workout very well, but then I have tell myself that I'm at the end of my rope with exhaustion, so it's to be expected.
It wasn't hot at the track (55F; 13C) but the sun was beating down on me, as I worked out later than usual today (had to take the kids to day care/summer camp first because of Loren being in the hospital for his back surgery). I felt terribly hot about 2/3 of the way through the workout, and felt a bit nauseated at the end. Oh well.
Anyway, no excuses. Here are my 2K times:
12:32
12:15
12:00
11:47
Total time 48:34; ave HR 158. My HR for the last four 500s was really high, averaging 171, 172, 173, and 175. I obviously gave it my all, but my all wasn't very good today.
edited to add Garmin connect data here
Work stress & extra hours.
Loren's surgery.
Being away all weekend last weekend.
Not enough sleep due to all of the above.
So, my 8K kickdown FELT horrible. It wasn't fast either. But it's done now. I confess I start to worry about how I will handle a race when I can't even do this little workout very well, but then I have tell myself that I'm at the end of my rope with exhaustion, so it's to be expected.
It wasn't hot at the track (55F; 13C) but the sun was beating down on me, as I worked out later than usual today (had to take the kids to day care/summer camp first because of Loren being in the hospital for his back surgery). I felt terribly hot about 2/3 of the way through the workout, and felt a bit nauseated at the end. Oh well.
Anyway, no excuses. Here are my 2K times:
12:32
12:15
12:00
11:47
Total time 48:34; ave HR 158. My HR for the last four 500s was really high, averaging 171, 172, 173, and 175. I obviously gave it my all, but my all wasn't very good today.
edited to add Garmin connect data here
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
10K kickdown - new PR
In a hurry - late to work - so this is the Reader's Digest version.
I got a new PR on this one, but was a bit disappointed with my performance somehow. I was hoping for faster on the 3rd and 4th splits.
Weather: SUCKED! It was 35F (2C). It was deceptive...I started off in a light rain, but about 2 min into the workout it started hailing on me, then snowing, then raining, then snowing again. Windy at parts as well. Nothing like sideways snow/hail to make a 10K kickdown pleasant. But it was better than the treadmill, I think. Other than my feet getting soaked, it wasn't too uncomfortable. I was actually glad I was outside...weirdly enough! I had my rain jacket on and gloves and cap, and that worked pretty well.
I had a bit of trouble finding a good pace for each split, and wavered a bit. My 500s were kind of inconsistent, but the 2.5K splits were decent. The first one was 15:35 and was too fast by about 15 sec (I was shooting for 15:50) and the 2nd was just right at 15:22 (shooting for 15:25) but the 3rd too slow at 15:09 (shooting for 15:00) and the 4th was actually not bad at 14:34. I wanted to get at least 14:35 or less, and I did (barely). Still, would have liked to be faster.
I was hoping for faster at the end, but just had nothing left. Still, it was my fastest 10K kickdown ever, at 60:40. (Previous best was 61:29).
Garmin connect data here.
I got a new PR on this one, but was a bit disappointed with my performance somehow. I was hoping for faster on the 3rd and 4th splits.
Weather: SUCKED! It was 35F (2C). It was deceptive...I started off in a light rain, but about 2 min into the workout it started hailing on me, then snowing, then raining, then snowing again. Windy at parts as well. Nothing like sideways snow/hail to make a 10K kickdown pleasant. But it was better than the treadmill, I think. Other than my feet getting soaked, it wasn't too uncomfortable. I was actually glad I was outside...weirdly enough! I had my rain jacket on and gloves and cap, and that worked pretty well.
I had a bit of trouble finding a good pace for each split, and wavered a bit. My 500s were kind of inconsistent, but the 2.5K splits were decent. The first one was 15:35 and was too fast by about 15 sec (I was shooting for 15:50) and the 2nd was just right at 15:22 (shooting for 15:25) but the 3rd too slow at 15:09 (shooting for 15:00) and the 4th was actually not bad at 14:34. I wanted to get at least 14:35 or less, and I did (barely). Still, would have liked to be faster.
I was hoping for faster at the end, but just had nothing left. Still, it was my fastest 10K kickdown ever, at 60:40. (Previous best was 61:29).
Garmin connect data here.
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