You look like you're havin' fun
Open up your lovin' arms
Watch out, here I come,
You spin me right round, baby right round
like a record baby, right round, round round
I have these lyrics stuck in my head every time I head off to the the track. I think these lyrics sum up exactly what I am about to do for the next hour...just spinning right round, round round the track! This weekend these lyrics were especially true as I went to the track twice. I went on Friday to finish my LAST interval workout for this marathon season. I went again this morning to do my threshold workout there. So, let's start with Friday!
After my much "disguised procrastination" (i.e. "I cannot possibly do my interval workout tonight because it is raining and I would love to picnic afterwards!) I finally found myself at the track on Friday night after work staring down the barrel of my final Interval workout for Berlin. The workout was scheduled as follows:
2 mile warmup
4x(1400m @ Interval Pace + 1000m recovery)
2 mile cooldown
Interval Pace = 4:52, 4:48, 4:44, 4:40 min/1400m for VDOT's= 58, 59, 60, and 61
After nailing the 5x1400m the previous week I went into this workout quite confident that I should be able to hit it. But as I have heard Steeeeve say before, these workouts are like "hot sauce" - the first bite may not be too bad but by the time you get to the 3rd or 4th, you may be crying like a little girl! I was not crying like a little girl when I was done, but I was certainly glad to be finished - here is why:
2 mile warmup: 7:23, 7:19 min/mile
4x1400m (400m, 400m, 400m, 200m)
1. (81, 81, 80, 40): 4:42 min
2. (80, 81, 80, 41): 4:42 min
3. (82, 80, 80, 40): 4:42 min
4. (80, 80, 80, 39): 4:39 min
1.5 mile cool down: avg pace = 7:25 min/mile
Here is my usual HR (red) and pace (blue) graph. It is amazing the difference in HR response when you are doing intervals at a pace seperated by just 1 or 2 VDOT's. Last week I ran these intervals at mostly a 59 VDOT and the effort required (in terms of HR) was significantly less. The conditions between both sessions were very similar.
Afterwards, Jennie and I headed to The Moose to have some beers with a fellow Canadian in town and some Scottish folks. While there I enjoyed 2 buds to celebrate July 4th!
I WAS glad that the interval sessions are finally over, but my happiness soon disappeared this morning when I set out to do my threshold run. Basically, the short, fast interval sessions are replaced with long, grinding threshold sessions from here on out. Today I had a little fatigue left in my legs so I cut out my last repeat from today's workout (sorry JD). (Also note, this decision was made BEFORE I started!) I want to be "fresh" (a very relative term used at this point in training) going into my peak week, which starts tomorrow. This week will be very busy with work, international travel, and catching up with friends (plus I expect all my buddies will be buying me beers and such...right?!).
Today's Workout:
3 mile warmup: 7:07, 7:09, 7:03 min/mile
5x(5min Threshold* + 1 min recovery)
Instead of doing "5 min", I did ~ 1350m + ~250m recovery
1. (89, 89, 89, 34). 5:56 min/mile
2. (88, 90, 90, 35). 5:57 min/mile
3. (88, 88, 89, 35). 5:55 min/mile
4. (88, 88, 88, 34). 5:53 min/mile
5. (87, 89, 88, 34). 5:53 min/mile
2.5 mile cooldown: 7:30, 7:14, 7:18 (last 0.5) min/mile
*Threshold Pace = 6:04, 5:59, 5:54, 5:50 for VDOT's = 58, 59, 60, 61
TOTAL WEEKLY MILEAGE: 43.71 miles (Goal: 42 miles - goal achieved!)
Just to prove that I am not making the numbers up, here is my HR and pace! I just love the low frequency trend on the HR. You see that it climbs quite steeply the first 3 intervals, but then starts to taper towards HR~172 bpm. If you compare this to my previous graph (above) you can see that I am really flirting with my anaerobic limits here. I did not want to go anaerobic this workout, I just wanted to work hard enough to get that lactic acid flowing like a river through my legs...I think I accomplished that!
My shoes definitely have a flat tire. This is not like me...I normally have at least 4-7 pairs of running shoes on the go at one time. Just having 2 (well, I have more but they are used for strictly racing or other VERY important events) is bare bones. I have been told before that my shoes do not matter because I will just get beaten by a Kenyan running barefoot anyhow! I admit, this is true. But the difference between me and the Kenyan is that I am going to jump in my big ol' SUV at the end of the race and drive home whereas he will be probably use the 10 mile route as his cooldown! (actually, I sold my "medium" SUV before moving, but it sounds better when I tell the story in the present!)
I got some french homework to do then work! PHASE 2 of Jack Daniel's is officially over! To sum it up - it has been real, it has been fun, but they have not been real fun!
A+
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