NOS 2014 Week 12, Run WKOs: Steady Now!
Welcome to week #12. Although this week has the same Wednesday interval workout, you'll notice that Sunday starts the beginning of your taper for your end of OS race! 
So, it is better to get to the starting line healthy and ready to race than injured or just plain wore out. If you have been nursing an overuse injury, you should begin the healing process now in these last two weeks. If you have been overachieving on the bike and paying for it on the run (like me), it's time to recalibrate your efforts or adjust your goals. 
In this week's video/podcast, Coach Rich talks about what to do for "the rest of the season". Specifically, what to do after the OS is completed. If you are still unsure after watching/listening, start a thread in the macro for some Coach PnR coaching. 
Comments
I may be doing similar Mark...I have an HM the following week (2/15..) this will allow me to accomodate bike focus week (Tour of Sufferlandia)...rest the run....two weeks of Swim Camp/Transition...before kicking into IMTX race prepl...time is flying.
Today was 2k swimming this morning + 4mile on the TM at lunch
Goal interval pace = 6:32min/mi - I took 400m recoveries b/t intervals
8 x 400's
Int1 6:18 pace
Int2 6:24
Int3 6:10
Int4 6:08
Int5 6:16
Int6 6:09
Int7 6:15
Int8 5:59 - I pushed hard on this one
Added a bit z1-z2 to close it out
Total 61 mins / 7.38 miles
@Brad Great workout I wish I Could run these times! BUT.... You are running them too fast! These repeats should be run +- 5 seconds of your vdot. The purpose is too acclimate your body to run at the 400 defined pace so when you extend the distance your body is firing on that pace.
Also running these faster may be contributing to some of your fatigue. OS is a tough but you have to do each workout with the intent that you leave something on the table for tomorrows workout.
Not trying to rain on you just trying to help. Heed my advice from 20 years+ of stupidity!
This is an excerpt from the man Jack Daniels (not to be confused with the Alcohol and training topic I started this morning) It talks about the importance of running within your vdot zones for each workout. He defines the zones a little different than EN but you will get the picture
Goals of Training.
What a runner is really trying to accomplish through training are the following. (I) Improve the body's ability to transport blood and oxygen, (2) Increase the ability of the running muscles to effectively utilize their available oxygen (to convert carbohydrate and fat fuel into useful energy), (3) Increase V02max, which is a sum of #1 and #2, above, (4) shift lactate threshold to correspond to a faster running speed,(5) improve speed, and (6) lower the energy demand of running (improve economy). Naturally, there are other goals of training, such as improving race tactics, elevating self-confidence, changing body composition, bettering self-image, etc., but these less-tangible factors will all result from improvement in one or more of the above-mentioned factors.
Types of Training. (see Figures 7 and 8 below)
E and L Runs. When you do easy (E) runs to recover from strenuous periods of training or to carry out a second workout on a particular day, and when you do your long (L) runs, you should run at a pace which is very close to (E) (easy-run) velocity, which is about 70% of V02max. Long runs (L), improve cell adaptation, and lead to glycogen depletion and fluid loss (important considerations for distance runners), but should not be demanding in terms of the intensity (pace) being utilized.
Be advised that the benefits of "E-pace" running are more a function of time spent exercising than intensity of running, and 70% V02max, which corresponds to 75% vVO2max and 75% of HRmax, is all the harder you need to go to get the benefits you want at the cellular level and in the heart muscle.
MP Running. The next faster intensity of training (faster than E pace) is MP (marathon race pace) and is pretty much limited to marathon training. MP is as it suggests -- the pace at which you plan to race (or run, as the case may be) in your next marathon, and is about 20 to 30 seconds per mile slower than T (threshold) pace, described below. Non-marathoners can ignore this.
T Runs. Threshold pace is about 88% of V02max (90% of VO2max or of HRmax). Subjectively, T (threshold) pace is "comfortably-hard" running. For many people it is slower than I OK race pace and for most people it is about 24 see per mile slower than current 5K race pace.
In the caw of T-pace training, it is important to stay as close as possible to the prescribed speed; neither slower nor faster velocities do as good a job as does the proper speed. Here is a case where going too fast -- which many runners automatically try to do -- is simply not as good as running at the right pace. T-pace training improves your lactate threshold.
I Pace. The next important training velocity is the one that stresses and improves V02max V02max-interval (I) velocity. The intensity here should be equal to vVO2max- I believe most people should shoot for 98% - 100% of HRmax, rather than always demanding a 100% value, if using heart-rate as a guide. This is suggested because if maximum heart rate coincides with a pace of 6:00 per mile, for example, then certainly 5:50 or any pace faster than 6-minute pace will also elicit maximum heart rate, but is too fast for the purpose of the training session -- optimum result with the least possible stress. No single run, which makes up a series of Intervals, should exceed 5-minutes.
Interval (I) training is demanding, but by no means is it all-out running. In the case of I pace, the harm of going too fast is that no better results are obtained and the excessive pace will probably leave you over stressed for the next quality-training session.
R Pace. Repetition (R) velocity is faster than I pace, at the very least, but, unlike I and T, is not based on V02max. Rather, R pace is to a great extent, based the race for which you are training; it is more designed for good mechanics at a pretty firm pace. A runner, in training for a I OK, with a vVO2max of 300 meters per minutes will have the same threshold velocity and V02max (I) velocity as any other runner whose vVO2max is also 300, but who may be training for a 1500-meter race. This is because T and I paces are related to the same vVO2max value, and any runners with a 300 vVO2max would have identical training speeds for I and T training. On the other hand, R pace would differ for the two runners cited above, because one is running for a faster race than is the other, and needs good economy and speed for that faster pace. Keep in mind that the purpose of Rep-pace training is to improve economy and speed; it is not to benefit V02max or lactate threshold. It is important to always have set in your mind what every workout is designed to do for you, even if that benefit is pure relaxation.
4mile run at lunch...looking forward to intervals tommorrow. With my Half Marathon 4 weeks away I may do 800's instead of 400's.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/430059103
5 miles @ a little faster than Z1 (averaged 8:27 including the 5x20sec strides)
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/430225331
now going to bed is going to feel even better !
@Brad I think it is the last Sunday of the os but likely it would have to be Saturday since that is when most races are around ATL. I cant find a half to do for at least two weeks so I am doing the EN Steve West Half Marathon on the treadmill since I have done all my running in os on the treadmill. If I do a marathon this year I will do the EN Steve West Full as well.
I plan on a personal best but still not as fast as our Maine (main)guy!!!!
I woke up feeling tired...but felt great during the workout today....I went 6x800's @ 2:57-3:00 with 400 jogs recovery...6miles total...
https://www.trainingpeaks.com/ui/fl...fault.aspx
@Brad...I don't think it is imperative the specific weekend...much depends on your season plan...I'm doing IMTX...so there is a gap of about 4 weeks between the formal end of OS and the beginning of Race Prep....I have a half marathon on 2/15..gives me a couple of weeks of run focus and then a couple to recover transition before Race prep....
http://www.strava.com/activities/106555538
8 X400s mentally hard today due to fatigue but not impossible.....
Good work all!
My nutrition has been bad the last few days -- typical with business travel, but the low point was a hot dog, yogurt covered pretzels and ice cream bar from 7-Eleven last night! Walking to get a BAS (Big A$$ Salad) now
Anyone else struggling with food choices as the fatigue builds??
After a not-great night of sleep, I woke up feeling tired. Did my run though. Intervals took more (perceived) effort than usual but I hit my numbers and (as always) felt great after completing the day's workout.
Fell into the pool with my beloved one in the evening for a nice 1.5k technostyle workout ... swimming just doesn't feel good after the fist 50m but I hope it comes back quickly after OS
http://tpks.ws/x2r3
http://www.strava.com/activities/106596910
I, too have been smoking the 400 intervals at over a minute per mile faster than I was supposed to.
Today I tried to run the 8x400 as close to the correct pace as possible. I used a metronome and my cadence was identical for the first 7 intervals than I tried it without the metronome the last interval. My Z5 pace should be 7:57 and my intervals were 7:33, 7:38, 8:06, 8:15, 7:44, 8:17, 8:04, 7:27.
I find it interesting that there is that much variability with a cadence that is rock steady. Clearly, I am varying my stride length and my pacing could use some work.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/430601399
I'm hesitant to write this....but think it is worthwile....With all due respect to all of us...there is no good reason for overachieving on Z5 intervals by large amounts....its not a matter of can you do it....its a matter of discipline and control (learning/teaching your body to run comfortably at that pace)....and what you are hoping to achieve with Z5 intervals....mayber your vDot is too low? If you vdot is correct...you are risking overtraining. (If interested...in addition to Daniels....read Hanson Training method they do an excellent job of talking about the different training paces...what goes on physiologically, what your are achieving, how they build on each other...and the importance of running at the correct paces)
I think that these workouts are also about discipline/mental strenght....to relate this to race execution....EN (EN/coaches) specifically dictate Target Pace +30s for the first 6miles of the marathon.....it takes discipline to do that...and the dividends are paid at mile 18; overachieve on that interval...and pay the piper dearly....
I certainly do not want to be preachy...we are all experiments of one...and we do what we think is best for us individually around the framework provided....I'm just offering a sounding board for consideration...
One good reason for overachieving may be to achieve a mental breakthrough....but it should show up on your next test...and your paces get adjusted...so again...if you are overachieving by alot and its not too much...it is probably a too low vdot/training paces to begin.