NOS 2015 - Run Week 4 - A month already?!
Welcome to week 4 everyone! How is everyone feeling now that we have almost completed the first month? Keep in mind that the second half of the OS is always tough, so if you feel good now, that is a very good thing! As we dig into the OS I always think about when I played rugby. The reason is we always talked about the work we put in during the cold months of January and February would pay off when things were nice in late April and May. Sometimes it is hard to be fully motivated to crush that Z4 set (at least for me) if I can't think/remember why I am doing it. And if I don't give my best effort, I am shorting myself and my future racing me. So if you are like me, having a good focus on the short term (I want to raise my vDot to x, my FTP to y or whatever your goal is) while keeping an eye on the big picture of why I am doing it (to create a race day monster!) Aristotle put it best, "Quality is not an act, it is a habit." Go get 'em this week!
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My run and bike schedule is somewhat off this week. Drove from Philly to Tampa this past weekend to move. May go for a light run today to get the legs loose again after 20 hours of driving and sitting in the same position. Will try to do Sunday's run tomorrow and hopefully back on schedule on Wednesday. But the good news is, soon I won't have to deal with winter weather anymore.
I've been on a run schedule that has been 5 - 6 days over the last few weeks. Last week due to work & home life, I had to chose between run or bike. I got two runs in but cut out the interval run and two other GRP runs. Yesterday I did the Sunday B-A-A run. My legs felt very good. I started with 2 miles at Z1 and then progressed up through the B-A-A sequence 2 miles at each. I apparently fell victim to the NOS ailment of not being able to count. I somehow ended up running 9.82 miles. I really have no memory of one of those miles. Viva the rest day.
Did my hill strides at 5% incline and a little faster than my normal Z5. Felt good!
@ Chris K - at this point in the offseason - I'd say make sure your healthy. If your making your injury worse by training - then don't. You got time on your side now - you won't later on. So heal up.
So, I run the 25mins with uphill strides at work during lunch (lucky we hae a fitness center here !)
Question though re Wednesday's run and the Coach Notes:
"Put your run cadence at about 88-90rpms whenever possible. These shorter intervals are great "focus" points for making such a change...and it's way easier in the OS!"
That seems exactly the same as the "stride" work at 30 left foot strikes in 20sec = 90rpm? No?
Which feels like a VERY fast cadence to maintain throughout an entire run.
Am I missing something or is the proper form to really run with that rapid turnover? I'm 6'3" and keep a decent cadence but it's more in the range of 80-85rpm and 90 throughout seems a stretch.
Just try to keep it up at about 85 to 90 at these easy runs as during Z4 work you wont have time lookin into this
Also finished today's workout with a 30 minute GRP & 3 sets of strides. Felt very good. Nervous for tomorrow's intervals. The weather is going to put me on the TM for those. That will be the first time in a long while that I have done anything hard on the TM.
Was 38* when I left for my 13.1 out and back, wind was behind me so I knew it would be colder heading back. Just after the turn around I stopped at Knights of Columbus to refill by water bottle (outside spigot). The rest of the way was into a cold 10-15 headwind. Still managed to negative split the run by 1:32.
Run time 1:42:18
Tuesday's wko was inside on the TM as a brick. Called for 25'@ EP with 3x20"uphill strides. It was late when I started and did not do the incline. Tried the jump on/off method but didn't like it much for the first 2 strides. Third stride was more of a 1x200 Z5 effort and felt much more comfortable. Guess I find it hard to instant on / instant off.
Didn't finish my bike-run brick until 10:15 PM so dinner wasn't until almost 11.
2 mile wu
3 x 1 miles at goal pace of 7:02 (actual 6:53, 6:58, 6:56) w/ 4' recoveries
1+ miles @ z3
56min/7.22 miles total
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/635972360
Took a bit to loosen up today, probably due to the cold, but felt pretty good.
Today 10x400m with goal time 1:23 for each 400.
Hit all intervals within a 2sec window except of the first which I totally overachieve by 5sec (which is A LOT on just 400m)
Hope my legs will can handle that amount of super-intense work
http://www.strava.com/activities/220944893/overview
According to my 10k run test my actual Z2 pace is 6:37 and I am absolutely sure I can't run that pace on a 2-4% graded hill for the prescribed period of time!
So are you adjusting your Z2-pace for this run and if yes where can I find a calculator or table to find out the pace that would give my body the similar stress on a hill as my normal Z2 pace does on the flat?
Good motivation to get out there today crew. It was 25 degrees here in NJ but sunny and ended up being a beautiful crisp afternoon.
10' WU
Then 3x 1mi Z4's targeting 7:10/mi
Managed, 7:08, 7:05, 7:01
Then 2mi at 7:40/mi to bring it home.
Net 8mi in a few ticks under 60' for 7:28/mi pace.
http://www.strava.com/activities/221022385
Opted for speedwork with my run club tonight. it was tough. definitely feeling yesterday's bike a bit at the start of the workout but it improved as the session went on.
Bring on Thursday's Bike!
Got the intervals done after work. The temperature outside was still in the 20's so I did the intervals on the TM. I did a 2.5 mile warm-up and then ran the intervals. I am uncomfortable on running hard on the TM but I got it done. My HRM started to work then it crapped out. Time to call Garmin. Then the WKO would not upload to Strava. The MS was 6:19 & 6:15.
http://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/636212778
http://www.amazon.com/Garmin-HRM3-Replacement-Elastic-Strap/dp/B00DUF252S/ref=cm_cr_pr_pb_t
By the way....Nice work!
@ Stefan, I noticed that as well and wondered they same thing. Usually on hills I try to pace myself so that I'm doing the normalized graded pace that's called for in the plan. It's not something that my Garmin does in real time so I have to fake it. I usually go by RPE and heart rate and then check it afterwards in Training Peaks to see if I was anywhere close. I'm getting better at it but I usually over do it going up hills and under do it going down. I guess it evens out that way, but it does get tricky.