I'm a day ahead this week, so I attempted the Wed 60' VO2 max run today. Sort of a questionable call given my hamstring has been a little problematic lately, but I did laps of some streets very close to home with the plan to immediately stop if I felt the hammy was at all amiss.
The workout was very brutal. Sort of a fail, actually, as you'll see below. 3x1000m is very, very hard. And after a Sunday 8k race and yesterday's brick, well...
...the good news is that I did run for 60', and I did complete all of the total z5 time that was called for.
...the bad news is that I needed to stop for a rest ("inactive recovery") for about a minute after each of the 1000s, and got a "technical fail" on the last two intervals, pausing at the halfway for ~45 sec.
I salvaged the run overall by running a 6:48 pace for 2 miles on the way home after the final recovery set.
Overall stats – 1:00:09, 8.63 miles, 6:58 pace
Intervals (z5=6:23 pace)
4x 200m intervals (run as 1:00): 6:19, 6:15, 6:11, 6:22
3x 1000m intervals (run as 4:00): 6:16, 6:16, 6:07
But again, the 2nd and 3rd of the long ones had a ~45 sec pause midway. So not really as good a performance as it looks on the Garmin!!
So I'll call the run a success.
My hamstring is somewhat of another story. It didn't feel bad during the run at all. Did not affect my gait/form or anything like that. I didn't feel it "twinge" like I did during the quarter mile kick of the brick run last night. However when I got back home and stretched it I found it was TIGHT. Did not want to stretch at all. I stretched it anyway, but there was minimal flexibility. And after the stretching it felt very, very, very, very painful. Even painful to the touch. So no question I made it worse (can't tell if it was the running or the stretching that messed it up, frankly). I iced the rest of the day and my plan is to go into running lockdown until it feels like it is getting a lot better. I think I'd have been fine without that hard kick last night…clearly that was the re-aggravator. But the good thing here is that without another run scheduled until Saturday's brick, I have some shelf time for it to mend. On the brick I'll just take it easy and see if it feels "not worse" the next day. If the brick is too much for it, I'll skip the Sunday run to give it more time.
I look forward to hearing about everyone's VO2 max exploits this week.
Cheers,
Matt
Comments
Sorry to hear about your hamstring issues. I just saw a video post on competitor.com about hamstring injuries. Sounds like you have a plan already, but thought you might like to see the vid. Not much detail, but some helpful stuff.
http://video.competitor.com/2011/03/videos-marquee/med-tent-how-to-heal-a-hamstring-strain/
After lurking for several weeks I have been very impressed with everyone's dedication and performance. Some nice mentors and role models in this group. Never was a track guy, so I have been running intervals for all of about 3 weeks. Tough to get accustomed.
Altered run plan to 1x200, 1x400, 1x 800, 1x1000, 1x800 with remainder recovery or floating between Z3-4
Z5 6:25 pace
6:20 200
6:20 400
6:20 800
6:50 1000
6:52 800
@Matt- give that hammy plenty of time off. even if not better by sat, remember this is the outseason for a reason.
also, is the best item to pull from the garmin the norm graded pace or the average pace?
Nice work Mike!!
@ David - totally agree...it is shelf time for me at the moment as far as running goes. and on Saturday, I'm not running unless that hamstring feels perfect. And I'll scrap the Sunday run for sure -- no speedwork during the healing process.
@ Barbara - waiting until April 7...yikes. That doctor must be a magician, otherwise I'd find another who can take you. If you're willing to drive an hour to Chicago, check out http://www.chicagosportsmd.com/. You could probably get in to see Brown quickly (Natarajan is tougher to get into but he is great). Rush Ortho is also top-drawer and you can for sure get in there quickly.
Cheers,
Matt
Great work everybody.
Run is complete, all on target.
60min, 8mi, 4x200@R-pace, 3x1000@I-pace, all 200s @5:30 pace, all 1000s@5:55 pace, was hard but doable.
I'm still plugging away at the runs on the treadmill - I like that for short intervals, especially when it's raining and the local track, which is clay-ish, gets slippery. This week, I did the run on Tuesday, due to work issues.
The past two weeks, I've been getting some twinges in my lateral right calf and lower hamstring when I do the hard stuff. Last week, I ran thru it, but today when it started happening on the third 1000, I pulled the emergency brake (that's the red STOP button on the treadmill) and quit after 42 minutes/5.25 miles. The pain went away and did not reappear during yesterday's hard (HMP) 30 minute brick, which I did on a monster hill (22% max up, 14% down) course. So all's well, I guess.
I keep hitting last year's pace numbers, so I'm hoping that this Saturday's 5K race will once again see me in the 20:1X range I've been doing it for the past five years. It would be nice, of course, for once in my life to get below 20:00, and get in the 50/50 club - VDOT and age both > 50.
Update on my 5K: I'm getting slower, primarily from age I suspect, but also maybe from the continued energy drain from continued healing following my bike accident 6 months ago - I still have symptoms, so I guess my body is still working on repair issues.
Anyway, I did a respectable, but slow for me, 21:16, VDOT 47.4. I've decided to be happy with membership in the "100 Club": Age+VDOT = or > than 100. Anybody else there? (It's easier as you get older!)
@Al, regardless whether you are getting slower, 21:16 is a solid time irrespective of age. You are a huge inspiration. You have my admiration. Keep it up.
Sunday run complete. Just have no idea how are these legs turning after yesterday.
Houston airport streets, flat, 75F, humid and some wind 10-15mph, ran some into the wind, some with crosswind.
70min, 9mi, IF .82, TSS 78.74
MS 2x200m(200m)R-pace+4x1000m(4min)I-pace
target 5:30
200s 5:33, 5:38
target 5:54, adjusted for temp/humidity 6:03
1000s 5:55, 5:54, 5:57, 6:05 faded a little
Week is complete. There was some solid work here. Good job everyone.
@Matt, thanks, I up there right with you. Keep recovering that hamstring, I am looking forward reading your workouts.
I was at IAH, Doubletree, just found one of the lateral streets, it worked. HOU, we stay at the Hilton airport is nasty. The worst hoods I ever ran. I will keep your notes. Let me know if you need info on any destination, I have notes on almost everywhere. I am all over the place in a span of a week.
What do you guys and girls think about Wednesday's run. How to tackle that one. Thanks.
#1: 4:02
#2: 3:59
#3: 3:59
#4: 3:57
Ready to test myself at a local 5k this weekend and see if I can actually bump my VDOT score up a little higher. Not sure I can join @Al in the Century Club, but at 40 I'd be pretty happy if I could be in the low 90's.