Tuesday, March 1, 2016

{week 2} Getting into the training groove


Week 1 Recap:The first week of training was fun! It included a track workout which I always enjoy. Well, maybe not at the time, but after I'm finished I bask in my sense of accomplishment. Last week's track workout was different. I enjoyed it while I was running it. The goal was to run 10 x 1000 meters at cruise interval pace with a 2 minute recovery jog. These are not all out speed intervals. The goal of the workout is to improve stamina. It's best to be conservative with pace the first few intervals because as your legs get tired the intervals will feel harder. The goal for me per the McMillan pace calculator was to run intervals between 5:02-5:12 minute pace, which works out to an 8:06-8:19 minute/mile pace.

With all that said, I ended up running all my intervals too fast. Even after I made sure to tell Dani and Dana not to run them fast. It's super important to stay in pace zones. Even with the short recovery, I was always ready to go and the intervals didn't feel hard. I ran them comfortably relaxed at paces I could clearly maintain. I even tried to run slower! My glutes wouldn't let me! {hee} I was able to kick it and push the pace on the very last interval (which I like to do on the track). This may be because, for me, my current 1/2 marathon time is based on my comeback-from-injury half-marathon time which is a bit slow {for me}. With the exception of my first and last intervals, all others were within appropriate cruise interval pace range for my pre-injury 1/2 marathon times. *shrug* I asked the Oiselle VolĂ©e coordinator, Heather Stephens, about proper pacing for training workouts and she said you are supposed to run at your current pace and ability, not your goal pace. Pacing is confusing sometimes and I still have lot to learn.
  1. 4:28 min (7:11/mile)
  2. 4:50 min (7:47/mile)
  3. 4:53 min (7:52/mile)
  4. 4:57 min (7:58/mile)
  5. 4:55 min (7:55/mile)
  6. 4:53 min (7:52/mile)
  7. 4:54 min (7:53/mile)
  8. 4:49 min (7:45/mile)
  9. 4:49 min (7:45/mile)
  10. 4:15 min (6:50/mile)
The rest of week was good. I ran a total of 37.5 miles. I'm slowly building my weekly base mileage back up to 45 miles. I only ran one run (out of 7 runs) by myself (making good on my 2016 goal of connecting with other runners). I'm including Nani as another runner ;). 


We're training for the OC 1/2 Marathon on May 1. We're following the McMillan Running training plan available as part of Strava Premium membership.

2 comments:

  1. Good to know about the pacing - I had no idea :) Jennifer @ Run Jenny Run

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  2. Thanks for sharing! What does the rest of your week's training look like? I'm on the market for a 1/2 marathon training plan and am wondering if this is something that would work for me. Thanks!

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