Archives for Tempo Runs category
Posted on Mar 19, 2011 under 5-10k, 5k, Milestones, Tempo Runs |
Experimented slightly with breakfast today, had a banana and pure porridge with some pure fructose thrown in (am going to try glucose as is healthier apparently).
In any case, I wanted to do a sub 30 5k, so set off feeling good, and was feeling OK by the 1k mark which I managed in under 6 minutes. Then came the long incline to the top of the Haughton hill, which slowed me down, then it was coasting for a while, with intermittent bursts of exuberant running speed. I had to reign myself in a little to make sure I got the end at some points!
Felt another burst of speed near the end and wound down and stopped the Garmin on 29:01 – sub 29 should be easy next time I try it!
First k was quick, then there were a coupld of sedate ones, and the last 2 were both well under 6 minutes, which bodes well.
Seems the strategy of the slightly slower longer runs followed by a quick session, has worked on this occasion – and of course maybe the breakfast experiment had something to do with the running too.
Posted on Mar 06, 2011 under Milestones, Tempo Runs |
Set out hoping to do 4k in sub 25. Was quite sunny but a bit cold to start with. Was warmed up after 1k and started to go a bit faster, and after 6:20ish first 1k, did the second and third in 5:56, which is the fastest I have run consistently since January. Slowed in the last k but was really struggling and hurting by that point – the moderate increase in speed was tantamount to an exponential increase in discomfort but I managed to keep going 
Posted on Jan 22, 2011 under 5k, Regular Runs, Tempo Runs |
Got some sleep last night, and had a bit of a lazy morning, but actually decided to do some meditation for the first time in ages, which really made me feel quite relaxed and expansive. Then it was time for the run. It looked pretty cold outside, so I put my Nike running beanie on, and went out, and by heck it was freezing, I ended up shivering as I walked along while the Garmin found a signal.
As I set off a bloke and his dog on the other side of the street appeared to try to start racing me, so I set off quite quick – but to my suprise I was able to maintain this pace (6mins per k) without going into shock so it ended up as a bit of a tempo run. I did slow later on, but managed to stay well under 6:30, and by the end, even though I was starting to tire, I was able to inject some pace and did the last k in 5:45. I had hoped at one stage to get sub 30 for this 5k, but was to miss that by 20 seconds coming in at 30:20. Still, it was over a minute off my 5k in the week, so the fitness seems to be coming back in leaps and bounds – just need to keep gently upping the distance and the speed and hopefully can think about maybe doing the Salford 10k, which is a bit of an emotionally charged race for me in more ways than one.
It certainly was cold today – normally I take off the beanie at about 2k, this time it felt cold enough to keep on all the way round, and only whipped it off when I’d stopped!
Posted on Oct 13, 2010 under 5-10k, 5k, Tempo Runs |
Kind of a Tempo run, in that the intention was to run hard, ie sub 6 mins per k pace (which is hard for me at the moment!). Haven’t done the Haughton Estate circuit for a while so decided to run that. Set off and felt fine, looked at Garmin and seemed to be going a tad too fast, slowed a bit, but the initial incline into Haughton Village took it out of me a bit and I was breathing hard all the way after that. At 2k and 3k I just wanted to stop, and was ready to scream, and when I got to 4k I just had to keep it together, keep it together, just keep going!
At one point I thought I might go sub 29 but I was slowing and didn’t have anything left to do a faster last k, so just keep going as best I could and eventually staggered to a stop with the clock showing 29:38. No idea how I ran faster than that the other week! It took ages to recover and I didn’t feel great for a bit – crazy!
At this rate, I can’t believe I will get close to 25 mins for 5k, let alone quicker than that, so will just have to settle for sub 29 as my next target and chip away at it. A few lifestyle changes coming up might help – really need to cut out more fats and other stuff from the diet, and maybe when my spare tyre deflates a bit I will find the running easier
Posted on Mar 25, 2010 under 5 miles, Milestones, Season's Best, Tempo Runs |
Today’s effort was a 5 mile tempo run. Ran the first kilometre in 5:27 as a warmup, and then increased the pace, intending to run around 5 mins/k or better pace, remembering that in my intervals the other day, I had “slowed” to 4:30/k and felt it was reasonably sustainable. Powered up the hill near Sainsbury’s and the 2nd k clocked in 4:59 – so I just decided to see how long I could hold that pace, and apart from a couple of k’s where I slowed a little, I managed to hold it all the way, over 5 miles.
Kilometre Splits:
5:27
4:59
4:55
4:53
5:05
4:56
5:13
4:50
Was interesting that the last k was the fastest, I did push, but felt I was barely moving as by that point I was keeping going by sheer will power and really hurting! But the split shows I managed to keep up the pace until the bitter end! The slower penultimate k had a big uphill over the motorway bridge which slowed me a bit – if not for that and the warm up k, I may have gone sub 40.
Still, a season’s best by over 2 minutes – and gives me confidence I can hold that kind of pace in a 10k race, despite not having done any big long runs as of yet. In fact it’s made me rethink my strategy, as my injuries have always seemed to coincide with long runs – and so far, I seem to be doing fine without them, though need a few 8 milers to improve 10k stamina. Will see how Salford 10k goes, just over a week to go, eek
Posted on Mar 17, 2010 under 5 miles, Season's Best, Tempo Runs |
Been doing some hard runs lately with the Park Run Adventure on Saturday and the mile PB yesterday. Wanted to do something longer today so opted for a 5 mile tempo.
Set off at a sedate, just under 6 mins/k jog pace and gradually got quicker. Felt flying in the early and mid stages but started to hurt in the later stages. However, managed to somehow maintain pace and averaged 5:20/k, but very definitely hurt.
43:00 is a season’s best but nowhere near the PB of 40:01 I set last year – probably need fresher legs to go that fast for that length of time, but felt this tempo run really did me good as I kept running on some very tired legs and screaming lungs!
Posted on Feb 20, 2010 under 5-10k, Tempo Runs |
This run started off as a see how I feel kind of run after yesterday’s hard going – after 2k I felt good so turned it into a tempo run and ran around 5:30 average for the next 5k, which is the hardest I’ve run for the longest so far since my comeback last month, and felt good to keep the pace up and keep pushing when it was hurting bad! Knocked 1:11 off my last 7k effort, and that was with a slightly slower last half a k to wind down as I was starting to feel it by then!
Posted on Aug 28, 2009 under 10-15k, Long Runs, Tempo Runs |
For a while, building in more easy runs seemed to help my improvements, and slowing down the pace of long runs. But then the improvements stopped, and a good friend with a lot of running experience suggested running some longer runs at a harder pace. So I did a 12.1k effort today, with no reference to time, just ran how I felt – felt I was going at race pace at points, but refused to check out the time. Turns out I wasn’t going hugely fast, but I did go through the 10k split in 52:21 – so faster than Sunday’s race, and by that point I was at death’s door, but forced myself to go through another 2k at the best pace I could manage, and managed the 12.1k in 1:03:33, which is almost exactly the same time I did the same distance last time round – several months ago, and I found it easier back then… So something has gone wrong!
In actuality I think doing the easy runs has harmed my mental toughness. I can see that occasionally running a week where most of the running is easy will help – but I read an article that said 90% of your running should be at easy pace. Well I’ve tried that, and it seems to be load of tosh Harder runs ahead then, the stopping feels nicer though
Posted on Aug 18, 2009 under 5 miles, Tempo Runs |
Tempo run – finding these definitely work better with a slow couple of k’s warm up so managed not to blow up this time!
Did 2k at slow 6/k pace, then aimed to run between 5 and 5:20 per k, managed to stay around 5:07 so was running comfortably but actually not far outside PB pace and certainly inside 51 minute 10k pace – so flat out with race adrenaline etc, who knows what may now be possible. Sub 50 seems inevitable on Sunday now, but am not counting the chickens yet.
Today will be my last hard run before the race – a few easy runs with a few strides is all I plan to to do, and hopefully the intervals I’ve been doing, the long runs and general mileage will pay off and get me a result but I intend to just enjoy it whatever the time
Posted on Aug 08, 2009 under 5 miles, Tempo Runs |
Attempted a 5 mile tempo run, but got it a bit wrong and it was very very hot and sunny, so I did the first 2 k’s rather too fast and although I maintained it for a while I was on the verge of blowing up at 6k and my heart was really hammering even when I slowed, so just took the last couple of k’s as a cool down.
This will have been my highest mileage week for some time, with a 10 miler and some hard intervals for the first time recently, so have to take into account I may just need a bit of recovery and on reflection an easy run may have been a better idea, with possibly a tempo tomorrow or Monday. May rest tomorrow or do very easy run, will see!
