Archives for Tempo Runs category
Posted on Jun 26, 2009 under 5-10k, 5k, Tempo Runs |
Have just not been sleeping this week, and felt really tired all day after a night with 2 hours sleep and then a rather hectic day.
However, I had to run for a bus and it felt good, so I decided to get out for a short sharp three mile tempo run. For some reason set off at some weirdly fast pace and fartlekked the first k instead of warming up gently – just felt good so stretched the legs out and threw in a 3:45/k burst but I paid for it later and just ticked round then at just over 5 mins/k to make it an even tempo pace after that, averaging 5:10/k which was just about right, but felt a bit done in and right meniscus was niggling a bit but settled after a bit of a rub. Will rest tomorrow and hope to go for easy run with Laura on Sunday, then may run easy mon or tues before Weds race but if knee is playing up will take the uphills easy as don’t want to ruin chance of a sub 50 in sunday’s flatter course.
Posted on Jun 19, 2009 under 5 miles, 5-10k, PB's, Tempo Runs |
Well the PB’s seem to keep coming in training – this 5 mile tempo run I wanted, after an initial warm up spell, to run at or around 5 mins per kilometer, as I am hoping to run one of my upcoming 10k races slightly faster than that in order to get under 50 minutes.
I set off with a 5:17 k and then sped up slightly, finding it tough to make the pace early on and wondering if I could keep it up for 5 miles. At some points I felt I needed to be going quicker as I felt I was slowing down, but those k’s ticked over in under 5 minutes, so although it was feeling harder, I was actually maintaining the tempo pace as the lactic acid in my legs built up to its threshold. By the last kilometre I thought I may well go sub 40 but that last k seemed quite long and I was feeling maxed out, but maintained the pace and still threw in a 4:48 last kilometre. All in all I had 5 of the 8 kilometres under 5 minutes, and under race conditions I should be able to maintain that pace for another 1.2 miles, which should result in a nice sub 50 either at Offerton (hilly, but who knows!) or the City of Manchester 10k. Did 40:01 for the 5 miles which is 1.5 minutes off my PB a couple of weeks ago 
Posted on Jun 07, 2009 under 10-15k, Regular Runs, Tempo Runs |
12.1k run ran nearly 4 minutes faster than the one in the week. Pushed hard and just kept going, went past the 5 mile mark at 5 mile flat out PB pace, and went through 10k in 52:08, third fastest 10k ever, then did another 2k without losing too much pace. Managed to just keep the legs turning over even at the end when I was starting to feel the pain. Didn’t take too long to recover and felt good.
Now plan an easy short run on Tues in preparation for Weds evening 5 mile race – on this evidence, I am hoping for a sub 40 but may have to pray for rain
Posted on Jun 02, 2009 under 5 miles, Tempo Runs |
Not bad in almost 80 degree mid day heat, a five miler I set off at 5:08 and even blasted one sub 5 minute k, had to slow down a bit but all in all kept up a nice tempo (even my jog was at sub 5:30/k pace so managed to just keep it going).
Think it was a good run despite being slower than last five miler – I will consider it warm weather training, certainly made me work hard and I kept going even though I at one point decided to give up at 7k!
Posted on May 26, 2009 under 5 miles, Tempo Runs |
5 mile tempo run, started off with a sedate 1.5k warmup before kicking up to a faster pace. Tried to push the pace harder at points but never went into real top gear, with a fastest k of 4:54 but some slower ones too, so didn’t manage a sub 40 five mile, but did get a PB by over a minute
Posted on May 09, 2009 under 5 miles, 5-10k, Milestones, PB's, Tempo Runs |
After getting a 5k PB the other day I felt I needed an easier run, but a little longer, so opted for a nice easy five miler, although I guess it ended up being my 5 mile PB even though I wasn’t running for a time.
Good thing was, I ran it much easier than my last five miler, felt better, and did it several minutes quicker, including a couple of later K’s where I unconsciously ran nearly at race pace without trying.
Definite improvments in speed and endurance lately – starting to get excited about the Great Manchester Run now, if I can weave around the Scooby Doos and Marshmallows quickly enough, I may well PB and go sub 50, in fact I know I can do it! Just depends on the speed of the runners around me and if I get crowded I think, but it might work in my favour if I take the outgoing half quite easy then go full pelt on the way back into Manchester
Posted on Apr 22, 2009 under 5k, Tempo Runs, Time Trials |
5k time trial with 1.5k warm up jog.
Blasted the first k in 4:40 and felt good, then started to struggle a bit with the heat of the midday sun – kept it going at around sub 25 pace thereafter, but slowed to just under so by the end a sub 24 was out of the question as legs were getting heavier and heavier. So ended up with 24:32 – maintaining that pace for 10k would be hard, but you never know on race day as long as I can reign myself in for the first half then switch up a gear.
Felt good to run in new Adidas Supernova’s – no knee or thigh pain, so I think the cheap Asics I was using were past their sell by date, and had economy cushioning anyway. Have another pair of the cheap Asics which might come in handy for shorter runs or trails to keep my precious Supernovas for best!
Posted on Apr 05, 2009 under 5-10k, Tempo Runs, Time Trials |
This was supposed to be a 6k tempo run, I did a couple of k for a warmup but then shot off rather too quickly on the main run with 4:39 for the first k, slowed a bit after that, and was struggling as I went into the 5th k, so decided to just give what I had left and go for a 5k time, which ended up only 15 seconds off my PB. Couldn’t have run another k at that pace and was breathing very hard, so for my sub 50 10k, I need to find a way to just pace it so I run around 5 minutes per k for the first half, then quicken up to maybe 4:50/k or faster for the second half – or something like that! Easier said than done as sometimes figuring out what pace I’m running at is confusing! The Garmin pace alert thinggy was a bit annoying as I had set it to alert me if I ran slower than 5:10 per k – it kept bleeping at me in the first K despite doing it much quicker, and kept beeping at times even though my pace didn’t seem to be dropping too much, and the splits show I was consistently faster – maybe it did actually keep me on my toes!
Splits were:
4:39
4:53
4:45
5:03
4:54
Average pace 4:51
Best pace 3:31/k
Posted on Feb 17, 2009 under 5-10k, Tempo Runs |
Idea of this run was to run sub 55 10k pace for 6k, therefore doing 5:30 per kilometre, just slightly slower than current race goal pace. Managed this very well, but was tough going at points - even though I can run 5k quite a bit faster, I still need to build up stamina to maintain it for longer – but all being well, come my first comeback race, I should be on course for at least a sub 55 10k . I wasn’t particularly pushing out the boat on speed, but was able to run the last 2k slightly faster, so was a nice even paced run all in all with something left at the end and great stuff to build on now as race day approaches.
Splits:
1 5:28
2 5:30
3 5:33
4 5:33
5 5:25
6 5:18
Posted on Feb 11, 2009 under 5-10k, 5k, Tempo Runs, Time Trials |
After 4 days of rest, went out and did 5k time trial and knocked approx 90 seconds off last effort, felt good but much more even – think something may have gone wrong with satellite last time, or maybe I am just improving in leaps and bounds, but I did finish a few streets earlier than Garmin led me on last time!!
Splits:
5:27
5:24
5:08
5:10
5:09
All in all a good run. Sub 26 next!
