Speed training!

Hey peeps

I hope everyone has had a good week. I had a crazily busy week, hence no posts, and I am going to keep the catch up short.

On Monday I went to have another sports massage on my back and then made some fudge for work when I got home (I was keeping it as a rest day as I had been to parkrun and then ran 8 miles on Sunday morning).

Tuesday I got home late but the weather was gorgeous and I ended up going off on a slightly new route across the fields- just me and the rabbits.

As I started a new card I got a new technical t-shirt from Sweatshop, although I got an old design (the new designs have cool smiley faces).

It was intervals. The guy had a whistle. Yes, it was serious! We ran out to the fields where there is a strip of concrete (an old taxiway as it used to be an airfield) and then we had to run out as hard as we could until the guy blew his whistle (after 1 minute) and then we had to jog back to recover for one minute. We only repeated this 5 times, but my that was enough! I am generally near the back of our runs, and I think I am pretty good at pacing so often I will catch people near the end as they slow down, especially if we go for nearer 4 miles than 3. But as soon as the whistle went I was left in the dust! I just could not move my legs any faster! I didn’t mind, I was just genuinely surprised by how much faster everyone went. I looked at home at my Garmin and I reached 6.01, 6.45, 7.05, 6.54 and 6.58 for the fast sections. The guy from the shop generally stayed with me and encouraged me on while he looked at the time, and I am sure that helped me too.

We had a little cool down jog before I jogged (slowly) home- my legs were so sore after that (and so were my lungs!)- it was a good workout but so tough. I did just under 4 miles in the end (including the run there and home) but I was more tired than from my 5 miles the day before. Next week is hill training- I think the whistle may come out again!

I think this was my breakfast after my 8 miles last Sunday- watermelon, muesli, granola, strawberries, honey munchy seeds and teapigs chocolate tea.

Yesterday was my birthday, so after work I went to the Waffle House (where else eh?) with some friends. Andy texted me during the day to tell me I had to be home by 7, and when I got home we walked up to the uni, where it turned out we had tickets to see Mark Kermode talk about his new book. We love listening to the radio 5 film podcast on Friday evenings, so it was a great surprise and a great evening! But it meant I didn’t open my cards until just before midnight!

Have you tried interval training? I have used the audiofuel podcasts before, but I found it hard to keep in time with the slower sections. I like doing it with a group as I kept going whereas I am sure if I tried that on my own I wouldn’t go as fast, and probably would stop before I should.  I think it is going to be a more regular feature as the shop had a beginners running session on a Tuesday, but now they want to have that on Monday, have a steady Tuesday run and then have extra bits like hill training on a Wednesday.

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17 thoughts on “Speed training!”

  1. I try and do an interval session once a week, usually around 2-3 miles in the middle of a 4-5 mile run, usually 1 min fast, 1.30 recovery, I have no idea how quick I go during the fast bit, but probably not too fast as I do quite a lot of sets. Definitely helped improve my speed a lot though.

    1. Yes I think I need to be more consistent with the sets but I am sure that will come with practise.

  2. When there’s a whistle involved, you know things are about to get serious 😉 I would love a session like that actually (if I wasn’t injured though…), simply because I think having other people around and an element of structure would help me to push myself more. I used to love doing intervals on the treadmill in a really sadistic way, but that was back in 2009 when I could run on them without my leg interfering. Holding the required pace, even for 30 seconds at the highest speeds, was definitely no joke! I think that played a huge part in why I was able to run a lot faster at the 10K and 13.1 distance than I can now, even injuries aside.

    Brilliant that you had such a great birthday 🙂 I listen to Mark Kermode as well, and I love his reviews. He has such a wonderful, dry wit and he never buys into any of the celeb hype surrounding some of the films he talks about…his attitude is very refreshing!

    xxx

  3. Hope you had a lovely birthday…sounds like you did! 🙂
    Our club do one speed session each week and I generally remain quite consistent with each rep. It’s disheartening seeing everyone shoot off on the first one and having to stick near to the back of the pack but often many of them go out too fast and I’m up at the front by the final one!

    1. I was not at the front, but I think I was a bit more consistent than some! Ah well, it is all fun.

  4. That sounds pretty hardcore! I tend to do my interval training on a treadmill as I find that easier to figure out the fast/slow sections. My swimming instructors use a whistle for our drills though!
    Happy belated birthday!

  5. Happy belated birthday! You must say how the Kermode thing went and what his book is like 🙂
    Intervals are the worst. I hate them. I think I’m a bit like you in that I build my speed rather than blast it straight away. But I’m not a great sprinter. Intervals are good for speed but not for my mental well being! So stressful and painful.

    1. I will write about it at some point 🙂 It was fab!
      You may not be a great sprinter but you would keep up with my group haha! Ah well, with practise I shall speed up I am sure.

    1. Thanks 🙂
      I did feel shattered at the end so it was definitely a proper workout, just very hard work!

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