This week was lighter to recover from last week’s “super run”. A pretty unique long run Sunday experiencing all seasons in one run.
This week
After the big 3:30 run it was nice to have two days off running. Monday I had a follow up appointment with Ben from Pride Podiatry. Which was good timing as he did some release on my foot which pulled up a little sore after the big run.
We also discussed shoe/orthotics strategy for the marathon. We agreed best to just use the orthotics on short easy runs. I have just used them a few times and think they’re a helpful tool but I’m not comfortable with using them for a long distance.
I’ll be sticking with doing all my runs in my current shoe (adidas Supernova Sequence 9) and have a new pair to start rotating in soon for use in the marathon.
Tuesday foot exercises, foam rolling and I did a variation on an injury prevention routine from a Training Peaks article. My variation was to reduce most sets to 2 instead of 3 and single leg dead lifts I did as arabesques with a medicine ball.
Wednesday lunch time 1600m intervals down at the Olympic Park track. This was a rough session I did my first rep on pace then dropped off significantly on the second. It was very tempting to throw in the towel, but I continued on and completed the last rep, which was also slow but at least I did it.
Thinking back on it I’m quite happy with how I handled the session (finishing it!). After work I went and got a chinese massage which was helpful!
Thursday night I was back at Princes Park. Nice conditions, it rained just a little bit at the start and then was clear. The 5km variable pace efforts went well.
Friday night I actually did nothing. Usually I do something but I think I just sat on the couch and watched the footy?
Saturday I was tossing up different options but in the end just ran from home. My threshold run went well, probably the best I’ve done in a while. 4:34/km average pace and my splits got progressively faster.. 4:36, 4:35, 4:33, 4:31. A good sign I think.
My Sunday run was 25km at 5:20 target pace. These paced runs are best done around fairly flat and firm surface routes where I can hold a consistent pace throughout the run.
For this run I worked out a route starting from my place in Werribee, through the back of Wyndham Vale along lollipop creek. This would take me to my brother Alex’s place in about 12km where I could grab a drink, then head back through President’s Park and along Werribee river to finish off the run.
The run started into a bit of a head wind but the sun was shining which was nice. After the 10km mark the rain started, then after my drink stop the first batch of hail happened. The temperature dropped too and my hands were suddenly freezing. But it was also around this point I got in a good rhythm and cruised through 6kms in sub 5:10 pace.. not too sure why, might have been running with the wind.
It wasn’t long until the sun was shining again. I did my loop around President’s Park passing lot’s of dogs out for walks. Back along Werribee River I had my first magpie swoop for the season.. it wasn’t too aggressive but swooped 3 times while I waved my arms above my head to deter it!
To finish off the run another batch of hail with a couple kms to go. Over all it was actually a really good run 🙂 I used high5 energy gels on this run and can recommend them!
Running
| Day | Details |
|---|---|
| Mon | Rest |
| Tue | Rest |
| Wed | 2km warm up Drills and strides 3 x 1600 in 7:00 w/ 2 min rest (7:03 167bpm, 7:32 166bpm, 7:27 167bpm) 2km cool down |
| Thu | 5km at 5.20 (5:16, 146bpm), 3 min jog recovery, 5km at 5.15 (5:12, 151bpm), 3 min jog recovery, 5km at 5.10 (5:05, 151bpm) |
| Fri | Rest |
| Sat | 2km warm up 4km threshold @ 4:40 (4:24/km, 170bpm) |
| Sun | Werribee paths/roads 25km @ 5:20 pace (5:14/km, 154bpm) |
1%-ers
| Day | Details |
|---|---|
| Mon | Podiatrist follow up (30 mins) |
| Tue | Foot exercises (18 mins) Injury prevention routine (inspired by Training Peaks) (45 mins) |
| Wed | Massage (60 mins) |
| Thu | |
| Fri | |
| Sat | Foot exercises and light foam rolling (30 mins) |
| Sun |
Optical heart rate
I’ve been using watches with optical heart rate for a little over 2 years now, here are my thoughts on their usefulness and limitations.
- Easy steady running and long runs. Optical works really well with this type of running even in cold conditions. It’s a great benefit being able to do long runs and get heart rate data without having to wear a heart rate strap.
- Long intervals and threshold running. I find this is about 50/50 and I get poor results through winter. Optical heart rate tends to struggle to track heart rate changes in the cold (less blood flow to the hands?). If you want to be sure of accurate data best to put a heart rate strap on for these sessions.
- Short track intervals 800m or less. Essentially don’t bother looking at optical for these sessions. It just can’t keep up with the fast changes in heart rate and motion noise, etc. Heart rate strap is a must for accurate data.
- Racing. I think optical is useful here. I prefer not to wear a heart rate strap during a race. Optical won’t be useful over short track distances but for long distance races is pretty good.
Optical heart rate is a nice option to have available. It gives you the freedom to run without a heart rate strap but still collect heart rate data across easy runs, long runs and races. However it has it’s flaws especially with tracking sessions with faster heart rate changes and use in cold weather it can struggle to track correctly and be well off heart rate strap accuracy.
I suggest an approach of using optical heart rate for easy runs, long runs and racing. While using a heart rate strap for interval and threshold sessions where the optical can struggle to track accurately. This provides a good balance of accuracy and getting to run strapless!
Coming up
This week we start hill reps 😮
- 10 September – Burnley Half Marathon
- 16 September – Princes Park Relays
- 15 October – Melbourne Marathon
Summary
| Week | Phase | Runs | Km | Hrs | TSS | Fitness | Fatigue | Form |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 36 | MARATHON | 4 | 59.2 | 5:17 | 426 | 61 | 73 ↑ | 23 ↑ |
| 35 | Taper | 4 | 41 | 3:32 | 314 | 61 ↓ | 55 ↓ | -1 ↓ |
| 34 | Marathon | 4 | 62.1 | 5:26 | 450 | 64 | 76 ↓ | 6 ↑ |
| 33 | Marathon | 4 | 63.4 | 5:34 | 467 | 64 ↑ | 82 | 2 ↓ |
| 32 | Marathon | 5 | 70.7 | 6:23 | 502 | 63 ↑ | 82 ↑ | 7 ↓ |
| 31 | Marathon | 4 | 48.4 | 4:13 | 367 | 61 ↑ | 68 ↓ | 8 ↑ |
| 30 | Marathon | 4 | 63.9 | 5:43 | 462.1 | 62.7 ↑ | 78.3 ↑ | 4.0 ↑ |
| 29 | Marathon / recovery | 4 | 58.4 | 5:06 | 426.2 | 61.8 ↑ | 77.3 ↓ | -0.6 ↓ |
| 28 | Marathon | 4 | 66.5 | 6:06 | 486.1 | 61.6 ↑ | 82.5 ↑ | 3.6 ↑ |
| 27 | Marathon | 4 | 66.5 | 5:50 | 482.1 | 60.1 ↑ | 79 ↑ | 0.5 ↓ |
| 26 | Recovery | 4 | 54.3 | 4:54 | 386.3 | 58.1 ↓ | 69.5 ↓ | 3.5 ↑ |
| 25 | Build | 5 | 64.9 | 5:51 | 454.6 | 58.3 ↑ | 72.0 ↑ | -2.3 ↓ |
| 24 | Build | 5 | 64.5 | 5:41 | 482.6 | 56.8 ↑ | 64.6 ↑ | 3.1 ↓ |
| 23 | Build | 4 | 46.9 | 4:07 | 340.5 | 54.9 ↓ | 51.8 ↓ | 7.3 ↓ |
| 22 | Build | 4 | 43.6 | 3:55 | 307.3 | 55.9 ↓ | 52.1 ↓ | 11.1 ↓ |
| 21 | Half Marathon | 4 | 41.8 | 3:31 | 311.1 | 58.0 ↓ | 55.0 ↑ | 20.5 ↑ |
| 20 | Taper for HM | 4 | 37.5 | 3:10 | 304.9 | 60.1 ↓ | 52.4 ↓ | 14.6 ↑ |
| 19 | Recovery | 3 | 41.6 | 3:39 | 302.6 | 63.0 ↓ | 59.8 ↓ | 10.5 ↑ |
| 18 | Half / Marathon | 5 | 71.8 | 6:03 | 541.4 | 66.6 ↑ | 86.0 ↑ | -7.4 ↓ |
| 17 | Half / Marathon | 4 | 66.5 | 5:47 | 490.2 | 64.3 ↑ | 79.7 ↑ | -3.2 ↑ |
| 16 | Half / Marathon | 5 | 64.4 | 5:32 | 479.2 | 62.9 ↑ | 76.0 ↓ | -7.7 ↑ |
| 15 | Half / Marathon | 5 | 71.4 | 6:09 | 527.1 | 61.7 ↑ | 77.8 ↑ | -7.8 ↓ |
| 14 | Speed / Half | 5 | 63.8 | 5:38 | 460.2 | 59.0 ↑ | 70.3 ↑ | -1.0 ↓ |
| 13 | Speed / Half | 5 | 59.1 | 5:20 | 419.4 | 57.5 ↑ | 60.9 ↑ | -3.7 ↓ |
| 12 | Recovery | 4 | 39.1 | 3:21 | 288.2 | 56.9 ↓ | 54.8 ↓ | 6.5 ↑ |
| 11 | Speed | 5 | 59.1 | 5:14 | 421.8 | 59.6 ↑ | 70.4 ↓ | 1.7 ↑ |
| 10 | Speed | 5 | 61.6 | 5:23 | 460.3 | 59.3 ↑ | 71.8 ↑ | -1.9 ↓ |
| 9 | Speed | 5 | 58.0 | 5:06 | 436.1 | 57.9 ↑ | 67.8 ↑ | 3.4 ↑ |
| 8 | Recovery | 5 | 49.7 | 4:18 | 395.8 | 56.8 | 61.5 ↓ | -1.3 ↓ |
| 7 | Base | 5 | 54.2 | 4:44 | 417.0 | 56.8 ↑ | 64.4 ↑ | 2.3 ↑ |
| 6 | Base | 5 | 51.3 | 4:33 | 392.3 | 56.1 ↑ | 61.0 ↓ | 1.5 ↓ |
| 5 | Base | 5 | 52.5 | 4:32 | 421.5 | 55.9 ↑ | 61.7 ↑ | 2.2 ↓ |
| 4 | Recovery | 5 | 46.5 | 4:03 | 353.7 | 55.0 ↓ | 54.5 ↓ | 4.4 ↑ |
| 3 | Base | 5 | 50.4 | 4:22 | 381.7 | 55.7 ↓ | 57.1 ↓ | 1.2 ↓ |
| 2 | Base | 5 | 50.2 | 4:23 | 381.2 | 55.9 ↓ | 57.4 ↑ | 5.9 ↓ |
| 1 | Base | 5 | 43.9 | 3:52 | 334.3 | 56.0 | 53.4 | 8.3 |
