M 16.5 miles TM including 2X35mins (6:03mm) , 5 miles (8:17mm)
T 15 miles (7:08mm), 5 miles (7:56mm)
W 6.5 miles (7:50mm), 8.75 miles (7:07mm)
T 16 miles (7:13mm), 5 miles (7:52mm)
F 12.5 miles including 10 miles on grass (6:09mm), 4 miles (7:57mm)
S 5 miles (8:13mm)
S 20.5 miles (7:01mm)
Total 120 miles (7:08mm)
Core 45 mins
Total Training Time 14 hrs 54 mins
Aerobic efficiency 1018 beats per mile
Garmin Training Effect Total 37.9
W/C 9th January 2017
M 11 miles (7:22mm), 7 miles (7:50mm), 4 miles (7:59mm)
T 5 miles (7:53mm), 13 miles inc. 10 miles on grass (6:04mm), 4 miles (8:20mm)
W 9 miles (6:35mm), 4 miles (7:47mm)
T 17 miles (6:49mm), 6 miles (7:35mm)
F 10 miles inc. 7 miles @ 5:30mm TM (5:47mm)
S 10.5 miles (6:59mm)
S 20.5 miles including Brass Monkey Half in 72:09 (6:13mm)
Total 121.5 miles (6:54mm)
Core 52 mins
Total Training Time 14 hrs 49 mins
Aerobic efficiency 991 beats per mile
Garmin Training Effect Total 47.8
A double-whammy due to time constraints last week!
To be fair it's mainly just boring mileage (isn't it always?!) to report with nothing particularly tasty in the way of sessions but I have managed a couple of decent 120 mile weeks building on the first week of 115.
Given the focus is a bit Lydiard style at the moment for the week of 2nd Jan I did two 3/4 effort sessions. One on the Treadmill of 2X35 mins keeping my HR below 85% Working heart Rate and then followed that up with a 10 mile run on grass at 6:09mm. The week also had three other runs of over 15 miles including a 20 miler in Middleton Park. Middleton Park is set on a decent hill and about 2 miles around, so I did 8 laps bringing in a decent amount of vert. (I think that's what the trail runners call it!?!?). Aerobic efficiency was 1018 beats per mile across the week which isn't great but seems to reflect that I am starting at the bottom of the training pyramid again! With a bit of core work I totalled just under 15 hours of training. One thing I have noticed that is quite interesting is the Garmin Training Effect figure after each session which is supposed to give you an idea of what effect the run will have had on your overall fitness. It essentially goes on a scale of 1-5 with 1 being little improvement, 2 maintaining, 3 improving, 4 highly improving and 5 overreaching. The theory is that if you have too many in the 4s and 5's you'll soon be a crumbled heap of running mess! I plan to tot up the total weekly figure to give me an idea of the training load over any given week. It's more data so happy days.
The second week, Sharon Barlow Hamilton had transferred her number to me for the Brass monkey Half Marathon. Sadly she couldn't run due to a stress fracture, a runner's worst nightmare! As I said on my previous blog, at the mo I just want to enjoy my running so didn't want to race it hard and so it would form one of my sessions of the week within my long run. Tuesday saw me run 10 miles on grass again, this time at a slightly quicker pace than the previous week in worse conditions. I then had another decent run of 17 miles at 1/2 effort and a cheeky 3/4 effort on the TM on Friday. Then to Sunday and the Brass Monkey half where I planned to run at Marathon intensity, so for me a touch harder than Lydiard's so-called 3/4 effort. After 5.5 miles pre-race I got myself on the start line. Off we go and I have to say it was a most tedious race from a pacing perspective with every mile between 5:25-5:35mm and I finished feeling very comfortable in 72:09 and 8th place for another good week's training. This was quite a bit quicker than I had thought I would run but as the effort was what I wanted I am very pleased with the result given it's 14 weeks to London.
Finish at Brass Monkey Half - Photo credit Ben McNeilage
The overall aerobic efficiency has dropped below the 1000 mark again which just goes to show that lots of easy and steady running can bring improvements in economy.
I'm now going to have another big week of miles before a slight cut back week, which will include the Northern XC Champs and I will probably run that quite hard.
As readers will know who read my last blog, this year I am trying to help my colleague Jo raise funds for her son Charlie. Charlie suffers with Cerebral Palsy amongst other severe medical conditions. The long and short of it is that Charlie needs Spinal Chord surgery and this is not funded by the NHS. So Jo is raising money to pay for the surgery and post-op physio herself. This is a mammoth task as she is looking to raise £85,000 so I would be highly grateful if anyone that reads this blog could consider donating to the cause. I and many readers are incredibly lucky to have the quality of life that Charlie can only dream of and hopefully some of you will help Jo with her efforts. I for one will be running my heart out for Charlie on April 23rd.
Charlie's Footsteps
Good read. Got me thinking that I'm maybe training too hard too often. Our marathon pbs are miles apart, you are way faster than me, yet I appear to be training quicker than you. I appreciate your training will ramp up, but I'm now having a bit of a review of what I'm doing. Such a hard event to prepare correctly for...., good luck with your build up. Hope you stay injury/illness free.
ReplyDeleteThanks Simon, you too. I think you have to consider the overall mileage that you're running too. If you're only doing 40 per week for example then your average pace is likely to be relatively higher as you are more than likely doing runs fresher than someone running 120mpw, if that makes sense?
DeleteGreat block of training you're in Jason, love reading all the detail. Incredible that you consistently squeeze 15 hours or so into life. Will make a donation after pay day. 'Tis a fine thing you do
ReplyDeleteThanks Kevin. I think 15 hours is a good number, but consistency is the main aim. Too many peaks and troughs see the fitness ebb away. Better to have two 10 hour weeks than one of 15 followed by another of 0.
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