M 1/4 Effort 12 miles (7:11mm), 1/4 Effort 8 miles (6:50mm)
T 7 miles (6:30mm)
W 5 miles (8:02mm), 14 miles inc. 10 miles 3/4 Effort on grass (5:57mm)
T 1/2 Effort 17 miles (6:22mm), 5 miles (8:23mm)
F 1/4 Effort 12 miles (7:23mm), 7.5 miles including 4X2mins, 2X10s sprints (7:30mm)
S 1/2 Effort 22 miles (6:31mm), 5 miles (8:08mm)
S 1/4 Effort 12 miles (7:04mm)
Total 127 miles (6:57mm)
Core 21 mins
Total Training Time 15 hrs 06 mins
Aerobic efficiency 978 beats per mile
Garmin Training Effect Total 36.6
After Brass Monkey Half last week, I wanted to ensure I wasn't too keen to get back on the 3/4 efforts so only scheduled one for this week and did it on the grass which was somewhat boggier than the previous two times I've done it. It was pleasing that it came in at 5:57mm for a heart rate of 84% Working Heart Rate. I then had a couple of decent runs (17miles and 22 miles) at 1/2 effort (70-75% WHR) on the Thursday (a whole 7 minutes quicker than the previous week!) and Sunday over undulating routes. The rest of the week was largely just easy and recovery mileage.
Lydiard encourages a weekly fartlek to stay in touch with top end speed and does this through alactic sprints in one of the runs. These are essentially all out sprints for 5-6seconds. Any more and you start building lactate which apparently is detrimental to the aerobic conditioning phase. I am a little away from wanting to do a lot of sprints, or indeed really hard workouts so stuck a couple of sprints building up for about 5 seconds before going flat out for another 5. I did these in a recovery run after 4X2mins at marathon effort.
After Saturday's long run I did a 12miler at 1/4 Effort on the Sunday and it was really nice to see that the legs felt great after a mile or so and my HR was ticking along at lowly levels (c65%WHR) with the pace not too shabby.
I am starting to see my body really adapt to this aerobic mileage (aerobic efficiency is down to 978 beats per mile). In fact having taken the pressure off myself a bit, I must say I think I am enjoying my running as much as I ever have. It should come as no surprise really given I don't have a fast twitch fibre to my name so any time spent going much quicker than half marathon pace leaves me a little wrecked which results in me a) not being able to get the mileage in to keep my engine strong and b) really inconsistent racing results at shorter distances. It will be interesting to see what happens at Thirsk 10 miler in March as I plan to keep training pretty similar to as it is now until the National XC, after which it's start to look a bit more marathon specific. The only exceptions will be hard races at this week's Northerns (although that is looking highly unlikely now as I am suffering with a head cold and don't want it to develop into anything more sinister - a long lay off could set me back somewhat) and the National which Lydiard would probably disagree with at this stage but sod it!
I let my core work slip a little this week with only two 10 minute sessions, so need to rectify that a little but total training time was over 15 hours which is where I want to be on up weeks. John Cox, a reader of my blog asked me what core work I do and having spent many more hours watching videos of core work than I have ever performed I thought it was about time I just got something into my routine, so use the 'Viking ABC Core' routine (video below). This is a 10 minute routine so nothing massive but seems to activate all the right muscle groups. The motivation to do core post-run is virtually non-existent so for this to come a regular feature I really must try to keep this up prior to my recovery runs.
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.
Another great blog and thanks for the info on the core work! Defo something I need to add to my marathon training! Less than 11 weeks until Boston, P&D is taking enough of my concentration at the moment but I'm intrigued by the positive effects the Lydiard training is having and may look into it more if/when marathon training in the autumn!
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