More on Speed (numbers alert!)

Thanks everyone (AGAIN) for the great comments/advice about 'speed'. I am very happy that this week's topic over at Runner's Lounge is about all things speed related! By the way, I have to plug Runner's Lounge here....I knew of it through other blogs, but never really had time to go poke around myself and check it out, and I must say it is a GREAT site with tons of information and a great overall runner's community. I encourage anyone who hasn't, to check it out! See the widget to the right for current happenings at the site.


Tuesday evening I did a strength training/XT workout at the gym because I didn't quite feel like my legs were back after my 7 mile run Sunday. So last night was my first run since Sunday, and it was great! I'm glad I gave my legs one extra day to recover. (I can't say enough about rest and recovery as a key component of adaptation and strength building) I decided to do a sort of tempo run, basically, I ran 'faster' for a longer period, and kept my heart rate mostly in the anaerobic range instead of the aerobic range. When I needed to, I slowed down to recover for 30 seconds to one minute here and there, but after a 15 minute warmup - the remaining 30-35 minutes was done at a faster than 'normal' speed for me. I was pleased with the result and the best part is that I wasn't totally 'spent' after the 50 minute run:

Mile 1: 13:19
Mile 2: 12:35
Mile 3 12:08
Mile 4 11:34


Avg pace: 12:24 Fastest Pace: 10:13 Avg Heart Rate: 153 Max Heart Rate: 166 (woo!)


For one day next week, I will try some intervals and then alternate between tempo runs and intervals every other week. Nothing too crazy, but my feeling is in order to run faster, I need to run faster some times!


So in all of my reading about speedwork this week, I came across the McMillan pace calulator. I punched in my last 5K time (34 minutes) and it gave me all the pace ranges I need for various types of workouts, and also gives me an indicator of how I may do in the half marathon. I will say that based on what I have been running, this calculator has me pretty close to what I'm already running in my workouts.


For example, the recommended long run pace for me is 13:13 - 14:13, and my last long run was run at 13:43. Steady state runs should be between 12:04 - 12:25. I've been doing about 12:18 average pace for the steady runs.


The recommended TEMPO pace is 11:34 - 12:04, and although my average pace last night was 12:24, my max speeds within each mile ranged from 10:13 - 11:49. So I was pretty close to a tempo type run, and most every time I glanced at my watch, I was running around 11:15 - 11:45.


All of this to say, I am reassured that I AM working it hard enough and from what I've been reading, if I keep it up, I WILL see the benefit - basically let science do it's thing while I do my thing. I will continue to trust the process!


Run On ~