I'm tired. I ran in a 3000 metre race at the track this afternoon — finished 11th in 12:19.93. This is a very long way from 11:07. So far away, that I now doubt my ability to run such a time.
Anyway, it was an interesting race. The Speedygeese cheer-squad and odd other friends offered me enthusiastic encouragement from the sidelines. I had a serious (and fun) battle with a young girl over the last 5 laps. Each time I pulled up beside her to overtake, she would surge ahead with youthful impetuousness. I made my last attempt with 200 metres to run — she might have said "see ya later old man" by the way she sprinted off to thrash me by three whole seconds!
Today marks the end of my first week of the hill/speed phase of Lydiard training. It comes after 13 weeks of base training, averaging 95 kilometres (or 9 hours) of aerobic running per week. I decided that 13 weeks was long enough — my aerobic improvement seemed to have reached a plateau.
I've reduced my weekly mileage to around 75 kilometres. This should be enough to maintain aerobic fitness. I've also introduced a "hill run" — a 13.9 kilometre circuit which includes 18 short hills of various gradients. In addition to this, I plan to run two track sessions per week, starting with fairly aerobic, race-paced intervals one day, and shorter 'leg-speed sprints' the other. After a certain number of weeks (not sure exactly) of this, I'll move on to the anaerobic phase of training. Just quietly, I'm looking forward to this part — that lung-burning, leg-dead sensation is a far too distant memory.
Anyway, it was an interesting race. The Speedygeese cheer-squad and odd other friends offered me enthusiastic encouragement from the sidelines. I had a serious (and fun) battle with a young girl over the last 5 laps. Each time I pulled up beside her to overtake, she would surge ahead with youthful impetuousness. I made my last attempt with 200 metres to run — she might have said "see ya later old man" by the way she sprinted off to thrash me by three whole seconds!
Today marks the end of my first week of the hill/speed phase of Lydiard training. It comes after 13 weeks of base training, averaging 95 kilometres (or 9 hours) of aerobic running per week. I decided that 13 weeks was long enough — my aerobic improvement seemed to have reached a plateau.
I've reduced my weekly mileage to around 75 kilometres. This should be enough to maintain aerobic fitness. I've also introduced a "hill run" — a 13.9 kilometre circuit which includes 18 short hills of various gradients. In addition to this, I plan to run two track sessions per week, starting with fairly aerobic, race-paced intervals one day, and shorter 'leg-speed sprints' the other. After a certain number of weeks (not sure exactly) of this, I'll move on to the anaerobic phase of training. Just quietly, I'm looking forward to this part — that lung-burning, leg-dead sensation is a far too distant memory.
City lights make my hill course a great one to run at night
