Well done

You know who you are :)

Running

After my poor attempt at 1km intervals last night (hardly surprising really), I decided to attempt a more reasonable session this evening. After a 10 minute warmup, the idea was to do 8 x (200m interval pace + 100m recovery (slow jog)).

I actually made it through this session, though not all the recoveries were jogs. The warmdown was quite a struggle as well...these intervals really take it out of you. Just done the small lap (5.54km) in 31m 55s, an average pace of 5m 46s per km. Short and sweet, but definitely not easy.

Split distance Split time Avg. HR
1.72 10:04 163 (84%)
0.20 0:57 176 (91%)
0.11 0:37 180 (93%)
0.20 0:54 180 (93%)
0.10 0:36 179 (93%)
0.20 0:58 178 (92%)
0.10 0:40 181 (94%)
0.20 1:00 181 (94%)
0.10 0:52 176 (91%)
0.21 0:55 171 (89%)
0.10 0:38 176 (91%)
0.20 0:57 178 (92%)
0.10 0:39 180 (93%)
0.20 1:07 178 (92%)
0.10 0:52 169 (88%)
0.20 0:54 166 (86%)
0.10 0:45 174 (90%)
1.39 8:23 172 (89%)

Swimming update

Cracking session down at the pool at lunchtime today. Finally been able to do two lengths more or less non-stop, which I'm delighted with. It's not pretty, but it's definitely progress. Actually done a few lengths in the middle lane as well and didn't totally embarrass myself.

Going to aim for three lengths non-stop next or at least to reduce the rest time after two lengths. Another goal would be to learn how to tumble turn, but I'm probably getting ahead of myself. Pace wise, I'm not going to worry about things until I'm able to do lengths without stopping...there's people passing me doing the breaststroke at the moment :)

In the end today, done at least 600m in the 30 mins I was down at the pool. The distance is slowly creeping up :)

What I've been up to lately.

After the long run on Monday night, legs were a bit stiff yesterday so didn't really fancy a run. Hopped on the Turbo (indoor bike resistance unit) and done a 45 minute session. Thought I was only going to last 15 mins, but eventually made it the whole way through.

Tonight, the aim was a speed session, based on the JD plan I've been ever so loosely following. The plan called for sets of 1km intervals (which for me should be around 5.20 / km pace) with 3 minutes recovery (walk or slow jog). My initial aim was to do 6 of these...absolutely ridiculous now that I look back at it.

First of all, done a 10 minute warmup and my first km was pretty tough, especially as there was two uphill parts to it (and one downhill). Actually done that in 4m 50s - pacing was going to be an issue. Was very glad of the rest and after a minute started a slow jog.

Next interval, set of flying again...blew up pretty soon. And so started the fast\slow intervals...not exactly what the plan called for :) Actually managed to do this kilometre in 5m 15s which is impressive considering the stop\start nature.

Rest of the run isn't worth writing about...honest. I actually made it around the lap at a decent pace (average 5m 58s per km) but that's the only good thing of note.

Long slow run

Thankfully it was raining lightly tonight. Perhaps a strange thing to say, but the last few days have been pretty cold here and the footpaths have been pretty slippery. At least when it's wet, you can still get a decent run in.

So after once again doing nothing but eat at the weekend, I set off this evening for a long slow run. Aim was 15km at 160bpm. It was actually quite a nice run, the rain taking the cold edge out of the air. Managed to stick to the 160bpm cap for the most part, really settling in around the 162bpm mark. Was debating stretching out the run a little at the end, but just figured I'd do what I'd set out to do.

I put the foot down from the 14km mark (which I assumed to be the last km), but it was actually 1.5km. Oh well...it was tough, but something I'll be hoping to be able to do at the end of the half marathons so should come in useful.

Best thing about this run though was my average pace came in at 6m 25s / km, almost 10s faster than comparable runs. Still a fair bit to go down to the 5m 40s I'll need for a 2hr half marathon, but getting there.

Average HR was 162bpm, total distance 15.87km in 1hr 41m 56s. Legs are a bit stiff now :)

Running update

Didn't really get up to much over the weekend, so aim this evening was to get out for some sort of run. Was half thinking before I left work that I'd go for a 15km (or so) long slow run, or perhaps an attempt at the hour for 10km. In the end, it was freezing cold as I was driving home and I had to convince myself to get out for the run.

I was just thinking of doing the big lap as I left the house but thought I might head down one of the local side-streets for a bit of variation. Next thing I know, I'm going down every side-street and finding the novelty of the "new" run very interesting.

By the time I got to the 1km mark of my normal run, I'd already done almost 7km! Plan after that was to just finish the big lap, which I figured would be another 5.5km. For more or less all the run, I kept the HR at (and sometimes considerably below) 160bpm. Pace wasn't great, but as per usual, the HR was the goal.

Overall, done 12.5km in 1hr 22m 17s (6m 35s per km) with an average HR of 159bpm.

1st December Weigh In

02/01: 115.64kg
01/02: 113.79kg
03/03: 114.04kg
01/04: 114.39kg
01/05: 112.37kg
03/06: 110.13kg
01/07: 108.34kg
01/08: 105.01kg
01/09: 104.17kg
01/10: 104.77kg
12/11: 104.35kg
01/12: 103.12kg

All good, but I'm a bit worried about the scales accuracy :) More about that in a post sometime in the next few days.