The path to my fixed purpose is laid with iron rails, whereon my soul is grooved to run.
Today was Week 2 Day 1 of the Hal Higdon 5K Intermediate Training Plan.
I had been planning on doing strength training on Mondays and Thursdays, but I think I’m going to change that and do Tuesdays and Thursdays like the plan recommends. That means today was a rest day, and tomorrow will be three miles followed by some lifting.
Today was Week 1 Day 7 of the Hal Higdon 5K Intermediate Training Plan.
Ran 5.00 miles in 52:08 (10:25/mi pace) with an average speed of 5.8 mph and a max of 7.8 mph. My 1-mile splits were 9:58, 10:54, 11:17, 10:42, and 9:15. That’s a new PR for me, beating my previous record of 55:08.
That finishes up Week 1 of the plan. Good run today.
Saturday was Week 1 Day 6 of the Hal Higdon 5K Intermediate Training Plan.
Ran 3.11 miles in 28:06 (9:02/mi pace) with an average speed of 6.6 mph and a max of 8.7 mph. Splits were 9:05, 9:09, and 8:56, burning about 460 calories.
Not bad considering I had just eaten about half of a large Italian stromboli before the run. Definitely not recommended, but it didn’t seem to slow me down too much. :)
Today was Week 1 Day 5 of the Hal Higdon 5K Intermediate Training Plan… rest day. :)
Today was Week 1 Day 4 of the Hal Higdon 5K Intermediate Training Plan. Run an easy three…
When the schedule says “run,” that suggests that you run at an easy pace. How fast is easy? You need to define your own comfort level. Don’t worry about how fast you run; just cover the distance suggested–or approximately the distance.
And that’s exactly what I did, resulting in one of my slowest 5Ks ever. :)
Ran 3.11 miles in 36:40 (11:47/mi pace) with an average speed of 5.1 mph and a max of 6.9 mph. My 1-mile splits were 11:47, 12:02 (eep!), and 11:46, with the last tenth at a 9:55/mi pace. Burned about 450 calories.
Sure it was slow, but I really enjoyed it. It’s been a while since I just went out for a run without worrying about pace and time. Tonight it was just me running in the dark. In fact, I didn’t even look at what my final time was until after I was home for a while. I needed a run like that.
Also did a solid lifting routine tonight, including some extra Arnolds.
Tomorrow is a rest day, and then I’m scheduled for 3 miles on Saturday and 5 miles on Sunday.
Today was Week 1 Day 3 of the Hal Higdon 5K Intermediate Training Plan. Intervals…
To improve speed, you sometimes need to train at a pace somewhat faster than your race pace for the 5-K, about the pace you would run in a 1500 meter or mile race. Run 400 meters hard, then recover by jogging and/or walking 400 meters.
My total workout was 2.50 miles in 29:22 (11:45/mi pace). Each interval was a 400 meter (0.25 mile) run followed by a 400 meter walk. Average pace for each of the five 400 meter runs: 6:59, 6:57, 6:57, 7:02, and 7:22. My “mile pace” is about 7:45/mi, so I may have been a little too fast for each of those.
Definitely the hardest 2.5 miles I’ve ever done. By the last interval, my legs were completely shot. But I felt pretty good when it was all over, and I think I can honestly say that if this program doesn’t kill me, it’ll probably knock a few minutes off my 5K time.
Today was Week 1 Day 2 of the Hal Higdon 5K Intermediate Training Plan.
Tuesdays in the plan are always an easy three miles:
How fast is easy? You need to define your own comfort level. Don’t worry about how fast you run; just cover the distance suggested–or approximately the distance. Ideally, you should be able to run at a pace that allows you to converse with a training partner without getting too much out of breath.
I covered 3.11 miles in 31:23 (10:06/mi pace) with an average speed of 5.9 mph and a max of 7.9 mph. My 1-mile splits were 10:08, 10:53, and 9:25, burning about 470 calories.
Not a bad run. Not a great run either, but certainly better than last week.
Today was Week 1 Day 1 of the Hal Higdon 5K Intermediate Training Plan.
According to the plan, Monday is always a rest day. But Hal does recommend that you work some strength training into your routine:
Strength training is important too: push-ups, pull-ups, use of free weights or working out with various machines at a Health Club. Runners generally benefit if they combine light weights with a high number of repetitions, rather than pumping very heavy iron.
He recommends doing some lifting after the shorter runs on Tuesday/Thursday, but I’m going to stick to the same schedule I had going with HH10K and do my lifting on Monday/Thursday. So that’s what I did today… some extra stretching and a decent strength workout.
Tomorrow is a three mile run.
So far I’ve completed the Couch-to-5K Running Plan (C25K) and Hal Higdon’s 10K Training Plan (HH10K). Since January, I’ve gone from barely being able to run a city block to being able to run over six miles, albeit slowly, at a shot. That’s pretty cool, but now I think I’m ready to try to knock some time off my 5K PRs.
So this week I’m starting Hal Higdon’s 5K Intermediate Training Plan, henceforth known as HH5K:I…
It’s an 8 week plan that combines 3 mile runs, intervals, long runs, and the dreaded tempo runs. The plan includes a 5K “test” at the end of the fourth week that should be a decent benchmark to show if I’m making progress.
Unlike the HH10K plan, this plan has two rest days per week rather than just one. Also, the plan doesn’t specify any weight training, but Hal does recommend doing some. Therefore, I’ll be sacrificing my Monday rest day and adding some lifting on Monday and Thursday nights.
This will be the toughest training plan I’ve ever done. Wish me luck. :)