Well, it’s been eight weeks and I’m officially done with the Hal Higdon 5K Intermediate Training Plan.
I started the plan on September 3 (W1D1), and at the time it looked like a tough training plan. As it turned out, it really wasn’t too bad. I really enjoyed the mix of speed work (i.e. 400 meter intervals), tempo runs, and long runs. Unfortunately some leg issues forced me to skip a couple days throughout the plan, but overall I think it went fairly well. Hal Higdon knows how to put a good plan together.
That means I’m not on a plan right now… which means I need to stay focused and keep the motivation up. So I did an easy “day after the race” 10K loop of the neighborhood yesterday. Covered 6.22 miles in 1:07:21 (10:50/mi pace). Splits were 10:39, 10:58, 10:50, 10:51, 11:03, and 10:59/mi.
I have some races coming up, but I need to pick a new plan to keep me moving forward. But for now, I’m coming down with what appears to be a cold (at best) so some rest is in order.
MB
Today was Week 8 Day 4 of Hal Higdon 5K Intermediate Training Plan.
Two miles tonight. My goal was to push a bit, but to not go too crazy.
Ran 2.00 miles in 16:22 (8:11/mi pace) with an average speed of 7.3 mph and a max of 10.6 mph. Splits were 8:13 and 8:09. Burned about 290 calories.
Rest tomorrow. Race Saturday.
Today was Week 8 Day 3 of Hal Higdon 5K Intermediate Training Plan.
Thirty minute tempo on the schedule today, so I did 10-10-10. Total was 3.05 miles in 30:00 (9:49/mi pace). Average paces for each of the ten minute blocks were 10:28, 8:28, and 10:51/mi. Burned about 459 calories.
The whole tempo run concept has been a tricky one for me to grasp. Run too slow and there’s really no benefit, but if you push way too hard then it doesn’t really do what it’s supposed to do.
This time my goal was to start extremely slow (~12/mi) and ramp up to about 10/mi at the 5:00 mark. At the 10:00 mark I stopped looking at my Forerunner and just ran at a pace that felt “comfortably hard” for the next ten minutes. At the 20:00 mark I started slowing it down as gradually as I could, hoping to get back to 12/mi at 30:00.
I have no idea if that’s the right way to do it or not. According to Hal Higdon, the fast portion should be at my 10K pace which is roughly 8:42/mi. So I guess tonight’s run was about right.
PS. GPS signal was a bit wonky in the beginning. I wasn’t actually doing 20-minute miles. :)
Today was Week 8 Day 2 of Hal Higdon 5K Intermediate Training Plan. The schedule has me tapering this week.
Ran 2.00 miles in 15:51 (7:55/mi pace) with an average speed of 7.6 mph and a max of 9.6 mph. That’s a new unofficial 2-mile PR for me, beating my previous time of 17:23 (8:41/mi pace) from back in July. I’m pretty happy with that. Splits were 7:59 and 7:51.
Only two workouts left before the race on Saturday.
Week 8… the last week of the Hal Higdon 5K Intermediate Training Plan.
Rest day. :)
Yes, I’m still on the Hal Higdon 5K Intermediate Training Plan. :)
W7D5: Rest day… so that was an easy one.
W7D6: Supposed to be a five mile “fast” run, but I shortened it to 5K. Ran 3.11 miles in 27:16 (8:46/mi pace) with an average speed of 6.8 mph and a maximum speed 9.4 mph. Splits were 8:23, 8:42, 9:20, and finished out the last 0.11 at a 7:52 pace. Burned about 465 calories.
W7D7: Seven mile long, slow run scheduled. Ran 7.00 mile in 1:11:43 (10:14/mi pace) with an average speed of 5.9 mph and a maximum of 8.5 mph. My 1-mile splits were: 9:30, 10:27, 10:23, 10:19, 11:33, 10:08, and 9:19. Burned about 1050 calories.
Back on the plan. Feeling good.
I was scheduled for three miles today, and my legs felt good enough to do it. Deciding to err on the side of caution however, I ditched the run and did the elliptical trainer instead. Cranked the resistance up to 10 and went strong for 30 minutes. Definitely a good workout.
After the elliptical I hit the bench and did 10-8-6 with 100, 110, and 120 lbs. respectively. I might fine tune the reps and weights over time, but that seemed to work well enough for now. Like I said, I’m not convinced bench pressing will actually help my running at all, but it’s kind of fun. Finished out the night with my 20 lb. dumbbells. Did the usual routine, but was able to take the curls and arnolds up to 12-12-12 each.
So far I’ve only logged three miles this week, and I have another day of rest scheduled for tomorrow. There are two long runs on the plan for Saturday and Sunday. I’ll see how it goes.
Much like last week, I felt the need to modify this week’s schedule a bit.
W7D2: I ditched yesterday’s run and just did a serious upper body lifting routine, adding some bench for the first time. I seem to be able to go up to about 150 pounds with low reps. I’m tempted to figure out a regular bench routine (with lower weights) to add into my usual mix. Kind of fun… even if not particularly necessary.
W7D3: Today was supposed to be 8×400 intervals, but I skipped that and did an easy three instead. Covered 3.11 miles in 35:33 (11:26/mi pace). Splits were 11:16, 11:26, and 11:44. Finished at a 9:57/mi pace. Burned about 465 calories.
Some more RICE tonight and I’ll see how it goes. Perhaps I’m overreacting, but with a race next weekend I want to make sure I’m not sidelined with an injury.
Today was Week 7 Day 1 of the Hal Higdon 5K Intermediate Training Plan.
Rest day. Good thing, because my legs are still in rough shape from yesterday’s run. :)
Today was Week 6 Day 7 of the Hal Higdon 5K Intermediate Training Plan.
Sunday is my long run day, so I hit the rail trail once again. The weather was perfect and the smell of fall leaves was in the air. So even though I was scheduled for 7 miles, I knew I’d be logging some extra ones today. Picked up the trail at Brillhart Station and headed south for an out-and-back…
Ran 10.00 miles in 1:59:10 (11:54/mi pace) with an average speed of 5.0 mph. Like last time, the Howard Tunnel messed with my GPS a bit each direction, but I still have some decent data. According to the Garmin, my splits were 10:43, 11:43, 11:26, 11:32, 11:58, 11:57, 12:32, 13:01 (heh), 11:39, and 12:32. Burned about 1400 calories.
Tomorrow is a scheduled rest day, and if I have to take another rest day after that so be it. I ran 10 miles for the first time today. And that’s awesome. :)