My plan has been to begin speed training in January. My plan is to replace my Saturday long run with half an hour of speed. My Wednesday 2-hour run will thus become my long run. My goal during January and the first week of February is to run fartleks.
I ran a fartlek at the end of my run this morning. That fartlek is often called a "kick", and it is a nice way to end a run or race. For the last 150 or so feet, I increased my pace a bit. Not a big increase, but enough for the first time. I will do this kick after each run from now on.
Is this ALLEN??? You're planning on doing some speed work? I double checked the URL address, it appears correct. Who or what took over Allen's body???
ReplyDeleteYea, I must be getting senile in my old age :)
ReplyDeleteI've been running LSD for three or four years and have been running 11-13 mile weekly long runs for the past year. I think I have a pretty good base and am now ready to do some low level speed once a week.
During January I'll do fartleks. During February I'l do some intervals. During March I'll do some hills. This speed work will replace my 11-13 mile long run, but I'll keep my 9-10 mile run. During the last week in March and the first week in April, I'll do my 11-13 mile long runs, and then a two-week taper to April 21. Two weeks is a long taper for a half, but at my age it is what I need. My speed work will be low intensity compared to that done by younger runners, but it will give me a good start in my transition from a slow, LSD runner to a faster runner.
Yup, you definitely have a solid base, looks like you have an good strong plan for Spring!
ReplyDeleteI still dream of my running 24 years ago. My LSD pace was 7 minutes, and my 10K pace was about 6:40. My marathon pace was 9 minutes. My one-mile PB was 5:57. I never ran any halfs then, but it would be close to 7 minutes. I'm too old to repeat those times, but they are nice to think about. Back then, I didn't train for speed -- I just let my base bring automatic increases in speed.
ReplyDeleteNow that I'm older, my big goal is the World Senior Games in St. George in October. If I can get my half PB below 2 hours I'll have a good chance to set a course record. Now that I'm retired, I have time for "real" training, and I'm curious to see how fast I can be in my old age.
I'm enjoying being old. I think these last years are the highlight of my life...