It's about time I started adding some speedwork into my runs. Actually, it was several weeks ago that I intended to do so, but got somewhat distracted with the idea of building up to 40 miles per week first - but then the ankle injury kinda eliminated that goal for now. So now I'm back to whatever miles I can handle to stay healthy, and doing quality workouts within those bounds.
The last time I had done real interval workouts was a couple years ago, when I was starting out of the gate with 1 mile repeats. The resulting IT band issues made me realize that perhaps that was a bit too much to chew all at once, as I had done multiple 1/4 mile interval workouts the year before (2008) without issue - so I figured that for now, perhaps that's how I should start.
In looking up my VDOT number (based on the Half of the Hamptons), the 1/4 mile distances should be at 1:38 each, or at a 6:32 min/mile pace. I originally toyed with the idea of going to a track for this, but I realized it would be ~three miles for warmup to get there, then whatever miles of speedwork, and then ~three miles to get back home, for a likely total of at least eight miles - maybe more. My concern was that it might be a bit much starting out - so instead I just did my typical six mile loop, and figured on two miles warm up, and then at least two miles of intervals (so at least four intervals), and then two miles of cooldown - with the cooldown subject to change based on how I felt. Plus, the 1:38 per 1/4 mile was based on performance on a flat course in mid-February, and with things starting to get warm outside, I really didn't know what to expect.
I made sure to take the warmup easy - I often feel as though I do go easy, only to find a sub 8:30 pace during the first couple miles. Normally hasn't been a huge problem, but today I made sure to keep it slow. At the two mile mark, I took off on the first interval, and quickly realized that since it had been so long doing intervals, I didn't really have a good sense of pacing. I saw the pace drop below 6 min/miles, said 'oops', and slowed up a bit. By the end of the interval, the HR was pushing around 180 - which seemed just about perfect, and the time was spot on at 1:38. I then took a quarter mile at a slow and easy pace to get the HR down, then rinse and repeat. I was pleasantly surprised at the consistency of the interval times - all between 1:31 (during a slight downhill) and 1:49 (during an incline) - but it could be better. Each time the HR got to the 180 range, and aside from one of the recovery periods taking place during an uphill, the HR got back down to the 150 range. So all in all, I'm really pleased with the results for it being the first interval workout in a couple years.
Form-wise, there were a couple things that stood out. One was that I further confirmed my tendency to reach out with my legs during faster running. This is something I was suspicious of after video analysis following two races in February/March - but today I toyed around a little bit with keeping my legs underneath me a bit more, and felt a difference. So I have something to work on there. The other thing is that my leg motion feels a little scattered. I may be an effect of overusing muscles, so the ones used for stability and keeping everything moving forward end up slacking a bit. This is something else to work on, but I think it'll partially fall into place on its own if I get better about keeping my feet underneath me.
Even though it was on the shorter side in terms of distance, I took an ice bath afterwards. With it being the first interval workout in a while, and my recent laziness of taking recovery ice baths after workouts and feeling the effects over the next couple days, I needed to start getting back into the habit.
No comments:
Post a Comment