Well actually in this case it is the opposite speed makes you stronger and faster. I have currently entered week 8 of my training for the 10k race and my projected goal of 45min or better. As week 7 ended the grueling hill training, week 8 has ushered in the utterly brutal speed training.Essentially from weeks 8 to 11 one run per week will consist of speed intervals. They increase each week starting with 4 then 5, 6, finishing with a joyful 8. I have decided that they will be dubbed "The Brutal 4, 5…My exact words on my last sprint last night to Tracy was "These are fu*king Brutal." What makes these runs worse is that the it is getting hotter and last nights first 4 speed intervals left me completely dehydrated.
The intervals work out as follows;
- 3km warm up pace
- after warm up first interval; 400meters in 1:40.
- Jog until heart rate is down ~500m.
- Repeat this process 3 more times or depending on the week it is.
- Then cool down run for 2 to 3kms.
To do this properly you end up running about 8 or more kms for warm-up, sprints, cool-down. And a 400 in 1:40 was more of a sprint then I remembered.
This all comes after I completely bonked during a long run two weeks ago. After 4 kms in the heat, and being dehydrated before the run, my body shut down and my legs were nowhere to be found. I had to walk a kilometer or so get my head around the fact that I had to finish at least 8 of the 16kms I was supposed to do. I was able to get the 8k in.
The good thing is that the long runs of 14 and 16 seem to be getting much more comfortable and 8kms feels like a 4 or 5k and goes by extremely fast. I owe a great deal of this to proper training, diet, and weight training but have to admit even as skeptical as I was before, a portion of this success is due to my new chiropractic Doc as she has truly helped mend what was ailing me. For now the hip and knee pains are non-existent. All-in-all it felt good and think that by week 12 and 13 I will either be extremely strong, fast and ready to take it to it or the speed will actually kill me.
Severe bonking is a horrible experience. The worst one I have ever had was during my first adventure race. But can not be compared to that of the suffering Ironwomen Sian Welch & Wendy Ingraham endured during "The Crawl" in the 1997 Ironman race. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTn1v5TGK_w
Some people look at this and say why bother? why put yourself through that? But it ties in to what I said only a few days ago about what we regret in our lives and these two women showed the utter determination and immense will humans can possess. They apply this drive to their dreams and challenges they love, train, and suffer for and make them reality. There are millions of inspirational stories that I could add but with training and human will in mind I will add this one more for now
1 comment:
Yes half way through my second interval of 1.6km @ 4:50 per km pace I seriously was going to vomit...why do we do this again?
But in the end I felt that today's run was so much easier due to these hill and speed days.
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