It's been a while since I posted a picture of my feet, so here goes:
The excuse this time is the reason why the fourth "pinky" is more pink than usual: actually the treadmill is to blame in a sort of roundabout way. We've been getting power cuts at the weekend - I suspect due to the increased demand going over our contractual limit - and this is what happened last Saturday. I went out to the street (in total darkness, of course) to press the green button to reset the circuit (had it been red, I would have hesitated) and, on the way, I tripped over one of the kids' scooters which was lying around. My toe still hurts a little a week later, so I think the swearing and throwing of said scooter were warranted in this case.
So, with two weeks to go before the race, I thought I would start my "caffeine fast". I very diligently went without my morning coffee but rather absent mindedly bought myself a red bull because I was feeling a little more sleepy than usual (I wonder why?). Oh well.
Other than the aforementioned slip-ups, the week has gone pretty smoothly and I ticked off three of the hardest workouts of the last couple of months of preparation. The first was my usual vVO2Max session, in which I came tantalisingly close to the target I set myself towards the end of last year: I did 5 sets of 3 minutes at 19,8 kph - very nearly 20 kph! But the hardest workout was undoubtably the sub 36 minute 10K (remember my best time is only 35:48) on the treadmill with an incline of 3%! For future reference I should probably schedule this with a bit more recovery time before the race or at least have done a bit more hill work - my calf muscles are still complaining as I write this 3 days afterwards...
The final quality workout was a classic fartlek of 3 sets getting progressively slower. I like this workout because the fast running forces you to run as efficiently as possible and this, I believe, carries over to the "slower" running - which is still close to my race pace. It also simulates how running at that pace will feel towards the end of the race, running on tired legs. Lastly, there is a mental game where it the pace initially feels unsustainable even though. intellectually, you know it shouldn't be a problem. In short, it delivers different benefits from the typical progression run from slow to fast.
To round off the week, I set my iFit treadmill up to simulate the course of the Bupa London 10,000 with "hills" and everything. Apart from the fact I had to reload the webpage a couple of times mid-run and the annoying feature of my treadmill reducing the velocity on the downward inclines, it was a great way to familiarise myself with the course and the time went by surprisingly quickly.
Monday: -
Tuesday: 5 x (3' @ 3:02, 3' @ 6:00)
Wednesday: 40' @ 4:00
Thursday: 10K in 35:58 w/ 3% incline
Friday: -
Saturday: 30' @ 4:27 (morning), 3 x 200-600-1,000 w/ 200 @ 3:00, 600 @ 3:10, 1,000 @ 3:40 and 3' rest between sets (evening)
Sunday: 10K run over Bupa London 10,000 course
The excuse this time is the reason why the fourth "pinky" is more pink than usual: actually the treadmill is to blame in a sort of roundabout way. We've been getting power cuts at the weekend - I suspect due to the increased demand going over our contractual limit - and this is what happened last Saturday. I went out to the street (in total darkness, of course) to press the green button to reset the circuit (had it been red, I would have hesitated) and, on the way, I tripped over one of the kids' scooters which was lying around. My toe still hurts a little a week later, so I think the swearing and throwing of said scooter were warranted in this case.
So, with two weeks to go before the race, I thought I would start my "caffeine fast". I very diligently went without my morning coffee but rather absent mindedly bought myself a red bull because I was feeling a little more sleepy than usual (I wonder why?). Oh well.
Other than the aforementioned slip-ups, the week has gone pretty smoothly and I ticked off three of the hardest workouts of the last couple of months of preparation. The first was my usual vVO2Max session, in which I came tantalisingly close to the target I set myself towards the end of last year: I did 5 sets of 3 minutes at 19,8 kph - very nearly 20 kph! But the hardest workout was undoubtably the sub 36 minute 10K (remember my best time is only 35:48) on the treadmill with an incline of 3%! For future reference I should probably schedule this with a bit more recovery time before the race or at least have done a bit more hill work - my calf muscles are still complaining as I write this 3 days afterwards...
The final quality workout was a classic fartlek of 3 sets getting progressively slower. I like this workout because the fast running forces you to run as efficiently as possible and this, I believe, carries over to the "slower" running - which is still close to my race pace. It also simulates how running at that pace will feel towards the end of the race, running on tired legs. Lastly, there is a mental game where it the pace initially feels unsustainable even though. intellectually, you know it shouldn't be a problem. In short, it delivers different benefits from the typical progression run from slow to fast.
To round off the week, I set my iFit treadmill up to simulate the course of the Bupa London 10,000 with "hills" and everything. Apart from the fact I had to reload the webpage a couple of times mid-run and the annoying feature of my treadmill reducing the velocity on the downward inclines, it was a great way to familiarise myself with the course and the time went by surprisingly quickly.
Monday: -
Tuesday: 5 x (3' @ 3:02, 3' @ 6:00)
Wednesday: 40' @ 4:00
Thursday: 10K in 35:58 w/ 3% incline
Friday: -
Saturday: 30' @ 4:27 (morning), 3 x 200-600-1,000 w/ 200 @ 3:00, 600 @ 3:10, 1,000 @ 3:40 and 3' rest between sets (evening)
Sunday: 10K run over Bupa London 10,000 course
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