Something New and Different

After considering all of the advice that I got from Coolrunning and this blog relating to preparation for the SMH half, I've decided to base my program on Pat Carroll's program from the SMH half website.

The main reason for this is that it is different to any program I've used before, and I have to be honest with myself - I've really plateaued in the last couple of years, and it's time to try something very different.

The typical week on this program contains two hard sessions a week (speedwork/hillwork/time trials), an easy forty minute run and a long run. I'll probably add in a 5K recovery run on Mondays as I like to run five days a week, or alternatively I may start riding my bike one morning a week as cross training now that daylight savings is complete.

The warm up for the hard sessions are a 10-15 minute jog followed by 6 80m efforts.

Yesterday the hard session was a 3K Time Trial, so I ran to the 2K marker in the 5K course that the Summer Twilight Series used, and ran the 3K to the 5K point.

I've not run a 3K before, and I was on my own so I really had no idea what pace to go out at, other than the logical thought of a little bit quicker than 5K pace, so I thought 4:30 -4:40 Ks (my 5K PB is at 4:44 pace). I haven't analysed it yet, but it felt like I held the same pace for the whole run, and I ran it hard. The time was 13:33, so I'm calling that a 3K PB - and I'm happy with it.

Marlz is busy for the next couple of weeks, but I'm going to see if he'll mind trying to do one of the hard sessions with me on a Friday night. If he isn't keen I'll adapt the program around Friday nights.

The twins had an excursion to a gelato factory today - where was this when I was a child? I volunteered to be a parent supervisor, but apparently so did every other parent, step-parent, uncle, auntie, second-cousin and grand-parent with a child in the class, so they didn't take any of them. Oh well. At least I don't have to run it off.