January 7th, Thursday
Got in some pretty serious work today on the cinders which I will describe below. It was another one of those days where I had to dig deep to get myself out there. It was cold and breezy. I struggled through a 14 minute first mile bundled like I was in the Artic, barely moving. But, as usual, muscles began to loosen up as my frozen face began to thaw. So, I pushed on like a trooper and wound up running a solid 10,000m before the day was over.
Thea run evolved into a steady progression of My Modified Fartlek (MMF) program that I used a lot running on the beach during my trips to Florida. I should be in Florida right now! MMF consists of three stages of movement; walking, jogging and running. I will elucidate on my reasoning for this format below for anyone who would like to read it and to remind myself . The final five miles of MMF was completed in 57:33. Along the way I popped 35 speed segments. (SS) Twenty-four of them were the 30 second variety and eleven were of the 60-second variety. (60-30-30). All the speed segments were at between 6:30 and 7:30 per mile pace. The final two miles were pretty awesome. I was feeling no pain and running very quickly. The quality of this workout was a pleasant shock to me.
Stats-
Weight- 142lb
Sleep- 9 hours+
HR- 54 BPM. 150 BPM after workout
No foot or leg issues
MMF consists of a quick run for a specified period of time (ie. 30 seconds) followed by a steady walk for an equal period and a steady jog also for the same time. The run segment can be extended if you feel strong as I did in the final 11 runs today. This sequence I believe provides three positive outcomes;
1- An elevated heart rate can be maintained throughout.
2-The speed segments provide frequent opportunities for running at faster than race pace.
3 – The walking segments, while maintaining the elevated heart rate, reduce the total number of foot strikes by 1/3, a bonus for the mature runner.
The walk and jog segments seem to provide the psychological and physiological recovery to allow for a commitment to the speed segment which provides the major fitness benefit of the workout. It works for me.