” Training is different from just plain running. It’s the difference between tossing the football around every other day and trying out for the team.”                                             My friend, the legendary Mark Bloom, The Runner’s Bible

May 11 – 16

I decided to create a more structured training plan to prepare for running a fast 800m on June 12th, if in fact the race does occur.  Running 3:22 last week with a very controlled effort has increased my confidence and motivation to run even faster.  Most of my training over these past years has been quite random based almost wholly on my daily assessment of how I felt. The plan consists of a little less straight distance running and a little more 800m focused stuff.   It consists of a 6 day cycle that includes some of my favorite workouts. That allows for five cycles to end on June 9th, three days before the scheduled race.  This post logs the results of the first cycle.

May 11, Tuesday –  This was the long day of the cycle. I completed 4.5 miles in two 30 minute runs, one on the road and one on the TSP trails.

May 12, Wednesday – This was tempo day.  The goal was to run as many 400m @ 8:40  pace as possible. (2:10)   After running a 1:59 and a 2:04 with minimal effort I concluded that this pace was not very effective. The next two were 600m both in 3:16.  I concluded with a 400m in 2:05 and a final 800m in 4:05.  (3200m in all)   It felt like a very positive workout on the cinders.

May 13, Thursday –  Today was a scheduled recovery day. So I did a lot of walking and a lot of stretching. It felt pretty good to take a non-running day because it was scheduled and not because I was being a weenie.

May 14,  Friday – Today called for a My Modifed Fartlek.  (JOG 30, RUN 30, WALK 30)  Got in 20 x 30 second SS in 3 miles on the cinders

May 15,  Saturday –  At Turkey Swamp Park I did a workout called Crank and Cruise that I found on the internet.  I have tried it once before.  It is a pretty good day’s work on a day when you want to limit foot strikes.  It’s a structured 12 minute run plus four times 100-meter strides.  The structure of the 12-minute run is as follows; 30 seconds @ mile goal pace (below 7:00) followed by three and a half minutes @ 5K pace (below 9:00)- repeat 3 times without stopping.  It is intense, and it raises the heart rate. That covered 1.29 miles in 12 minutes which averages out to  9:19 pace.   Slightly slower than goal, but not bad.  The Crank was on target, but the Cruise did not hold pace. Will have to get it next cycle.

May 16, Sunday-  A speed day. This final day of first cycle I wanted to run some fast 100m straightaways. I ran a comfortable 2.5 mile warm up, put on my spikes and busted 8 straits on the grass @ between 20 and 22 seconds per 100m. Cycle #1 complete in satisfactory fashion.    Tomorrow begins cycle 2 with a recovery day.

Stats are solid.

Sleep = 8 to 10 hours daily

Weight between 143 and 145lb

Resting heart rate staying in low 50s

Diet is excellent sin bounties of vegies and fruit.  Limiting red meats.

No issues with feet or legs.  🙂