Running Update

Quick update on how the running is going this week. I recovered well from Saturday’s 20k and ran a really enjoyable seven mile progressive run on Sunday where each mile was slightly quicker than the previous one:

7:36, 7:07, 6:54, 6:49, 6:42, 6:41 and 6:32

My heart rate maxed out at 160bpm which is quite reassuring for this type of workout, with an average of just 145bpm. The chart below shows my heart rate steadily climbing….

Heart Rate

Monday was just an easy, early morning recovery run before work – 4 miles in just over 31 minutes. Easy runs are about all I can manage at 5:30am but I must admit, they’re a great start to the day!

Last night I did my favorite treadmill workout – the 10k Strength Builder – and it’s reassuring to notice I’m doing the same intervals at a lower average and max heart rate than I was several weeks ago. I guess my body is adapting to the stresses of the workout.

Now we’re almost halfway through the week and I’m already looking forward to the Mud In Your Eye 5k XC (cross country) race on Saturday morning. The venue is the same as the New Years Day Hair of the Dog 5kMount Trashmore in Virginia Beach – but this time we’ll be running up and down the slopes of the public park which was created by compacting layers of solid waste and clean soil. It’s actually more pleasant than it sounds!

2009 will be my fifth consecutive Mud In Your Eye Series (3 cross country races at different venues over 5k, 6k and 8k distances) and my previous 5k times are as follows:

2005 – 19:39
2006 – 20:07
2007 – 18:38
2008 – 19:10

If you’re a regular reader you’ll notice my 5k cross country times are definitely slower than my 5k road times (usually about 60 seconds slower on this course). With all the rain we’re having this week the course could be a real bog and the slopes quite difficult to negotiate. Should be a fun and challenging race and a rare chance to wear cross country spikes!

Feel free to leave a race time prediction in the comments box below. No prizes this week but I always enjoy hearing what you think I’m capable of running! Hope everyone is having a great 2009….

5 thoughts on “Running Update”

  1. Hi Steve

    Just read your race report on the 20k and you are definitely on a roll. It sounds like it was a pretty challenging course and you pretty much tore it up.

    I have been catching up with the blog and thinking about what I need to do to get better in ’09. I think it really comes down to the speedwork and doing some shorter, faster races. I still love the marathon and am tenatively planning on doing 5 this year, but I think I can learn a lot from the way you train and your racing schedule. Hope you don’t mind, but I really do read all your stuff from a protege/mentor sort of standpoint. You are the runner that I would like to become although I don’t know if I have the kind of talent that would allow that to happen. But I do have the willingness to work hard and endure the discomfort that is necessary during those really hard workouts.

    All the best in ’09 and I am really looking forward to that sub 2:50 marathon which will probably just be a precursor to the sub 2:45 you will eventually get!

    Reply

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