Goal: First Marathon (Sundown Singapore 25 March 2017)
Long Easy Run for 1:50hrs
My training buddy and I agreed to move this run to Friday so that we could do this session together, but that meant he would go straight from a zero degree climate, into a 17hour flight, and then straight into running in 30degrees heat (and humidity). Great if you want to sleep well that night, but in hindsight, probably not the best idea for a 2:30hrs non-stop running session. We ran a slower overall pace of 6:17min/km along the river towards the Kallang stadium, and after 1:50hrs (17.60kms) we ended up at the start of East Coast Park near Fort road. My training buddy was in good spirits, but 10mins prior to finishing the long easy jog, I felt my energy drain quite suddenly. I quickly took an energy gel (26g) to try and recover and complete the session without "hitting the wall". At this point, I was a little worried about having enough energy to finish, but I stayed positive and said to myself, "it's only 30mins of hard work left".
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| On route to the Kallang Stadium |
My training buddy started like a rabbit out of the gate, and I was easily 10metres behind by the first few hundred metres. The sugars in the gel hadn't quite had time to absorb so I was trying to hang on with everything I had. Unfortunately, his shoelaces came undone in the second kilometre which upset our MP rhythm a little, and as a result we had a split of 4:20min/km during that kilometre. We recovered to marathon pace, and by this time I felt the sugars kick in, so I was feeling a whole lot better. But then around the 3.5km mark, I heard my mate yell out, "go, keep going" as he was fading and couldn't hold the pace any longer. It was disheartening to know we wouldn't finish together, but I knew he was suffering the effects of a long flight (dehydration, and lack of sleep) and also the sudden weather change. I charged ahead and just kept counting down the kilometres until it was over. I was just trying to hang on, as my legs were definitely feeling very heavy.
During the 8.0km run:
Average Heart Rate: 158bpm
During the 8.0km run:
Average Heart Rate: 158bpm
Max Heart Rate: 173bpm
Cadence: 187
Cadence: 187
Session Analysis / Review:
The bad news is that this session was really hard on the legs. The extra 10mins in the easy long jog with the extra mile at marathon pace really hurt the legs, and was tough to get them going initially, and to finish strong with them. The good news is that the average and max heart rate data are identical to last week's session even though the session is a mile longer. I've also noticed an increase in my cadence during marathon goal pace runs. Combining this with heart rate data, this leads me to the following conclusion: whilst maintaining marathon pace, I'm able to save my legs from striding out to far (reducing muscle fatigue and injuries), at no cost to my cardiovascular system (heart / lungs engine). In a concise summary, I'm getting more efficient.
Success Criteria Checkpoints: 15 / 42 sessions completed ( 36% )
1. Did I hold the pace over the prescribed distance: Yes I think so, if I take away the time that was lost slowing down for u-turns (going back in the direction of my training buddy so we could head home together) and his shoelace incident. The overall pace of 4:12min/km is close though. I'm also glad that next week's session will be at the maximum mileage at 9.7km at marathon pace (for these long run + MP run sessions) as I feel I'm very close to my limit in terms of muscular endurance in the legs.
2. Did my heart rate stay in Zone 3: No, but this is the second session where I've started to see a decrease in percentage time spent in Zone 4. This week, it's dropped 4% from Zone 4. This along with the increase cadence is something positive I can take away from this tough session.
3. How well am I recovering: A little sore in the glutes (butt), hamstrings, and calves. Will need to manage this carefully as I only have one day rest before the next session.
Success Criteria Checkpoints: 15 / 42 sessions completed ( 36% )
1. Did I hold the pace over the prescribed distance: Yes I think so, if I take away the time that was lost slowing down for u-turns (going back in the direction of my training buddy so we could head home together) and his shoelace incident. The overall pace of 4:12min/km is close though. I'm also glad that next week's session will be at the maximum mileage at 9.7km at marathon pace (for these long run + MP run sessions) as I feel I'm very close to my limit in terms of muscular endurance in the legs.
2. Did my heart rate stay in Zone 3: No, but this is the second session where I've started to see a decrease in percentage time spent in Zone 4. This week, it's dropped 4% from Zone 4. This along with the increase cadence is something positive I can take away from this tough session.
3. How well am I recovering: A little sore in the glutes (butt), hamstrings, and calves. Will need to manage this carefully as I only have one day rest before the next session.
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