Monday, August 8, 2011

I am humbled to say...

WOW! Holy RLRF! This is going to be no joke. Like seriously no joke...I am not prepared for what is the Run Less, Run Faster plan. Tonight it put me in my place.

After a lot of hard work I got my plan made and I am sticking to it....hard or not it is what it is and I am doing it.

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I decided to do tomorrow's workout tonight since I have a 12:10 AM date at the airport to pick up my boys. Yay! I knew getting up at 5 AM would be hard to put it nicely. Why self-sabatoage? I had the evening and needed to get my workout in. Too bad I had to leave work a little later than anticipated and couldn't make it to the 7 PM yoga so run only it was. I decided to head to the Recreation Center that has a small, and I mean small fitness room. But hey, two treadmills and two elliptical and some weights and other things is pretty good for a FREE community center. It is literally 6 minutes from my house! Score!

I am not sure what time they open but they close at 9 PM. Getting there in the AM and back home to shower for work mostly likely will not happen, let's be honest. But I guess I could become an evening runner...GASP! Tonights killer workout lasted one hour from the beginning of the warm up to the end of the cool down. I am sure, positive actually, that they will get longer as I progress through the plan. But for now an hour it is.

My workout tonight was:

10 min warm up/10 min cool down

1200 m done in 5:39

1000 done in 4:40

800 m done in 3:42

600 m done in 2:48

400 m done in 1:49

200 m done in :50

...All these with 200 m recovery between.

Anyone have any guess as to the problem I had when I arrived with this, written on a Post-It note, and jumped on the treadmill?

Uhhhhh.....how the heck to I convert all this to miles and mph or pace per mile or min/mile pace? Deer in the headlights...total Duh moment as I stood there and stared at it. Shoot. I texted Jess-Blonde Ponytail, she is a veteran of the RLRF plan since she used it for her last marathon. She emailed me a table which was very, very helpful....now that I am at home with my computer.

So there I was, standing on the treadmill. I decided that I could figure out the distance by gauging it with the visual guy that runs around the track. I have enough track experience that I know a 1000 m is 2 laps around a track plus a 200 yards, which puts me halfway around the track. ugh, so this was not only a physical workout but my brain was smoking by the end.

I used the lap option my iPhone to time each interval, and the treadmill to measure distance and pace. It worked out ok but I need a better system. It worked out that I ran each interval a little bit faster than the previous. the 1200m was done at approximately a 7:15 min/mile pace, 1000 @ 7:10, 800 @ 7:05, 600 @ 6:52, 400 @ 6:32, and the 200 I did way to fast (but hey, this was one of my races in High School and when I dabbled in track in college, I was a short distance sprinter).

I recovered each time with 200 m very, very slow. It was hot even inside with the fan blowing right on me. I was sweating up a storm.

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I also did the entire workout in my new NB w10s except for the last 200 m and the cool down! I loved them! I felt no pain or weirdness throughout! In fact, it was weird when I put my Sauconys back on. I am excited to be making this transition! I may even race in them on Saturday when I do my next sprint tri.

Man, my legs look weird and swollen. Maybe it is is my weird ankle socks?

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Well I am off to the airport soon to pick up my boys! It has been way too quite around here!!

How was your workout? Anyone do any crazy speed work??

20 comments:

  1. yes....RLRF is tough! I am almost done with my first cycle (training for a HM) and will be using it again for a full in December. Every run is challenging, jsut some more than others. Looking forward to hearing more about how it goes for you. The website that converts the goal time to paces helps a ton!!

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  2. Oh man!! What web site??? I need to find this!!

    Great job with the HM training!!! How have you liked it so far?

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  3. Good speed workout!! I thinking will be doing that speed workout tomorrow!! Hope it goes as well as it did for you!!

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  4. I always put off doing speed work! It scares me. I am really interested in the RLRF plan though. I am curious to see how it improves your running so keep us updated! Good job running! I just did an easy 3 mile run followed by a lazy hour on the elliptical :)

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  5. I am positively scared now. I just finished reading RLRF and spent my lunch hour doing the conversions for pace on the Run #1. I'm racing quite a few times in the next 6 weeks and plan on "officially" starting after that. I look forward to hearing about how you like the plan!

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  6. This is a good one as it includes the incline setting as well:
    http://www.hillrunner.com/training/tmillchart.php

    We start serious speed work in 3 weeks...I am already a bit scared..

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  7. I had to read the end paragraph like 4 times trying to figure out why you had two different shoes on... ha! I am really interested in the RLRF movement but I am petrified to take it on. Perhaps after my marathon!!

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  8. So is the main theme of this training speed over mileage? Great run and on the treadmill. This gave me hope that I will be able to do my hill repeats tonight on the treadmill, don't really feel like running outside when it's 100..

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  9. It's a pain converting those interval times & distances, but clearly you worked it out! Nice job, girlie!!!

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  10. Spike's got the book and I've been reading it here and there, it's def no joke! Good luck girl!

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  11. I do speed workouts on TUesdays and then tempo runs on Thursdays. Love them! I hope it pays off.

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  12. I usually rest the treadmill after each distance. Just makes it easier for me to check off each run. My treadmill also does pace, so I just adjust the speed unitl I hit the target I am going for.

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  13. http://runlessrunfaster.com/Track-Workout-Paces.aspx

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  14. Ha, I remember STUDYING the Run Less Run Faster book like I was back in college or something. But the plan is great, work it ALL and you WILL get faster. Don't forget the cross-train!

    Here's a treadmill chart I found helpful as well...
    http://www.hillrunner.com/training/tmillchart.php

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  15. Wow! I remember that being one of the toughest speed workouts from RLRF but for some reason I thought it was much later in the training. Great paces!! Good luck!

    P.S. Try the pace calculator on www.coolrunning.com

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  16. I did 6 Yasso 800's today. I can't imagine doing your workout on a treadmill. You certainly have more will-power than I. Way to go!

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  17. RLRF is like porn. Seriously. I read it, and I look at it. But only in private, because it makes me feel inadequate.

    Wow. My first time reading your blog, and already I am setting the bookmarks. You rock!

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  18. It totally appears diff to understand, but the workouts speak for themselves! I believe in esp after this summer of running too much for me and hurting my feet!!

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  19. Wow, that is some seriously awesome speedwork! I'm trying to incorporate more into my own workouts. Sometimes (and this is super geeky), I actually make myself to math problems in my head as I run - usually stuff pertaining to my pace/when I'd finish etc...only because my brain has to focus SO hard to do math that it always makes me forget about being tired or ready to quit running!

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  20. Wow! Someone would have had to pick me up off the floor! I hate the treadmill, but it is the easiest to do speed work... so does your treadmill tell you pace??? Mine does speed and I have to do the math and put that into pace - is there an easier way???

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You're pretty much awesome!!

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