So I thought it best to leave it a couple of weeks before my next update. The weekly trudge was getting dull.
Things have been going well, but still lots to learn. Weeks 5 and 6 were supposed to look like this:
However, because I transferred all these sessions to my handwritten notebook (incorrectly!) several weeks ago, last week I started out and did the first two sessions of week 6 instead of week 5! I did these on Monday and Friday, and perhaps because I jumped ahead a week in the programme, or perhaps the change to a 5 x 5 protocol in the gym which I did on Tuesday and Thursday - by Saturday I was wiped, and I couldn't bring myself to doing the 5km 'hard' session.
I took a day of rest and went to run for 3 hours on the sunday (it was pre-organised and after a day rest I felt good) but by Monday I was starting to feel it. By this point I still hadn't noticed that I was performing the wrong sessions, so went ahead with the 10 x 600m of week seven. Gym on Tuesday and put the missed 5km 'hard' session in on Wednesday. I wanted to do this session as the longer stuff seems an integral feature to the programme. However, I set out to do this on 1.54, and in my rather fatigued state, it was 'v.hard', as opposed to just 'hard'! I held the split and made the set in 19 mins dead (already 10 seconds off my baseline time), but come Thursday, I was exhausted. My 5 x 5 in the gym started BADLY, and I cut the session relatively short.
Lotte somehow managed to make it into work with my HR monitor and so the day after the 5km I had no Ithlete score which would have been interesting, but my restwise was telling me I was down to 60%. I took Friday and Saturday completely off as m Ithlete score was significantly down. But today it was back to normal I felt rested. I managed the 3 x 2km today, but to continue my catalogue of errors I did this with a 4 min rest interval not 3.
So lessons learned?
1) CHECK THE PLAN! I will do week 7 as intended, even though there will be some repetition. I have no intention of squeezing in the missed session now. Although I did think of doing 4 sessions this week (come on - we all know its wrong, but who doesnt think about getting that missed session in somehow!) Obviously it better to do the remaining ones correctly though, than compromise the general quality of the programme, so I'm glad I've come to my senses!
2) ENSURE THE QUALITY OF THE SESSIONS! This means, not doing the wrong amount of time for a rest interval, and not putting in too much intensity. The last two 3 x 2km sessions I have done have had a near maximal middle piece. This should be sub-maximal. I'm not doing myself any favours and just need to trust the programme. I've already taken 7 seconds off my 2km time from the session at the end of week 3, so the improvements are coming, I just need to hold it together. Likewise, the 5km session was too 'hard'. I will carefully evaluate the aims of each session, and enforce strict HR caps going forward if needs be!
So there we go. Still clocking along, despite a minor wobble in terms of consistency and execution. 6 weeks to go....its all downhill from here! :-)
Not sure where to take the next 3 weeks....I think I'll of for 1.51/500m, the 2 second jump between week 3 and 4 was hard work. If its too conservative, I can always go harder in week 8! However with the progressive nature of the 5 x 5, recovery is becoming the limiting factor. I have a feeling it will make or break how I get on from here on in!
Things have been going well, but still lots to learn. Weeks 5 and 6 were supposed to look like this:
However, because I transferred all these sessions to my handwritten notebook (incorrectly!) several weeks ago, last week I started out and did the first two sessions of week 6 instead of week 5! I did these on Monday and Friday, and perhaps because I jumped ahead a week in the programme, or perhaps the change to a 5 x 5 protocol in the gym which I did on Tuesday and Thursday - by Saturday I was wiped, and I couldn't bring myself to doing the 5km 'hard' session.
I took a day of rest and went to run for 3 hours on the sunday (it was pre-organised and after a day rest I felt good) but by Monday I was starting to feel it. By this point I still hadn't noticed that I was performing the wrong sessions, so went ahead with the 10 x 600m of week seven. Gym on Tuesday and put the missed 5km 'hard' session in on Wednesday. I wanted to do this session as the longer stuff seems an integral feature to the programme. However, I set out to do this on 1.54, and in my rather fatigued state, it was 'v.hard', as opposed to just 'hard'! I held the split and made the set in 19 mins dead (already 10 seconds off my baseline time), but come Thursday, I was exhausted. My 5 x 5 in the gym started BADLY, and I cut the session relatively short.
Lotte somehow managed to make it into work with my HR monitor and so the day after the 5km I had no Ithlete score which would have been interesting, but my restwise was telling me I was down to 60%. I took Friday and Saturday completely off as m Ithlete score was significantly down. But today it was back to normal I felt rested. I managed the 3 x 2km today, but to continue my catalogue of errors I did this with a 4 min rest interval not 3.
So lessons learned?
1) CHECK THE PLAN! I will do week 7 as intended, even though there will be some repetition. I have no intention of squeezing in the missed session now. Although I did think of doing 4 sessions this week (come on - we all know its wrong, but who doesnt think about getting that missed session in somehow!) Obviously it better to do the remaining ones correctly though, than compromise the general quality of the programme, so I'm glad I've come to my senses!
2) ENSURE THE QUALITY OF THE SESSIONS! This means, not doing the wrong amount of time for a rest interval, and not putting in too much intensity. The last two 3 x 2km sessions I have done have had a near maximal middle piece. This should be sub-maximal. I'm not doing myself any favours and just need to trust the programme. I've already taken 7 seconds off my 2km time from the session at the end of week 3, so the improvements are coming, I just need to hold it together. Likewise, the 5km session was too 'hard'. I will carefully evaluate the aims of each session, and enforce strict HR caps going forward if needs be!
So there we go. Still clocking along, despite a minor wobble in terms of consistency and execution. 6 weeks to go....its all downhill from here! :-)
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| Week 5 - 5 x 1km at 1.52/500 with 1 min rest |
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| Week 5 - 4 x 1550m at 1.52/500 with 4 min rest |
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| Week 6 - 10 x 600m at 1.52/500 with 1 min rest |
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| Week 6 - 5km on 1.54 - too 'hard' |
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| Week 6 - 3 x 2km - 4 min rest - 1st and 3rd on 1.59/500 and 2nd all out (7.02.9) |
Not sure where to take the next 3 weeks....I think I'll of for 1.51/500m, the 2 second jump between week 3 and 4 was hard work. If its too conservative, I can always go harder in week 8! However with the progressive nature of the 5 x 5, recovery is becoming the limiting factor. I have a feeling it will make or break how I get on from here on in!
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