‘fast run’ discoveries during intervals

[Equi-geek]

I’m alive! I had to remind myself of that in the final 5mins is tonight’s training which bought new levels of exhaustion but also awareness...

After the standard 5 min walk, the first 10 min jog went well - looking at my HR it didn’t even get up to normal workload levels until the end of the 10mins. Felt like we could go all day at that pace.

Then 2 mins ‘fast’, so went slightly faster than tempo and hung in there. But SO glad when the 2 mins was up! ‘Old lady shuffle’ for 2 mins gasping for air and trying to recover, ready for Fast Run No.2

Turn round - off we go again - 2 min fast run. During that 2 min I’ve made some really interesting observations. I had to remain conscious of the core muscles supporting my dodgy hip. Fatigue caused that body roll others have spoken about here, and it pulled on my hip joints. If I did a Pilates ‘zip up’ (ladies!) there was no pain. But the extra energy to maintain that stability caused me to fatigue more quickly. The second observation was swinging the arms more forward and back, rather than across the body. It helped with the fast run but also feels like a different core stability challenge.

2 mins ‘jog’ (ie old lady shuffle - OLS 🤭) Thank you!!! Couldn’t have gone on with ‘Fast’ any longer. My buddy says ‘we aren’t going to run much faster than this (OLS) for the last 8mins are we? Nope. Definitely not.

8mins ‘Steady Run’ - pick it up a tiny little bit faster than the OLS but nowhere near the ‘jog’ at the start! Had to keep working the core and stay stable. 3 mins down, I questioned my ability to keep going and did the usual check I learned on the C25k forum: legs working + no sharp pain + still breathing = keep going.

5min walk. Finally!!! Oh, thank the heavens! I was back to OLS pace so my buddy is still feeling fresh. She keeps going for another 3 mins but I am totally, completely, spent. Have to remind myself to keep up the brisk walk. I left it all on the road tonight - nothing left to give. But, by the time I am back at the yard, I’m feeling absolutely fine again.

So, we covered 4.9k in 36 mins of running and walking. Our fastest km, with the Fast/jog reps, was just under 7mins/km and I normally do just under 8mins at the OLS pace. I can easily see the two Fast runs my HR trace. The elevated HR data for the whole run back home confirms I couldn’t do any more.

I’m looking forward to a ‘nice’ long steady run this weekend 🤣🤣.

Happy running everyone!

[mountaindreamer Graduate10]

Good effort, Equi-geek! Sounds like a tough one. Well done! 😃🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️❤️

[Equi-geek Graduate10 in reply to mountaindreamer]

Thanks! Yes, we thought the Fast pace was a bit conservative until we had to keep going for 2 mins 🤣

[Ang33333]

Well done! I'm sure the fast bits are good for us......!!!! 🤣🤣

[Equi-geek Graduate10 in reply to Ang33333]

That’s what I’m told... yet to be convinced... 🤣

[pinkaardvark Graduate10]

Sounds like you did some good experimenting with your form. The one I have recently found that made me realize I wasn't getting it right was to focus on a distant point that ensured my gaze was level in order to stop me slowly dropping the head to look at the ground. I don't totally look at the ground but do veer that way with my gaze and increase that as I tire. So with combining the distant gaze together with the slight lean forward and I suddenly felt all the drive pickup in the legs, ie the spring forward become much more noticeable. Worth a try.

[Equi-geek Graduate10 in reply to pinkaardvark]

I can totally relate - if I stare at the floor it makes everything more difficult, so I do remind myself to look up, but not your focal point technique- yet! I’ll try it next time 🤗

I used to nag riders to pick a spot on the horizon when they were showjumping, it made all the difference to their balance!