Oh my word. Going fast is sooo hard! I ran over 7k yesterday (thought I’d mention that again 😉) so today was a rest day; but again, I had access to an athletics track for an hour...
So I thought... how fast can I run? I nearly broke myself last week doing a 5’13” kilometre. It wasn’t fun. Jell6 how do you run so fast over distance?!!! Tell me your secret! I thought this week I’d walk briskly for a km, then run 1k in 4 lots of 250m, taking 30 seconds to recover between each.
Do you know, 250m is still a long way?! Oh my word. My fastest pace was 3’29”; average pace was 4’35” over the four sections. All achieved with a level of nausea. I thought I’d cool down with a slow km run but clearly lost all sense of pace and ran about 400m at 5’56” before walking the rest of the way.
My heart rate wasn’t as high as when I run the long runs. Perhaps it was too shocked at what was going on to keep up! And the Garmin loves the fast work; my VO2 max score pinged up a place to 40! Whoop whoop!
I keep reading stuff about how you need to train for speed; it doesn’t just increase naturally as you run more. There is a lot of stuff about 80% of your running being at a slow pace... but then there is stuff about training at the pace you want to run. I guess I am still seduced by the sub-30 5k and part of my reluctance to do a Parkrun is because... secretly... I’d like to run it in 30... and comfortably! I don’t ask for much... 🙄
Actually, you know the lady who I got chatting to at athletics club, who started running again? I saw her at Junior Parkrun at the weekend and we swapped numbers tonight with the aim of doing a Parkrun together... she says she runs at about 35 so it could be a really nice way to let go the speed ambitions and just take the plunge. What do you reckon?
Looking forward to a proper rest now.
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ktsok
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Take the plunge ktsok, there’s nothing like it. You will be recorded as a first timer, giving you a time to beat next time. My target is always to get a minute faster so I enjoy every PB even if it knocks off a few seconds .
I am very impressed but this is all way beyond my current capabilities and plans! 😄 I have just completed my first 5k so I am really pleased with that! I am sure others will have lots of sound advice. Incidentally how are you getting on with your Garmin - would you recommend it? I am toying with getting some technology and was first thinking of a Fitbit but now wonder if a watch with gps would be better. The reviews are always generally favourable but then you always get some really negative ones (don’t buy this!!) which are always very offputting ☹️.
So I had a Fitbit Charge 2. The Ionic is much higher spec I think. The Charge 2 was good - it was because of it I started running, realising how sedentary I was during the week. It has a run function and can show pace, distance, time - but the screen is very small and what with bobbing about, sweating and deteriorating eyesight it was too much faff to read. Your phone acts as the GPS... I used Nike Run Club and it is good - I still use it for the podcasts.
The Garmin FR235 has replaced the Fitbit. I thought I would use it just for running because it is massive! But actually, it feels more comfortable to wear than the Fitbit. I bought a glass screen protector for a few quid for it and I’m so glad I did - I have banged it a couple of times already.
I like it a lot. I have a little running pack and still carry my phone in it for music/podcasts/photos/emergencies, but I don’t need to faff around with it anymore. The watch tells me everything. You can set a time, distance, heart zone alerts... at a glance see pace, distance, heart rate... my one annoyance so far is that I cannot reset the parameters of the graphs on the Garmin Connect app. The scales are too large to be of practical use.
At the Junior Parkrun I just pressed the big red button at the start and pressed it at the finish. Hey presto. Save data and it’s on your phone waiting for analysis 🙂
So much more runner user friendly than the Charge 2. I feel a bit more in control. Unfortunately it doesn’t make your runs any easier/faster 🙂
Oh yes! Garmin Connect IQ is a big store with lots of free watch faces, widgets and apps that you can download onto the phone and customise to your hearts content. Quite fun!
I'm already looking forward to reading about your first Parkrun! Personally, I like to know my time for a Parkrun (I've only taken part in two so far) so I would choose to run my easy pace runs with other folk, but Parkruns on my "own", (with the 500+ others of course! I only plan on running about 4 per year and like Dexy, all PBs welcome!
It’s that ‘official’ time, brings out the competitors in us! I have never run with another person... I kind of like being on my own (means you don’t have to waste precious oxygen talking!)... plus you can just run at what feels comfortable in that moment. Ah well. At least a PB is guaranteed the first time, right?! 😉
That's true! I have only run with a friend once so far. She lives 170 miles away, so we don't see one another very much. She is a serious runner and we have been friends for over 40 years! She is 64 has now run for 10 years, I've not made 1 year yet. So we ran at my pace and both found it great fun! Much chatting took place! Happy running to you! 😊
That sounds lovely! What a fantastic thing to be able to share after all those years... my climbing partner is also my very good friend. Such happy times sharing company and a pastime we love. Aren’t we lucky? 🙂
It was very special! The word surreal came to both of our minds. She has recently run a 10 miler i.e. 16km and time was 1 hour 29:16, which means she runs at 5ks of 27mins 50 for the whole 10 miles!!!!! (Assuming I have done my sums right) Yikes and double yikes! You can see why we ran at my pace!
That’s so... fast. 😳 You are amazing and my hero 🦸♀️
PS. Yes, I am competitive. But I don’t have the tools to be competitive in this particular activity. Which is frustrating... I am trying to cultivate my inner happy and meditative snail, but really, I want to rip off my clothes, revealing the superhero lycra beneath and whizz off. But I can’t!
Massive kudos to you for your speedy fartleks ktsok. Those are speeds I could never attain for more than a few seconds. 👏👏👏
Enjoy parkrun with your new running buddy. You might surprise yourself when it comes to talking - I did a few weekends ago when a lady wanted her dog to run with mine and I dreaded having to talk to her. Well go figure I got a PB! Enjoy yourself and tell us how it goes! 😀😀
Thanks cheeky. It was hard work! Speed + distance = red faced exhaustion. Well done on your PB! Maybe you could train your dog to ‘tow’ you a bit? That should shave off a few more seconds 😉
I’ve done 13 parkruns now since I graduated in July and have gone from 35 to 32 minutes. Still hoping for sub 30 one day! Tried Fartlek once and it nearly killed me - and my fastest pace was only 5:43 😢
Your pace was over a km though! The pace I went was over 250m at a time... I did a 5’13” km last week but it was done in isolation and I was good for nothing afterwards lol. Sub 30... wouldn’t it be great? 🙂
🏃♂️ 🏃♂️🏃♂️🏃♂️🏃♂️🏃♂️🏃♂️🏃♂️🏃♂️🏃♂️🏃♂️🏃♂️🏃♂️🏃♂️ Just passing through 🏃♂️🏃♂️🏃♂️🏃♂️🏃♂️🏃♂️🏃♂️🏃♂️🏃♂️🏃♂️🏃♂️🏃♂️🏃♂️Didn’t see anything about Speedy Gonzales-ism 🏃♂️🏃♂️🏃♂️🏃♂️🏃♂️🏃♂️🏃♂️🏃♂️🏃♂️🏃♂️🏃♂️🏃♂️🏃♂️🏃♂️🏃♂️ Minding my own business 🏃♂️🏃♂️🏃♂️🏃♂️🏃♂️🏃♂️🏃♂️🏃♂️🏃♂️🏃♂️ Look at me go! That’s a new PB! 🏃♂️🏃♂️🏃♂️🏃♂️🏃♂️🏃♂️🏃♂️🏃♂️🏃♂️
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Hard work Fartlek
Fabulous450 does Fartlet! 😱! It’s not a swear word, but it was close! 😂❤️
Best 5k time so far - and my own version of fartlek
First Fartlek - Done ✅ 
