speed? you have to be kidding!

[vixiej]

I thought I'd have my second attempt at the speed podcast today. Not really a problem, except that by the time I was ready to go out my first banana had worn off and so I had another, just to be sure I wouldn't flag half way through. Not ideal, too heavy, too close to a run, shan't do that again! I found it really hard today. Firstly, running at 150bmp is painfully slow and just feels so unnatural. That said, I was quite grateful to do so for a minute after doing the first 165bpm minute!

I ran round and round the park, the grass was very soggy and somewhat slippery and I was joined by the occasional dog, which does sometimes put me off my stride (I make the effort to say hello to them all, so that they will hopefully be 'runner friendly' with others). By the end of it, I thought I was going to die. Actually, half way through I thought that I was going to die, I certainly thought that I wouldn't be able to complete it today. But then a little nagging voice reminded me how crap I'd feel if I gave up, and gave me a proper mental kick up the backside. I did manage to stretch out more on the final 10 seconds of the last interval, but I confess that if Laura had really been there with me I may have slapped her face or strangled her when she told me to 'stay upright, shoulders relaxed, head up and really go for it' - I was bloody going for it, as well as my hungover, banana-overdosed, lack of sleep body could manage.

It is funny how you just have the odd rubbish run. Now I've had time to reflect, I think it's just that I have been running for 30 minutes quite comortably (faster average than I did today) and so it feels strange to go out and struggle again. But that is the point of the podcast, it is a challenge and it's one I'll overcome with practice. I think perhaps my little green badge went to my head a bit, the speed podcast was certainly a little wake up for me

Good news is that it was my planned w1r1 of my hybrid training for 10K, so new goal in focus (as well as getting 5K down under 30 minutes in the coming weeks and doing a parkrun), here we go again!!

[pingle Graduate]

I too fell in to the trap of thinking that because it was shorter, Speed would be easier. Not so my friend - it's a b***er! It was strange to rediscover the minute that went on for hours just like in week 1!

However after the initial shock I found I really enjoyed doing intervals again and nowadays I sometimes tack on a few at the end of a longer run just for the joy of running fast (relatively! ;-)) What I mostly do is to ignore Laura counting off the beat and just run at my normal pace and then as fast as I can manage. I've even revisited week 2 and tried to do jogging/running rather than walking/jogging. I think this might be a really good way of upping my (very slow) speed but I'm not quite focussed enough to do the whole thing again only faster, tho I don't rule it out in the new year once the evenings get a bit lighter

Good luck with the 10k training and all your new challenges!

[vixiej Graduate in reply to pingle]

Thanks! Likewise I thought about using the original podcast series as interval speed training, great minds think alike I think that might be more enjoyable, but I'm going to do a few weeks of this one, it's only once a week, so not really a problem in the scheme of things.

[virtualrunner Graduate]

I did stepping stones for first time today - and thought 155bpm was too fast and I was definitely going to throw up - which havent felt like since about week4!! So am in awe! However after reading your blog feeling very motivated to get out there again and keep going - think it is the mental picture of being able to give Laura a slap when she says something "motivational" LOL Thanks for blogging!

[vixiej Graduate in reply to virtualrunner]

glad to help, I think Laura will be getting loads of virtual slaps, we're not the only ones, I'm sure

Good luck with it, we can do it!

[Pearsey]

Speed is a teaching/learning pod-so don't play around with Laura's beats, as you are defeating the object of the exercise-which is discipline in your running. Good that you managed it all in the end vixiej. I love the speed interval pod-the thinking is what I need. The reason it is short is because it is intense and shouldn't be done more than once a week, so I have been told.

The real bummer out of the three sets is stamina-now that is grueling! I got rushed by a dog in the last set and injured my knee, so out of action 3 weeks now. Not a happy bunny, but I shall think twice before tackling stamina again.

Good luck with the pods.

Keep on Running

Colette x

[sfb350 Graduate in reply to Pearsey]

Agreed re the intensity of the interval training - most places I've read about it say it shouldn't be done too frequently because of the extra stresses on your body. Your next run should be more of a "recovery" run.

It's definitely the way to improve your running though so all that effort will pay off

[Oldgirl Graduate]

I love the Speed workout too. I can't wait to get back to it now that I'm running again. I found that after doing Speed for about twice a week over 3 weeks I lost more weight too. I also now do a similar workout at the pool with swimming, I love that and get a huge amount of satisfaction after finishing both the running and/or swimming.

[vixiej Graduate in reply to Oldgirl]

I'll have to try that, although I'm not a keen swimmer. When I was doing Zumba and ladies squash training (not on the same day!) I always had a little swim after, but my boredom threshold is about 10 lengths (also, our pool is very warm!). I might try interval laps, as that gives me a bit of focus to actually do it, great idea, thanks!