Super Shoes - Saving the Legs

 I’ve mentioned the subject of the running shoe development over the last 5 years. The carbon plated ‘super shoes’ are a joy to run in for me. This year in particular, has been a revelation, mainly because I’ve stayed healthy. But I really have noticed that my legs are not totally wrecked after hard runs and races. 

I’ve fallen j on to using the 3 Nike models for training and racing: Tempo Next% for training fast sessions and track, Vaporflys for fast intervals and training races and the Alphaflys for pure racing. These shoes are nit cheap but just managed to bag a mega deal for a new pair of Alphafly:

Happy days and I look forward to trying these out. 

As for training this weekend the Parkrun session was tough but managed a low tempo Zwift session ok on Sunday. Today I wanted to have an easy day but also turn the legs over. So I unwrapped the treadmill and did some fast feet work. I enjoyed this different type of session and hopefully not too much fatigue building to enable me to bag a quality track session on Wednesday 

Key Run Session

 Today I completed my planned key run session that was integrated into The Wammy Parkrun. The session consisted of: Warm up and drills, 5k Parkrun as over 5k race effort/under 5k race effort, alternating 1k reps. Then finish with a 3k tempo run home. 

I wasn’t feeling fresh, following a busy work week and broken training routine. But I wanted a key session in the bag, if only to feel better mentally. The 5k over/under set went well I think. 

I would have liked the over reps to be closer to 3:30 pace but not to be today. I got held up as we approached the dead turn too. But the differential between effort levels worked out ok seeing as I did this on feel without clock watching. Plus I felt strong on the last 1k and recovered quickly to start the tempo 3k. 

This tempo effort felt ok and smooth. The New Balance Fuelcell Elite trainers felt good; maybe not as snappy as the Nike Alphafly or Vaporfly but a fun shoe to run in that doesn’t mash the legs up. 

The plan is for a L2 endurance ride tomorrow on Zwift as the weather looks pants again. I’d like to get a track session in on Wednesday too. 

Laters

Next Events

 So with the TT done and a decent run off the bike last Sunday I’ve had a strange week so far (Thursday today). I’ve been on the road a bit with work and this has meant limited training. However, I’ve felt pretty fatigued all week and what training I have done hasn’t felt great. I’m trying to plan the next few events and how to train up to the final race I have booked, which is the Knutsford 10k on 1 October 23. This is meant to be a fast course. It’s also a British Masters Age Group Qualifier. I’ve only gone and registered my interest 😱. My 37:31 clocking this year easily meets the time standard. All I need to do is finish top 3 in my age group. Trouble is, I’m in the top end of my age group 55-59. In fact I’m 59 next week. When I checked out others in my category I was seeing times clocked around 35-36 mins🤯. So if I bag too 3 it’ll be a miracle. 

Right, so what events are lined up:

Newcastle 10k.  10 Sep 23

Darley Moor Duathlon.  17 Sep 23

Knutsford 10k. 1 Oct 23

I guess there’s not much I can do apart from sharpen up as all these events are not far away. Mindful of feeling tired, I’m not aiming to go crazy this weekend.  So a full blown Parkrun effort isn’t a good idea. If I perform badly I’d feel down. So the plan this Saturday is:

Warm up run to Parkrun.

Drills

Parkrun as over/under 1k efforts aiming for 3:30, 4:00.  Tough ask but let’s see

Tempo run home

Report to follow!

J5/8 Open 25 Mile TT - Run 5k Acceleration off Bike

My last blog previewed my weekend bike/run key session; the main part being the 25 mile Open TT event on the J5/8 A50 course. The run planned was an acceleration 5k, increasing the speed every 1k. I’d hoped for a sub-hour TT and a sub 20 min 5k run but the key for the run was to be the acceleration aspect when fatigued. 

I must admit, I loved the travel to race vibe. It’s been a while since I’ve ridden a TT and although I’d tried to get mor bike intensity, I suspected I’d be left wanting and be quite slow. The course is fast - the A50 dual carriageway routes are generally fast but not without roundabouts and some drags that sap the legs. I had raised this course back in 2014 and clocked 56:33. Can’t believe that was 9 years ago. I was preparing for the Outlaw and actually going pretty well, if I remember. Plus I was slightly younger. 🥸

Anyway, the course is fast for the first 12 miles really. 

The profile explains why it is fast outwards towards the turn. As much as I tried to save a smidgen of power. Not sure if I did 😆. I actually surprised myself and managed to sustain a decent effort to clock 57:37 by my wahoo. The official clocking may be slightly different but I’m happy enough with this result. 

Onto the acceleration run. I selected 5k to give myself a decent distance to maintain my focus on speed. Don’t want to end up plodding. So happy with an overall time of 5k 19:49. But the important aspect was the increasing pace as the fatigue sets in. 

Overall, a good key session the bag. 3 weeks until the Newcastle 10k now. I may race a Parkrun 5k again on Saturday. Let’s see how the weeks goes with work and stuff. 

Laters

Open 25 Mile TT on Sunday 🚴

 It’s Friday and it’s been a strange kind of week regarding training and race focus. I completed the Sunday key session of high intensity bike followed by some tempo/ threshold sets running off the bike. But the weather turned and I decided to complete the bike set on Zwift. Not ideal as I wanted the TT bike road feel in the real world. As it was, I just didn’t feel great on the bike. My back had continued to irritate me after pulling it last Wednesday. Plus I just felt fatigued. But I ran an ok pace for 3 x 8 min around 3:58 per k pace but later in the day I was totally wiped. So this week has been a focus on recovering. I managed a leg spin up Zwift session with short 30 sec high intervals and longer recovery. Hopefully this will keep the legs tuned in. 

Ii was pleased to get out on the road to test out the TT bike on Wednesday too. I didn’t feel to bad but the focus was feeling good at speed on the road. I also tried out the TT overshoes for a marginal gain

So the weather looks ok for Sunday morning and I’m looking forward to a TT blast. No idea how I’ll go time-wise but really want to be sub-59 min.  The plan is to run off the bike with a progression run or 3 tempo/threshold efforts again. 

Then it’s just a few weeks until the KMF Newcastle 10k and the Darly Moor Aprint Duathlon. 

Laters

Consecutive Intense Sessions

So last session was all about a track session that went well, achieving a great pace - for me. It was a full bore effort though. The legs didn’t feel too bad the next day (yesterday), which meant I was set for a kitchen sink TT bike road session. The idea was to go with the flow with the effort and get used to actually moving at speed! Most of my training is now completed on the smart trainer with Zwift sessions. 

The session went well again and once warmed up I was throwing in some decent effort and getting used to the bike at speed too. 

Every time I ride the Canyon Speedmax I am reminded what a great bike this is. The position felt great. I’m hopeful of having a decent ride at the open 25 mile TT event on 20 August. Just hope the weather holds. 

That was yesterday. After 2 good days I’m now feeling totally wiped. A bad night’s sleep hasn’t helped and a pulled back a couple of days ago are adding to that feeling that I’ve been run over by a bus. Rest again tomorrow- well, an easy day with some training 😎. Aiming for another TT bike road ride followed by a threshold/tempo run off the bike. 

Tracktastic 🏃‍♂️😎

Hello everyone - me 🥸. Last night I attended the NTC track session of the classic 10 x 400m with 90 seconds RI. 

I had completed a couple of track sessions with Newcastle AC and another interval session on the road. So gradually, the speed conditioning seems to be kicking in. Add to this the 18:15 parkrun 5k effort and I’ve had a decent period of training. 

Even so, I didn’t expect the 400 reps last night to be quite so fast - I mean fast for an oldie like me🥸. First rep was 1:18 and I thought it was too fast as I do like to ease into these speed sessions. But I gradually realised that I could sustain this pace and event sneak some more speed in during the last 4 reps. 

 Wet happy with this session and makes me think a sub-18 min 5k may be possible. Time will tell but the last time I ran 400s at this pace was way back when I lived in Cambridgeshire training with St Ives AC. That must be 15 years ago! 

Onwards and upwards 

Weekly Bike Run Key Session

 Sundays are normally key bike/run sessions. With the 25 mile TT event on 20 August I wanted a full on TT bike session; the run off would be a less important part but still useful for my run ambitions. The weather prevented an outing for the Canyon Speedmax, which is a shame because I need to get some road time in the real world roads. As it was, I had to jump into a Zwift session. I chose a 50k race, which turned out to be perfect - absolutely brutal. This was by far the most intense bike session I’ve completed for a while. My legs were really mashed. This is good to hopefully gain some form on the bike. But not so great for the run off!

I thought I’d be unable to run actually. But I reduced the effort compared to recent weeks and did 3 x 6 min tempo/low threshold with 2 min RI. 

So a really good session all round today. My legs are still trashed. So aiming for recovery and a track session on Wednesday. 

Onwards and upwards 

Into August 🚴🏃‍♂️

 

A week on from the 5k blast and I’ve recovered quite well . Panic bike training for the 25 mile TT planned for 20 August commenced. I deceived to dust h the Manchester Airport Duathlon based on cost. Plus the fact that a local TT on the A50 was a big temptation. There are not that many events on the A50 now and I rode this course back in 2014 as Outlaw prep. I remember riding 20 miles to the event, clocking 56:30 for the 25 miles, then riding back the 20 miles. Got to love Ironman distance training. 

I won’t be as quick this time, that’s for sure! In fact I’m worried that I won’t break the hour. But I need to remain focused on the fact that I am Duathlon training. It will be a joy to ride the Canyon Speedmax in anger! 

The balance of training run and bike often messes with my head. After some good run sessions I fear the bike fitness reduces. So after a few good bike focused sessions I fear I’ve compromised my running. And so it goes on!

This week has been a good balance though - I think! I’ve completed some intensity in Zwift bike workouts by choosing short high power repeated efforts like 15 sec on, 15 sec off. 

I’ve maintaining my touching on speed methodology for running. Easy days are strides and steady runs are extended strides and drills. I missed track this week due to work. So I used a stretch of the Wammy to complete 2 x (5 x 400) with 90 seconds RI between reps. The aim was to run faster than 5k pace and I certainly did that. I maintained 3:20 pace which is around 1:20 for each 400m rep. This is good for me though I want it to flow more at this pace. It was forced a bit but then to condition the legs to run faster I guess you need to push - but relax too!

Into August, then.