Fartlek...Sort Of

I swapped today's and tomorrow's runs, figuring I should do the harder one today and space it further from the hill intervals, which are sure to be a lung buster and leg burner. 

Mike calls the run he assigned a "Fartlek" but it's tougher than that and more like an intervals session.  Today, my heart rate was getting pretty close to max and the ratio of high intensity to recovery intervals seems much higher than what I understand a Fartlek to be.

Whatever; it was a tough workout.  I did everything according to time and only paid attention to distances after the fact. 

I warmed up for 10 minutes at a steady 9:00 pace, which feels great.  My least favorite part of running is the warm up since ramping up the heart rate and rising body temp is uncomfortable, not to mention the period of time before the joints warm up and the kinks work their way out.  (The ability to warm up quickly is just one of the things I miss about being younger.) 

At the 10-minute mark, it began.  I increased pace to 5K level, and held that for 3 minutes.  Then throttled back down to the 9:00 pace for a one minute recovery.  I repeated that 4-minute cycle 5 more times, which is two more than I did about a week and a half ago.  Just adding those two extra sets was tough, and my HR was at 168 on the last one.  I don't quite get it because I ran a full 5K in 21 minutes just last week at that intensity (6:45) pace, but today, running it at 6x3 minutes, I only covered 2 2/3 miles for 18 minutes, and that was with a half a dozen minute slow downs. In fact, I had to walk for recovery after the last two repeats.  Maybe I was running faster than 6:45.  I don't know for sure.  Nike+ can't tell me since it's still too inaccurate. 

Whatever reason, I felt much more spent doing the 5K-paced intervals/Fartlek than I did doing a 5K itself. I was glad it was over, though I admit I must be a masochist because I relished the pain.  Maybe it's because I anticipate it improving my leg strength and lung capacity. 

I finished off with another 10 minutes of slow jog.  During the warm up, my HR was in the mid-120s, but during the cool down, 40 minutes later and post-intervals, it stabilized in mid to high 140s.  I felt energized when it was over. 

I am noticing a little stiffness tonight in my hamstrings and outside quads. Good to report that I'm still having no complaints with the calves, and I think the ankle is holding up nicely.  I think I'm in good shape right now.  It's critical at this point that I don't get over-eager and try to be lulled into a sense that I should increase more rapidly.  I admit, I am nervous about the number of weeks remaining getting smaller, but I must remain patient.
With the Tuesday/Wednesday switch, that would put the pace run to tomorrow and no-run on Thursday.  But I'm feeling a little strained and think it wouldn't be such a bad idea to cross train tomorrow and do the pace run on Thursday.  I'll think about that.  I was hoping to do Renee's spin class on Thursday for a no-run day, but VERT has preempted that option. 

I've also got to figure out when I'm going to work the legs with the weights.  Mike says best not to do it on days before the tougher key runs, which I can vouch for from recent experience.  But after a tough run like today, I'm not really in the mood, and I can't even imagine reversing the sequence on a day like today and lifting first.  If I wind up doing the pace run tomorrow, I work legs too so that I'll have a full 48 hours before doing the hills.

I do like the emphasis on speed and strength right now.  Soon, though, the focus will start to shift to stamina and mileage-building.  I'm going to need to start building my confidence that I can get back into the 18+ mile range again.  I haven't done that since the marathon.  Looking forward to the challenge, actually.