Speedwork
My friend and fellow blogger Lynne from Beginners Run Marathons Too! sent me a link a while back about a speedwork program that they follow in Denmark called the 10-20-30 system. I've been doing this system for a couple of weeks now. Just for fun!
What is the 10-20-30 system? It's 30 second walk or jog, followed by a moderately paced 20 seconds run, and then a 10 second sprint. This is done five times. After a break, the process starts again for a total of two to five times for each training session. The workout is repeated two to three times a week. You can read more about it here. It's supposed to improve your time by one minute on a 5k. Oh, I'll tell you if it worked for me after my half marathon this coming weekend ;-)
Then, on Tuesday my running group decided to meet at the tracks. This was my first speedwork with a group. I always do it on my own. This was also my first visit to the tracks in many years. We were instructed to run just for 30 seconds at 95% of our capacity and then take it easy for another 30 seconds. We repeated this series at least 10 times. To be honest, I lost track of time and space that day ( no pund intended). Since my Garmin Forerunner 110 doesn't have an interval training feature and I was not wearing my heart monitor neither, I am also missing stats. The good news is that I was guided by two amazing coaches that knew what they were doing.
All I know is that I ran at least 4 miles that day ( 2 miles to warm up and 2 miles for recovering) and went to hell and back a dozen of times. :-) It was tough! I talked more about my experienced in my previous post I titled, "I speak Spanglish and I practice ROGA!".
Trails
On Saturday, we headed to Lake Hodges for an 11-mile trail run at 6:30am. This was my third trail run ever. I just completed my second trail run around San Elijo Lagoon the weekend before and fell madly in love. It was 37 degree Farenheit or 3 degree Celsius . It was way too cold for this Bikram Yogini who usually loves to practice her asanas in a room at 105 degree F (42°C). However, the sun came out and the story changed as usual. It was HOT after 45 minutes. These trails are very close to my home. Ironically, I never ran there before. The lake is beautiful, but it's a little dangerous too. I don't think I'll be running at this location very often.
The terrain was different than the previous trails. No sand but lots of mud and horse caca! There was also a little creek. We were told to be careful as someone fell down last year. Also, the paths were wider but they were pretty wet from the rain.
After the 11-mile run, we had a seminar on running injuries. It was conducted by a chiropractor who runs his practice in Encinitas with his wife, a four time Kona Ironman Triathlete finisher. Very impressive! We learned about the importance of good hydration, consumption of electrolytes ( especially potassium, magnesium and sodium), the need for wearing the correct shoes, using the foam rolls, etc... It was informative.
Sunday Runday
Next day, I met Edward and Tessa at Lake Miramar. Edward is my old running buddy. We used to work together and run at lunch time. Then he changed jobs and started to become as a runner. He is now working on qualifying for the Boston Marathon. He just needs to shave a few minutes. I have no doubt he will be able to qualify this year. Tessa is a runner from Switzerland who I just met. She has a beautiful accent and smile just like me. ;-) We are both running RnR Edinburgh together on April 15th.
Lake Miramar is as flat as it can get. It's a 5-mile loop. I was thinking of running 6-8 miles, since I ran 11 miles the day before, but ended up running 10 miles. Yahooo, 2 long runs within 24 hours!
This is my weekly summary:
| Mon: | REST |
| Tue: | 4-miles + *Speedwork |
| Wed: | 90-min Bikram Yoga |
| Thu: | 4-miles run + 90-min Bikram Yoga |
| Fri: | 5.5-miles run |
| Sat: | 11-miles trail run |
| Sun: | 10-miles |
| Total: | at least 35.5 miles (55 km) and 2 BY classes |
Your training seems to be going really well!
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks for the mention :-) Glad to see your doing some of the 10-20-30 training.
I'm doing my own experiment with it too. Just over a weel ago I ran a 5k route as fast as I could. For the next month I'm doing the 10-20-30 training 2 or 3 times a week. Then when the month is up I'll run the same 5k route, at the same time of day, with the same weather conditions and see if I'm any faster :-)
You are more than welcome! I am having fun with the 10-20-30! I am going to start doing my speedwork with a monitor to track down differences in heart rate too. 46 days to go! Who is counting? :)
DeleteIt sounds like you had a great week. Good luck on your HM- I can't wait to hear about it and to see if the 10-20-30 second system works. If it can take 1 minute off of your 5K then it should take a couple of minutes off of your HM. Right? :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks Tasha! :Let's see if all this speed work pays off. It should take 4 minutes off BUT the race has a crazy hill at mile 8. Agghghg
DeleteHi there,
ReplyDeleteI´ve discovered your blog through your kind comment in RA´s blog. Y desde ya me hago seguidor. Animo con ese entrenamiento para Madrid. Es una maratón dura, la he corrido ya dos veces. Regards from Gran Canaria
Hola Gonzalo,
DeleteEres canarion? Yo soy chicharrera jajaja aunque vivo en los "estates" y escribo en inglish pitinglish pero bueno el resumen de la RnR Madrid lo hare en Spanglish. Vas a participar en la Mapoma este año? Es mi primera carrera en España.
Me gusta más la costa de San Diego del otro día que el lago, sinceramente.
ReplyDeleteLo del entrenamiento 10-20-30 parece de juguete. Existe un plan para empezar a correr que es muy razonable y consiste en correr 5 minutos, andar otros tantos y así incrementando paulatinamente el tiempo en carrera a medida que se hace menos caminando. En mi opinión para empezar lo único que exigiría es llevar un orden claro para tener claro si estás evolucionando bien, el tiempo que hagas da igual porque dependerá de cada uno. Lo importante es seguir un patrón y tener una experiencia gratificante aunque conlleve cierto grado de "sufrimiento".
El yoga como complemento de correr es una buena idea, cuidamos poco nuestra postura.
A mi los "trail runs" estos me parecen interesantes, los paisajes son bonitos, pero he llegado a la conclusión de que no es mi estilo. No me gusta mirar al suelo constantemente mientras corro. Y lo del 10-20-30 es simplemente un experimento. El verdadero "speedwork" realmente lo hago con mi club de atletismo. Ayer practicamos "ladder intervals" ( no se como le llaman a eso en España, intervalos piramidales?). Jo, casi me muero jajaja.
DeleteEn cuanto al Bikram Yoga, no es la típica clase que uno se imagina. Se practica en un cuarto a 42 grados Celsius y 40% de humedad. Es un verdadero ejercicio cardiovascular en el que quemas por lo menos 900 calorías por clase ( dependiendo de la edad, peso, etc ..). Es durilla. La mayoría de los estudiantes en mi estudio son tíos, ex-maratonistas por cierto.
Te envío un ancla del estudio en Madrid por si te pudiera interesar: http://bikramyoga.es/
Todo suma de cara a Madrid, que es una maratón exigente.. pero 55km esta bien para afrontarla si no se es muy exigente con el tiempo... si miras mucho el reloj yo aria algún km mas.
ReplyDeleteAl final descarto Madrid por motivos laborales, todo no puede ser, pues ya la he corrido y me gusta mucho.
Un besote desde esta tu Patria España
Que pena! No te vamos a conocer. No puede ser!
DeleteMenuda semana más variadita, con experimento incluído! Eso está bien, así los entrenamientos se hacen más amenos.
ReplyDeleteYo echo de menos un trail, a mí eso de ir mirando el suelo y saltando piedras me encanta, pero por ahora lo he dejado, que en el recorrido de la Rock'n'Roll Madrid me han dicho que no hay piedras,jeje
Un saludo
jajaja
Delete