Earlier this week I caught up with a friend over lunch and covered a number of subjects including running. This friend is an accomplished runner and one of my best sources of information about training. He's also an accomplished writer and poet and, as a top executive at Rodale, he helped bring Runner's World to that publisher.
We talked about my upcoming race and he reinforced the need the work on intensity running to help prepare for competition. He was gracious enough to send me a summary of his points. He reinforced the reason why speed training is important by closing with "What’s the good of this if you can’t show someone your heels?" That's the positive side of the argument for participating in races.
I ran two strong miles this morning and incorporated speed intervals into the run. I maintained a 9:20 pace for the first .75 mile then accelerated to an 8:06 pace for 90 seconds and then dialed down (I was on the treadmill) to 9:05. I folded in a couple more 90 second speed bumps before completing two miles. I haven't yet calculated the overall pace but I expect it was close to 8:55. Tomorrow I'll do more of this on the track. If I can beat a 9:30 pace for 4 miles I'll be pleased. If I can beat 9:00 I'll be proud.
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I'm totally impressed....you're going to really do well running that race - I bet you surprise yourself! I'm still on the "under two miles" program, so run a fast mile for me this week! :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the vote of confidence. I think there is something to pushing it a little every week. Not too much but enough to make gains and hold them. I know you're under two miles right now but you've done longer distances and races and will do them again. I'll bet you'll be up to 4 mile runs by mid March.
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