I got an interesting email from RC. In a nutshell he shared his concern for my ultra training on a 5K training time budget (4 days a week). He is blown away at the fact I'm doing ultras without doing 40-60 miles in training runs a week. Well, I don't know how that works either but it does. I just use Galloways method of run/walk/run and I find the finish line and stay uninjured.
Anyway he gave me a homework assignement (time trial) for this week: (from his email)
time trial consists of:
1. 1 mi very easy warm-up followed by a few minutes of stretching
2. 3 x 1 mile Intervals at very fast but consistent pace. These are best done on a track, but can be done on a pancake flat road using your Garmin for distance measurement. Full rest in between each Interval. So you feel like you can do each at the same pace. Consistency is the key. I know you probably don't do much speedwork but this is real key.
3. 1 mi cool-down.
So I ran the warm up, did the miles at a hard pace and clocked the following: 8:59, 8:55, 9:02
Wow, I was expecting something in the 9:40-10:00 range. I can't even begin to tell you how stoked I was to see those numbers! That totally boosted my confidence.
BTW, I skipped the 1 mile cool down...it was already 10:15 PM and I was tired.
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follow up:
Got this below from RC in reference to my time trial. POD below = Pain of Discipline
Ultra Girl,
That is great. Its also better than I expected. It's really good to do these every once in a while just for reference. They are reality gut check time trials. A good indicator of overall training fitness. I think you are progressing very nicely and this will give us a better indication on where to continue with your training paces. Keep up the good work. Watch out for the heat, its been knocking me down the last week or so. Stay hydrated. Have a great weekend.
RC
Team POD
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