Speed Work, Chapter One

Post Workout

TIP OF THE WEEK - make sure that you thoroughly read e-mails that you receive as a result of a request for training advice.  Trust me on this - because I didn't and suffered a little bit as a result.

As I mentioned earlier in the week, my new 70.3 training plan calls for speed-work right of the box and today I had a one hour session on the schedule.  Not being any kind of expert when it comes to speed-work, I reached out to someone who is - my main man to the south Chris K.  He e-mailed me back 3 options:

Option 1 - Tempo

20 minute warm up, 30 minutes 10 seconds faster than 1/2 marathon pace, 10 min cool down. 

Option 2 - 7 minute repeats

20 minute warm up, 4 x 7 minute intervals in HR Zone 4, 2 minute recovery after each 7 minute interval.    

Option 3 - 1000M repeats

20 minute warm up, 3 x 1000M at 20 sec faster than your 5k pace, 500M recovery between each interval.

In a later email, Chris went on to explain that since he thought that "Option 1" was the easiest and "Option 2" was the hardest, I should start with "Option 3", which he felt was in the middle.  But since this would be my first ever structured speed-work session, I figured I'd play the easy card.  However, this is where I miss-read the email.  I programmed "Option 2" into my Garmin and set off to the beach path.

When I got to the beach I realized that I had forgotten my heart rate monitor.  Though this was a little bit of a crisis, it was not nearly as bad as forgetting the actual watch.  I'd just have to use the rate of perceived exertion (or RPE) method to gauge my intervals.  Using the RPE method, exertion somewhere between hard and really hard is roughly analogous to a Z4 heart rate.  RPE charts vary, but the one I use references "hard to really hard" to an RPE of 7 or 8.

I started my 20 minute warm-up and kept my pace around 8:20.  At the 20 minute mark, the Garmin alarm went off and I picked up the pace.  It probably took a few minutes to get  get to RPE 7, and that ended up putting my pace at about 7:20.  The first interval wasn't all that bad, but then again I wasn't disappointed when the alarm for the 2 minute recovery sounded.  I slowed back down to about an 8:30 pace and worked on recovery.

I started the next interval, using the 7:20 pace as the target.  The first few minutes were fine, but I ran out of road and had to do a u-turn.  Guess what?  A headwind.  But it didn't seem that bad and I just kept going.  Again the alarm went off and again I slowed back down to about an 8:20 pace, but this time just a little bit happier I was getting a 2 minute respite.

2 minutes later it was time to go again.  I sped up to a 7:20 pace.  This is when time slowed down - the next 7 minutes felt like a lifetime.  And a lifetime is plenty of time for my pace to slow, which it did to a 7:40 pace.  This was getting rough.  Finally, the alarm went off.  I immediately slowed to 8:20 but I also realized that this was not going to be enough to recover.  So I started walking.

But I was determined to finish and when the alarm went off again I started running.  Another 7 minutes of agony, and the best I could hold was a 7:45 pace.  The last 2 minutes where pure torture, but finally it was over.  I immediately started to walk.  I wanted to stop but I knew if I did I was done for the day - and I still had about a mile to go.

After 2 minutes, I started jogging again.  I was actually a little shocked that I could still run.  But (and I suppose this is both good news and the point of intervals) I had recovered enough and the last 3/4 of a mile was actually enjoyable.

Post workout thoughts?  I probably haven't pushed it that hard on a run since the Surf City Half Marathon, and then I had the benefit of in-competition adrenaline.  It was hard session, and I'll need to do better.  But the workout didn't suck, either.  In the end I was only slightly annoyed that my ADD got the best of me and I miss-read the email.  It was actually really fun in that perverted pain-is-pleasure endurance sport junkie kind of way.  There's another run interval day on the books for next Thursday, and I'll be there.

Lessons Learned

"Ok, so let me get this straight...you are saying I need 16 ounces of fluid, a salt tablet, and a gel for each hour of exercise?"

Here's five important things I've learned in the last two years. What are yours?

1. DO NOT BRING YOUR ENTIRE TOOL BOX (COMPLETE WITH A DOZEN EXTRA TUBES) INTO THE TRANSITION AREA.

Because you will look like a complete tool (pun intended). There will be no room for it. Usually, there is a local bike shop on hand to handle any last minute adjustments. And since the chances that your bike will break down between the time you grab it off the rack and the time you get to the mount line are so infinitesimally small, you will not be able to get back to your tools even if you need them. I learned this at my first race.

2. DO NOT CHECK YOUR WRIST WORN GARMIN TO SEE HOW FAST YOU RODE THE LAST MILE WHEN YOU ARE ROLLING UP TO A RED LIGHT IN FRONT OF A HIGH SCHOOL.

Because it you do, you will forget to un-clip from your pedals and fall over. Chances are very good that when you pull this stunt school will be getting out for the day and about 500 kids will see you tumble. And it will take every kid's collective strength to keep from laughing at you. Ultimately 4 or 5 kids will be weak and fail to be discreet. You will be ridiculed. I've done this twice.

3. MAKE SURE YOU REGULARLY TIGHTEN THE SCREWS ON YOUR CLEATS.

Because they come loose pretty easily. And it's the last thing I used to think of. My right shoe came unattached from the cleat once and it sucked because I lost all 3 screws. 2 had already fallen out, and I couldn't find the 3rd. This happened to me a few months ago. My crank started to spin back and my foot kept going forward. Not a situation you want to find yourself in.

4. DON'T FORGET TO EAT.

Today I barely ate anything. Then I went on an hour bike ride and a forty minute run. By the end of the run I could barely crawl into Jamba Juice. And obviously my brain was also tweaked because I'm not sure I would normally choose a healthy smoothie when I'm seconds away from starvation. To add insult to injury, the line was out the door.

5. A HEART RATE MONITOR IS NOT WORN TO HELP YOU AVOID HEART ATTACKS.

Talk about the pinnacle of naivete. Until I pulled my head out of the sand (or feel free to pick your own word) and read a few articles about what a HRM was actually for, I honestly thought they where protection against blowing your heart out of your chest. Why write more here? Enough said.

I hope everyone is having a good weekend.

My Garmin

I was a little out of sorts earlier. Because just like that, my Garmin stopped working. I had turned it on and then put it back in the charging cradle. When I pulled it back out to head off to run, it shut off and wouldn't come back on. I looked for some sort of reset button, but it doesn't have one. I tried a couple different combinations of button pressing to find the hard reset. But nothing worked and the screen remained dark.

It was 5:30 and I promised Mary I'd be home by 7:00. So I had to get going. I grabbed my old school sports watch. The watch is so 2 years ago when I could barely pull off 3 miles. But at least I could get an elapsed time. That would have to be good enough.

But things where not good. In fact, they kinda sucked. First off, I had to remember to manually start and stop the watch at traffic lights. The Garmin does that automatically. I remembered to hit the start/stop button every time except once, but once is enough to throw everything off. I forgot to hit start at one particular intersection and didn't notice until 1 minute and 36 seconds later. I know that it was 1 minute and 36 seconds because later I drove over to the intersection, parked my car, and re-timed the segment.

I have a thing about accuracy.

I like (and have become very used to) knowing what my pace, heart rate, accumulated distance, and elapsed time is whenever I want. And even though I have this route memorized to the foot, it still felt wrong. I didn't have my training partner.

I was alone. Because today there where not 3 satellites in a geosynchronous orbit somewhere overhead quietly working away keeping me data rich. And I would not have anything to upload into my training log (even though I rarely use that data for anything useful anyway).

I used to proclaim, somewhat proudly, that I was not dependent on technology. I now realize that is complete bulls**t. After all, I almost had a meltdown today. I never leave the house without my Iphone. I have not touched a book since I got a Kindle. And I use AOL Instant Messenger & Skype, at the same time!!!

Then there is this blog. Lately I have been installing every 3rd party blog aggregating widget I can find. I can't go to bed without looking at Google Analytics first. Blogging has created a whole new community, and I want my 40 acres and a mule. Or at least a mule avatar.

Fortunately, the Garmin is working again. I did a Google search for "Garmin 305 will not turn on" and easily found the right combination of keys to press. And by the way, I didn't get the information off the Garmin website. Somebody's blog came up first.