My wife asked me tonight why I like running-- she says she doesn't like it, but does get a sense of accomplishment when she finishes her training for that day. I of course also feel happy whenever I finish my daily run too, but she was wondering if I like the actual running part. When I'm running at a sustainable pace, where I'm not pushing hard in oxygen debt, I do enjoy running. I often worry about a lot of things-- I'm a scientist, and so in my profession we often have many issues in our lives beyond our control-- experiments that may not work, deadlines approaching, grant proposals, etc., and these issues can cause me a lot of anxiety. Running lets me forget my current troubles. No one will bother me when I'm running; if I get a call from a colleague or my PI, if I call them back later, they'll understand. It gives me some free time that is all mine to think, or to not think, and just let my problems dissolve so I can come back to them with a fresh attitude, which is often all that is required.
The pace is difficult to determine, but I'd really like to come in under the Boston qualifying time (3:05:00). This comes down to a 4:23/km pace, which isn't too far from my 5k time (just under 22 minutes).
I'd like to track my fitness throughout this period. I have a blood pressure monitor, a scale and a gps Garmin Forerunner 305 with heart monitor. First I'll do a health check prior to my training. My blood pressure generally comes in at normal. Here's the averages from the last few months:
I'd like to track my fitness throughout this period. I have a blood pressure monitor, a scale and a gps Garmin Forerunner 305 with heart monitor. First I'll do a health check prior to my training. My blood pressure generally comes in at normal. Here's the averages from the last few months:
As far as my weight, it's variable between 77 - 80 kg, with a median of around 78.5 kg.
I always try to add an entry to a note file in my iphone after a run, to record the data. I'm not sure that I'll ever use it, but it's there to glance at. Since this is the first time analyzing my 5k times over a year or so of recording this data, I can see it's hard to tell what my real current time is for for 5ks. For one thing, I don't do a lot of training where I just race for my best 5k time. I usually do HIIT, where I do alternating sprint/ runs. Also most of my training is on a treadmill, which tends to give you overly fast results. So here's what all of my data looks like:
I think it's important to have a more consistent metric for my 5 km time, so I guess I need to define what a 5 km time is. It should be outside, running normally as I would in a 5 km race (without going up extra hills, or doing intervals, etc). This is how I will have to determine my real 5 km pace. Also I noticed I often have notes I recorded on my iphone about the different things in my life, e.g. "lifted legs the day before", or "bad mood." I think what I need to do is try to get at least one real, pure 5 km run as a sort of marker that I can track my current pace at. So my workout plan will include a weekly (or every-other week) 5k outside, with the same route I normally take. From this, I really only have ~2 known runs, which are ~25:00. I am going to run one tonight to see what I'm at.
So for now I'm going off of a Hal Higdon Training program I found online. I should be able to do the first week without much change to my current plan.
| HIIT | Pace | HIIT | Long Run | HIIT/CROSS | |||
| WEEK | SUN | MON | TUE | WED | THUR | FRI | SAT |
| 1 | Rest | 5 k | 5k | 5k | Rest | 10k | Cross |
| 2 | Rest | 5 k | 5k | 5k | Rest | 11.5k | Cross |
| 3 | Rest | 5 k | 6.5k | 5k | Rest | 8k | Cross |
| 4 | Rest | 5 k | 6.5k | 5k | Rest | 14.5k | Cross |
| 5 | Rest | 5 k | 8k | 5k | Rest | 16k | Cross |
| 6 | Rest | 5 k | 8k | 5k | Rest | 11.5k | Cross |
| 7 | Rest | 5 k | 10k | 5k | Rest | 20k | Cross |
| 8 | Rest | 5 k | 10k | 5k | Rest | Rest | Half Marathon |
| 9 | Rest | 5 k | 11.5k | 6.5k | Rest | 16k | Cross |
| 10 | Rest | 5 k | 11.5k | 6.5k | Rest | 24k | Cross |
| 11 | Rest | 6.5k | 13k | 6.5k | Rest | 25.5k | Cross |
| 12 | Rest | 6.5k | 13k | 8k | Rest | 20k | Cross |
| 13 | Rest | 6.5k | 14.5k | 8k | Rest | 29k | Cross |
| 14 | Rest | 8k | 14.5k | 8k | Rest | 22.5k | Cross |
| 15 | Rest | 8k | 16k | 8k | Rest | 32k | Cross |
| 16 | Rest | 8k | 13k | 6.5k | Rest | 20k | Cross |
| 17 | Rest | 6.5k | 10k | 5k | Rest | 13k | Cross |
| 18 | Rest | 5k | 6.5k | 3.5k | Rest | Rest | Marathon |
Well, this is my basic plan! I will use these posts as a motivation to keep up my training. I haven't ever followed any plans fully ever, so maybe updating this blog is what I need. Well I'm going to do a 5k!
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