I still feel my legs are tired from the track workout yesterday, so it’s a good thing I’m doing an easy run today.
The Workout
Today I’m doing a 10K easy run in heart rate zone 1/2. Nothing fancy, except maybe for wearing new shoes.
New Hoka’s (Bondi 6)
I bought new shoes for long runs and opted for Hoka Bondi’s, because of the low drop (4mm) and amount of cushioning (insane). I must say that I liked the feeling of the shoes — I was a bit afraid of having that ‘wobbly’ feeling due to the stack height, but the shoes felt very soft yet firm. What I didn’t like, though, was the sizing. I have two other pairs of Hoka’s (Cavu, ATR) and I ordered these shoes in the same size. Turns out they’re much (!) too narrow in front, so a very tight toebox — a problem I have with the other Hoka’s as well — but they also feel just a bit too small. I’m going to try to return them and switch over to either the wide version of the shoe, or a size bigger, or both. Why can’t companies sort out the consistency of their sizing?
Afterwards
Back to the run. I could feel I was tired, but I managed to keep pace, cadence and heart rate constant. I had a long day at work, and sometimes that just gives me a kind of worn-out feeling.
Workout data
If you want to see the workout, check it out on Garmin or on Strava.
Today I’m doing a speed workout, consisting of 5 times 800 meters at 3:20/5:22. Last time I did this workout, I ran to and from the track, which is an additional 8K. That’s too much for today, as the workout itself is tough enough. I cycled a part, so the total running workout was 12K.
Afterwards
The intervals were hard, but running felt good — much better than last time, when I did this workout after a strength workout the same day. I did all intervals in a pace a bit faster than needed, more around 3:10-3:15/5:06-5:14 than 3:20/5:22 (actually, I see now paces were 3:14, 3:14, 3:15, 3:17, and 3:14), but that’s because the pace displayed on my watch seemed lower than what is calculated afterwards. That’s probably because I use Stryd for cadence (200spm today), speed and distance. This works better on the track, because GPS tends to cut corners. Anyway, it felt like a hard, but good workout.
Track in Vlaardingen
Workout data
If you want to see the workout, check it out on Garmin or on Strava.
I’m doing 10 times 400 meter hill ‘sprints’ (sprints are typically shorter) in a bicycle tunnel near my house today. Slowly running down to the start is recovery.
Photo by Matt Duncan on Unsplash
Afterwards
I was used to doing this workout, but with ‘only’ 8 times 400m. 10 was okay, but muscle fatigue, especially in the upper legs, does strike after 6 or 7 intervals. Oh well, in for a penny, in for a pound. The intervals felt good, but the tunnel floor was wet, so it was kind of slippery, and my shoes squeaked like mad.
Workout data
If you want to see the workout, check it out on Garmin or on Strava.
So, as I promised myself, I will not do two workouts a day anymore. So, today I’ll ‘only’ do an hour of circuit training at the gym at work to work on core strength and strength in general.
I think the decision to switch the long run and intervals was a good one. On Tuesday, my legs were still feeling tired, but Wednesday, I felt much better.
The workout
A tempo session of 7 times 1000m at lactate threshold — around 3:50/6:10 — totaling at 14K including warming-up (2K) and cooling-down. In between the intervals, 500m at a slow pace for recovery. I ran at the industrial terrain near the harbour, because there are no traffic lights there and there’s a stretch of road of approximately 1K with only three corners.
A piece of road very suitable for intervals up to 1K
Having no traffic lights to stop for is vital for intervals, but I kind of forgot that around the time of the run, all employees would leave their work to go home and there would be a lot of cars and trucks. Add falling darkness and you see what I mean. No real problems, though, although I hate having to look for traffic during intervals.
Afterwards
The intervals went great. Somehow, the pace, although a bit too fast in the first couple of intervals, and cadence felt very natural and I didn’t have to push hard. Great run.
Workout data
If you want to see the workout, check it out on Garmin or on Strava.
Today, another long run. This wasn’t the original plan, though. I’ll explain.
After the race on Saturday, I was supposed to do a recovery week, but the next race is two weeks away now and during the last race, I could really feel I had already run more than 70K that week. So, I switched this week and the next – more mileage this week, less next week. I’m not sure it’s smart, but we’ll see. That’s how I was planning to do a tempo run today of 7*1000m, but my legs feel tired still, so I decided to do tomorrow’s long run today, and the tempo work-out tomorrow. Thursday I won’t run, so that good after a tempo run anyway.
The workout
A simple long run of 17K, to the Kandelaar bridge and back.
Most of my runs, I use a metronome and for long runs, I mainly use 190 spm, but I sometimes feel this is too high for slow runs. I used 186 spm and while it might sound like a small difference, it is quite notable. My legs are still a bit sore, but the run went fine.
Workout data
If you want to see the workout, check it out on Garmin or on Strava.
Because of the race on Saturday, today I’ll do an easy run.
The workout
An easy long run of 15K. Although the workout at the athletics club was fartlek and involved speedwork, I just took it easy. It felt like I needed it.
Afterwards
I can clearly feel my legs have had a beating yesterday, so I’ll have to make sure to rest enough and don’t train to hard the days after the race. 15K in zone 1 and 2 were okay.
Workout data
If you want to see the workout, check it out on Garmin or on Strava.
One of the runners in Schoonhoven dropped out of the race 100 meters before the finish, as he collapsed. Naturally, people were worried, as he was taken to hospital by an ambulance. Today I read in the local newspaper Het Kontact he is fine, so that’s good news. There’s also a photo made near the start of the race.
The race was a 6K on the dyke in Schoonhoven which means catching a lot of wind if there’s wind. And wind there was…
Athletics Club Avantri
Afterwards
Avantri turned out to be a very nice club. The weather, however, wasn’t really. There was a lot of wind, even to 49km/h in the region of the race. As the race was on a dyke, this was really tough.
I was planning to do this race as a test on pace 3:25, but I had to abandon that plan after a kilometer with full headwind and I dropped to 3:35. I managed to complete the race around that pace, finishing first in 21:30, but I feel the test has failed. I must be realistic though, as all times this year were much lower than last year due to the wind. (Some tips for running with wind can be found here.)
One other thing that didn’t help was doing a 12K run yesterday, as I could definitely feel my upper legs were tired. And another thing that bugs me still is I still feel something in a tendon in my right foot. It seems to be less problematic than yesterday, though.
Maybe I should just be happy having run and won the the race…
Together with Julien and Jeffrey at the Avantri track
Afterwards, I ran 10K to cool down and get some miles in, because I feel 6K (and 3K warming-up) aren’t much for a distance runner.
Race data and results
If you want to see the race, check it out on Garmin or on Strava. The official results can be found on Uitslagen.nl.
