I'm betting that phrase brings images of a chicken roating in a little oven on your countertop or this guy..Ron.
Well, oddly enough, that is exactly what came to mind on my run. First off, let me say that I, have never been one to work on speed. I never thought I could get faster. I'm an asthmatic and when I get going real fast, the wheezing start to kick in. SO, I've used that as an reeason to never try. Then when E came around, I'm not sure what exactly happened but I just got a little faster. Maybe it was from pushing the stroller. Whatever it was, I realized that I might actually be able to do this.....ok now on to today's story.
I had intended to go out for an easy three miles when I stepped out the door and realized it was crazy humid. But I went anyway. After a quick 2 min walk, I started in. I quickly realized that my body seemed to want to move faster than the 10 min mile that I was anticipating so I went with it. I decided that I would try repeats (insert technical running term here). It's exactly what it sounds like. I decided to do 1 mile repeats with 30-45 secs between each.
After about 5 minutes of running faster, I found myself focused on my feet...how quickly were they hitting the ground? Could I speed that process up? Then all of a sudden, I was wheezing. Oh and did I mention I rarely take my inhaler with me?! Yeah, I know smart move. Anyway, I slowed down, finishing the first mile in about 9:37.
After a good minute of walking, I had my breathing back under control so I started in again. And again, I found myself thinking about my feet and you know what happened after that.. So again, I slowed but finished slightly faster then the first at 9:00. Then after a brief break I started again, and then it hit me..kind of like a ton of bricks...STOP WORRYING ABOUT YOUR FEET!!
I need to pick a goal speed, set it and forget it! Focus on the breathing. For me that was far more important and ended up being a much better game plan. I finished the last mile in 8:39.
So while I don't know if I'll become a speed demon anytime soon, I did make a ground breaking discovery in how best to try. I'll keep at it because it's fun and challenging. Maybe I'll even make it my Under Armour Challenge...PR in a 5k. Hmm.
Do you work on speed? What are your goals? How do you do speed work? Am I thinking about this the right way?
Have a great week!
not a runnerrunner but I was/am ;-) a Ron P-lover.
ReplyDeleteno speed work. yet. for me.
I use to watch his infomercials late at night. They were the greatest!
DeleteI used to dread {and avoid speed work} but now I love it! I do it once at week, at the track! The workouts consist of everything from 400s to 1600s! There are two things that'll make you faster...hills & speed work {oh, and stroller running}!
ReplyDeleteNice work...keep it up!!!
I wonder if there's a method to doing shorter distance speed work integrated with longer speed work. Hmm! I like your idea..I'll dedicate one day a week to speed and see how it goes!!
DeleteLately my speedwork has consisted of tempo runs (around 4-6 miles). Before I was marathon training, I was mostly doing intervals. I don't particularly like doing intervals (they are HARD), I find tempo runs much more enjoyable. But I think in the end a mixture of techniques probably works best.
ReplyDeleteI like tempo runs too! I think I'll have to develop a skeleton training plan that I can plug any goal into which includes both intervals and tempo runs..
DeleteThanks for the feedback!