I said previously I was planning on intervals and that's exactly what I've been doing!...well on and off when I remember.
I have a frustrating relationship doing intervals, they are so much harder to do when your on your own as it can be hard to push yourself but 95% of my training is on my own but about 7-10 days after doing a couple of hard sessions I have always found some improvement in my pace.
So I really don't want to do them, but I know they are good for my overall performance and they certainly pay off as seen from the recent 1:29:33 half marathon time.
In addition, I've found that shorter runs like my usual 5mile morning or evening run where it would have been a massive push to do just under 7min miles is now down into 6:50min/mile - 6:40min/mile avg pace for the overall run. Its a push to do this but its alot faster then the same effort even before the summer.
Its times like this I wish there was a local running club so I wouldn't have to drive 10miles to do speed sessions etc with other runners (even that can be awkward to get to). On that note, if there's anyone local reading this that wants to head out for few runs feel free to drop me a message.
Miles This Year: 1,444 miles
As someone who has to train on his own, I can certainly sympathise!
ReplyDeleteIntervals can be tough (in fact they should be - that's pretty much the point of doing them!) but keep in mind that they should never be all-out and that you should always finish the session when you feel that you still have one or maybe two more in you.
If you have Jack Daniel's book" Daniels' Running Formula" it has plenty of tables to get the best target paces for your intervals.
I've never done them to the point I couldn't give one another go, but I've pushed them close enough a few times alright.
ReplyDeleteI've added the Jack Daniel's book to my shopping list so i'll get it over over the next while, shoulder be interesting to see what other improvements I can bring to my overall pace.