Tuesday I had my first speed workout for the year. I am not a fast runner. Going by average finishing times of women in my age category, in all the events that I've taken part in, I place my speed at above average. And if I were to go by the generally accepted Cooper theory (see below image) I would fall in the "fair" category. But since speed like most other skills can be developed through practise, I am quite hopeful that I can push myself from fair to the "good" category. This is where speed training comes in.
The theory behind speed training is making your body accustomed to running at higher speeds by incorporating high speed running spanning smaller distances thereby allowing you to run at a pace far quicker than your average race pace. Over time you can slowly build up these short distances which could range anywhere from 50 to 800 meters.This will in turn help develop your ability to go faster for longer. Here is more expert wisdom here... http://www.runnersworld.com/speed-training and here... http://www.runnersworld.com/race-training/sprint-ahead-three-benefits-of-running-short-intervals
Like with all other run-types, here too my plan was to start small and build up. Tuesday's speed session had me slotted in for a (200x4) x 2 speed session with 1 minute rest interval between dashes and a 4 minute rest interval between the two sets. The objective was to run 200 meters as fast as I could while maintaining a steady pace. Had a time goal of less than a minute to complete the 200m. Though the RI allowed was 60 seconds, I needed a minute and a half to 2 minutes to feel recovered enough to go again. The first set went off well enough with the dashes taking 55, 57, 57 and 61 seconds each. The next set felt taxing. I managed two dashes under a minute but had to call it the end with that.
This weekend we were travelling to my native home-town, a small little village called Chowanur in the district of Thrissur in Kerala. I had packed my running shoes & gear fully intending to run my 1hr drill on Saturday but instead I ended up running a much shorter but challenging 3K. I loved running through my old haunts, up & down steep slopes, along narrow pathways and through the familiar paddy fields of my childhood summers. It was like my very own private trail run and I felt absolutely great at the end of it. I also had Dom's company through the run which was an added bonus.
I wish I had places like that around here where I could run now and then just to mix things up a bit.
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