Big Workout / Long Run / Race Simulation. Caps off a Big Week. Et cetera.
Drove down to Forrester Acres and parked. Warmed up for a couple miles, then changed into my racing flats. I've been doing most workouts in the Saucony Kinvara's, but wanted to do this workout in my Type A's, to get a better feel for them. Plus, the Type A is a much faster shoe. The Kinvara's are great for workouts, but they are rather "squishy", like running on a gym mat, as someone else put it. The Type A's are a true flat, and I was curious to find the difference. I set out a squeeze water bottle with Emergen-C mixed with water, and 2 Hammergels attached via rubber band. One Hammergel was caffeinated, the other "tropical". I intend to use all of these things (water bottled, emergen-c, h-gel) at Indy, so want to make sure they will work okay, not upset my stomach, etc. I set up the mini aid station on my car. The workout was 3x5-miles at MP, with 1-mile recovery jog between intervals. The last interval could be a little faster than MP if I felt okay. I had sketched out a perfect 5-mile loop on the county roads from Forrester Acres. At the end of each interval, I would hit my "aid station", take a full gel, and a fair amount of liquid. The route itself is kinda-sorta flat, but not really. Long gradual downhill toward the Bear River for the first 2 miles, then flat for about half a mile, then uphill for 2 miles, then flat for the last half miles. The long gradual climb is kind of a grinder when you're tired, although not really noticeable if you're just jogging. It's about as flat as you get around here, and the closest I could get to the Indy course. I dialed in 5:20/mile as "MP". Yes, I will need to run faster than that at Indy, but given that I'm at 4600' altitude and at the tail end of a 107-mile week, I thought 5:20 would be pretty ambitious. The workout itself went really great. I love how the Type A's felt (other than on the 1.5-mile gravel stretch...uggh! hate gravel!). There is a reason they are a racer and the Kinvara's are trainers. Interval splits were: - 26:38 (5:15, 5:20, 5:22, 5:24, 5:17)
- 26:35 (5:17, 5:20, 5:19, 5:22, 5:17)
- 26:14 (5:08, 5:13, 5:19, 5:19, 5:15)
The first two set felt pretty easy and controlled (relatively speaking). Breathing was really good all the way to the end. Mile splits generally followed the topography, although the gravel tended to slow down Mile 2. The last set I let it out a bit on the first couple miles, and probably paid for it on the last 3 miles, but I survived, and was happy to keep all 5 splits under 5:20. It was hard though, but I guess since I substituted this workout for a race, hard is good.
All my accessories (drinks, bottles, gu) worked out pretty well.
Changed shoes after the last set, and cooled down for 2 miles. 21 miles total for the day, averaged 5:52/mile for the entire run. 107 miles total for this week, my most ever. The next 2 weeks are just maintenance (mid-90s), then a two-week taper, so I've seen the worst of things at this point.
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