31 Mar - Session 80

1934 BST - Speed work today. I was originally going to get up early and train, but I didn't feel like getting up when the alarm went off. I decided on the spot to run before lunch. One of the nice things about my job is that it is flexible enough such that I can train during the day, and since it is a requirement anyway, it worked out nicely!

Today's program called for 10 90 sec bursts @ +90% with 90 sec recoveries. Admittedly I was dreading it a little bit. It should be no secret that I don't like these interval workouts! One reason is 90 seconds isn't very long for recovery when you are running just about as hard as you can. I felt pretty good after the fist couple of splits. The second one was even a bit longer at 120 sec because I lost track of the time. It was very windy today...26 knots sustained, gusts higher. Splits 14, 16, and 18 (intervals 7, 8, & 9) were double whammies because they were uphill AND into the wind. Add that to the fact I was getting fatigued and you have the trifecta! Ugh! Admittedly it was a bit discouraging, but I kept myself motivated and put fort maximum effort. I think I did pretty good. I felt like it was a pretty good workout. My calf hasn't been hurting the last couple of days and didn't bother me today during the run. I expected it to ache afterwards but it didn't. Maybe it's getting better.

One thing I was NOT happy about was my HR monitor. It's pretty safe to say now I hate the thing and it's the worst piece of kit I have ever purchased. I can't wait until the new one arrives. While I was watching it go screwy during my run I was imagining smashing it to bits with a hammer. I have calmed down now so I probably won't. There has to be some kind of problem. It worked so well for so long and just recently started to malfunction. It doesn't make sense. I was looking at it closely and because of the two piece design, with the electrodes and transmitter thingy being separate (new one is one piece), there are two connections that might be dirty, which could interfere with the operation. I'm going to try to clean them up as best I can and we'll see if that helps. Would be nice if it did, it is more comfortable than the more rigid integrated one I used to use (and will again when it arrives!)

No running tomorrow. SnC only.

Edinburgh Marathon Training Session 80