22 Apr - Sessions 101-102

1658 BST - Interval training yesterday. Program called for 18x200m (or 45 sec) with 200m (or 60 sec) recoveries. AS I mentioned in my last blog I trained in the afternoon to help prepare for warmer temps on race day. According to weather.com, average high in Edinburgh on that day is 14 deg C. Of course it could be cooler, but it could also be warmer...and that's what I want to be prepared for. For the most part so far I have been training in much cooler weather.

Anyway, I stopped by the track to see if I could run there but I was turned away because I was by myself. Can't use the track alone due to health and safety regulations. Here's a bit of irony...During my warm up while running out to where I was going to run the intervals, I was almost run over by a car! Admittedly completely my fault, (they could have yielded though) but that wouldn't have happened on the track! Seems to me the track is the safer alternative to dealing with the traffic! Once I crossed that particular road though traffic wasn't too much of a concern. There weren't any busy roads to cross which is why I chose that particular location and route.

As usual I had trouble doing the miles-to-meters conversion (which is one reason I wanted to run on the track!) and I figured 200m = 1/4 mile. Off I went. After the third interval I noticed my split time was 1:22 or something like that which seemed a bit long and got me thinking...maybe I miscalculated. After thinking about it during the next interval, I was sure I was running 400m! I remembered that 1 lap around the track is 400m so 4 laps is 1600m which is 1 mile (close enough anyway) so 1 lap is 1/4 mile which is 400m! AFter only 4 intervals I was at more than 3 1/2 miles and I was starting to doubt whether I could do 14 more 1/4 mile intervals. It's not so easy to measure 1/8 mile on the Garmin so I switched to 45 sec intervals with 60 sec recoveries.

In all I did 4 400m intervals and 14 45 sec timed (approx 200m) intervals. Pretty good considering it was so warm (23 deg C). About halfway through I started walking a bit during the recoveries to help get my HR down. Overall I thought it was a good workout and I felt pretty good when it was over. I reached maximum  HR (180 bpm) on the final interval, which I stretched out to 60 sec for good measure.

Today I did some solo SnC work after swimming for 30 min.

Easy 4 miles tomorrow. I'm going to wear my camelbak and see how that goes. I probably should be drinking more water on my long runs (especially since it's getting warmer). Twice I emptied my little water bottle before finishing. I don't like to wear anything while running, but I'll "test run" the camelbak tomorrow. Since it's a short distance, if I find it bothersome, it will only be for a short while. If it isn't too bad, I'll wear it Sunday on my LSD. If that works out ok, then I'll consider wearing it for the race, so I won't be dependent on the aid stations.

Edinburgh Marathon Training Session 101