The Daft Duo contemplate their progress in the February 10k Challenge… and discuss a bonus challenge that gets deep on the emotions of running.
The Daft Duo contemplate their progress in the February 10k Challenge… and discuss a bonus challenge that gets deep on the emotions of running.
Moving on from our Daft January challenge, the Daft Runners outline the plan for February!
Moving on from our Daft January challenge, the Daft Runners outline the plan for February!
This is the fourth and final update for our Daft 5k January Challenge – you may want to go back and read our intro first if you’re just jumping in!
Four weeks is not much for a normal training plan, but actually reflects the time we usually allow for race-specific training. To be honest, our race-specific training used to be other races before lockdown! We’re curious to find out how this will go.
Jamie:
I had a pretty good week with 15km of easy running, a tempo run and a final speed session. On the bike I had a recovery spin and then a bit more of a hilly ride. All on Zwift of course! It is getting a little bit tough on the treadmill; anything more than 5k is dull. The bike is much more entertaining, but I guess it’s a bit more interactive and you have more of a stimulus.
I’m sure Alex will mention something about tapering, but for me this was composed of two rest days. It doesn’t really feel like we should be tapering too much, even with our next challenge starting soon after. It’s a matter of doing the training block, getting the time trial done and moving on. Perhaps we can rest in March?!?
I’m starting to enjoy my core and stretch work a bit more. It is surprising how sore you get after the first go, but your body soon gets used to it. As with all things running, consistency is the key.
My ambition at the start of all this was obviously to boost my speed over the 5k distance, hopefully hitting a PB (all-time or even best time from the last few years). However, I believe general speed and stamina over the longer distances can benefit from the 5k workouts that we’ve been doing. It will interesting seeing how this can all roll upwards.
I don’t have any particular routines that I go through the day before a race. Usually a glass of wine is involved, but I’m giving that a pause for the moment. Maybe a celebratory one afterwards! Once it hits the afternoon perhaps.
Alex:
We’re finally here – the last week of training. Time to start tapering! Actually… there’s probably not really much point for what we’re doing. Well anyway I did end up tapering. So, let’s say it was all part of the plan eh?
Monday was very snowy and icy around where I run – to the point where attempting to do a tempo run was out of the question. Rather than do a slip-and-slide run that probably wouldn’t give me any benefit I opted to do an indoor bike session instead. Back on Apple Fitness+! I kept my cycle session on Tuesday (Les Mills this time as I’m keeping it interesting with a regular blend of fitness providers).
Owing to my inability to wake up on time, I stopped extending into the 10k distance… oh, erm, what I mean to say is that I thought that it was important to taper in the last week of training!
I don’t think this is particularly impactful as I’m generally at around 6-7km by the end of the ‘workout’ session of my run… so like 6/7km over the 2 runs I did do? These were my normal 6x2min interval session and the tempo run I missed on Monday by the way. I felt that after the sub-par tempo session of week 3, it was worth trying to get 1 decent tempo run in rather than my 1-2-3 intervals.
So, do I feel ready? No, not at all. I don’t think I’m any faster than at the start of the month. Running even the 1-mile (1.6k) tempo sections at a pace that would equate to the 25minute 5k I ran on 1st January seemed challenging if I’m honest.
However, today is Saturday – the penultimate day before our timed 5-k – and I’m going to do my tried-and-tested, best-practice, race prep: wine and chocolate muffins!
Virtually there
This is the third update for our Daft 5k January Challenge – you may want to go back and read our intro first if you’re just jumping in!
Just one week left for the less-than-dynamic duo. Will our battered bodies be able to soak up more punishment and repair in time for our time trial? Probably not, but there’s certainly still time to self-sabotage before the start line!
Jamie: This week was all virtual via Zwift. None of that running in the rain and snow nonsense! I much prefer staring blankly at the wall while ruminating on the travails of the day. However, something disastrous happened during my weekly speed session: a random glitch chucked me out of the Zwift running track just as I was near concluding one of the sprint legs. To say I was confused was an understatement. If my running wasn’t being recorded for everyone (well, my six followers) to see, then was I really running? I also wasn’t quite sure when I needed to stop as I was relying on the distance monitor within Zwift.
This reminded me of how far my attitude has changed. Around 10 years ago when I first started running more than the odd few miles, I used to be amused by people who ran their life by a watch. It seemed to me to be the opposite point of what running was supposed to be; embracing the feeling of your body functioning near its physical limit, striving against the elements, or even enjoying a bit of nature here and there. Waiting a few minutes to get a GPS link, then setting off at a potentially inaccurate set speed while you check your wrist every few seconds was mildly irritating. The again, maybe I was a poor training partner!
That’s not to say I haven’t enjoyed all the various bits of data. Not that I’m totally aware of what to do with it sometimes. Maybe that’s a challenge for another day: data-driven running vs. running with feelings? Regarding the glitch, apparently this can happen if your computer loses touch with the Internet (I reckon Zwift crashed). This is the first time it’s happened to me though after a few months of heavy use.
In general, week 3 has been much better for me. I managed four runs with a total distance of around 33km. This included a tempo, speed session and two easy runs (one after a bike session). My bike distance was around 36km including a recovery 20km and then a more intense workout called “2 by 2“, which I seriously underestimated. According to the marketing material, the workout aims to improve your ability to make repeated hard efforts with minimal recovery. That sounded pretty good to me, but I hadn’t appreciated that I would be expected to turn my legs round at 85-100rpm! My legs definitely weren’t happy after that. Oh well.
Alex: Monday’s tempo run didn’t really go to plan. I’m not sure if for better or worse, but rather than do another run fully on tarmac I opted to head over to a local park, which is more of a field. The first tempo felt pretty good and comfortable on the road leading to the park, however the recent rains had meant that the trails and field edges that make up a running route were basically moosh and bog-land. Owing to the terrain I was struggling to get anywhere near my tempo pace – and the ‘recovery’ sections between were still pretty challenging. I mean, I didn’t hit my times but the extra leg work out still got me out of breath so perhaps this is a net positive?
I specifically attempted to make up for this on Tuesday by selecting an interval session on the Apple Fitness+ (having now actually bothered to charge the damned Watch). The session went well, although perhaps there was a bit too much work-to-recovery ratio. One main hiccup was hitting the Watch with a wet towel. Doesn’t sound like too much of an issue – however, as I’ve noted a few times on the podcast, moistness and touchscreens are… challenging. The towel paused the workout on my watch, which would have been fine except with Apple Fitness+ if you pause the workout and then attempt to resume it struggles if you are also air-playing the audio to speakers. After a minute or so trying to get the workout to resume I gave up and did the remaining 20mins on my iPhone speakers – meh!
Wednesday and Friday’s session were pretty standard fare now – minor dread and all. Thursday was a rather good Fitness+ bike session that had some good tunes and interval work. I actually am going to retain my trial subscription for another month and maybe try some other workouts for our February challenge (more on that soon).
Going into the final week I am not sure if I am actually bringing my times down any. I still feel as slow as always. I’m not actually reviewing my split times as that feels a bit too serious, I may have a look after our final times are in as a bit of a (hopefully not literal) postmortem.
Core consistency. Perhaps.
Core consistency. Perhaps.
Update two? I’m as surprised as you are!
This is the second update for our Daft 5k January Challenge – you may want to go back and read our intro first if you’re just jumping in!
Jamie: This week has been strange for me, with life getting in the way of my training once again. I thought that was finished with 2020. Either way, I mostly only managed quality sessions this week, so my training plan looked more like Alex’s than my proposed high volume method.
My running included an easy 10k, a decent speed session on a treadmill and a tempo run. The speed session saw reps of x2 1ks, x2 800metres and x2 400 metres with an easy warm up and warm down. As an aside, mentally it’s much nicer to have a descending distance to target. 400 metre sprints seem almost easy after the 1kms! I did increase the speed as I went down this particular ladder though. You can be very specific about the speeds you target in your training plans if you have a target time, but I played this very much by feel. Sometimes it’s nice not to look at data! The tempo run was a decent session outside, wrapped into a 10k run. I’ve been doing a lot of treadmill running recently and it’s nice to get out and about. Our local trail running routes have been trashed a little by the weather, so isn’t easy going, but fun nonetheless.
I also had two sessions on the bike (Zwift): one recovery ride and then a hill session up a virtual Box Hill. Not sure I want to try it in reality, with Zwift reducing the difficulty relative to real life by 50%. I’m sure I’ll get better.
I feel like my core and stretch workouts were more accomplished. I tried some specific kettle bell exercises, which will hopefully contribute to a more healthy core if I’m continue with them. Specifically: sumo squats, deadlifts, some side leans and some snatches. Taken in isolation, that sentence reads a little weird? The drills I mentioned last week also felt helpful. They weren’t particularly lengthy, but I think consistency will be key.
The next week is key and will be my last chance to get some speed in the legs and then an extreme taper of 2-3 days rest. Oh joy.
Alex: I must say I’ve been finding it a bit hard to motivate myself this week. Not so much with the training – I’m actually always up for doing my planned sessions. No, my issue has been mostly with just getting up in time. Sign of the times probably.
Anyway, my 3 running sessions went well – in so far as I did them and felt relatively smug about having done so afterwards. I do still feel exceedingly slow – especially in the tempo sessions. All 3 of my training sessions are very approachable, but still leave me with a soupçon of dread when approaching the final couple of intervals – which I think is about the right level of tuning.
For the indoor bike sessions this week I went with a couple of different sessions – owing to forgetting to charge the Apple Watch (not actually used outside of these Fitness + sessions). For my first session I went with a Les Mills RPM session. Back when we were allowed in physical proximity of others when exercising I did a couple of these sessions a week. They are heavily choreographed and favour lots of short, sharp bursts of activity. In a gym environment this worked well as you kind of feed off the other riders in the session. At home RPM is still a good workout – but I don’t hit the same level of exertion for some reason. I think perhaps the focus becomes more on being ‘in time’ with the music, rather than the pseudo-competitive workout against your compatriots alongside you.
For the second session I tried a wholly new app to me – WithU. I was surprised to find that there was no video. What would I look at for 40+ minutes?! I almost flaked out and ran back to the comfort of the Les Mills app – however, I thought some change would be good for me. The workout was a lot more of a ‘standard’ indoor cycle session – some interval speed-work mixed with some drawn-out hill climbs. Once I got past the fact that I had no visual stimulus I got into the workout pretty easily. The instructions were clear – if requiring a bit more attention that normal – as you can’t just look to see if you’re supposed to be in a ‘standing’ or ‘seated’ position. I don’t think I had a high level of exertion on that workout – but I think adjusting to the audio-only instruction and get in the zone would be easier after a couple of more times.
One thing in the Apple Fitness+ camps favour is the heart-rate linkup that does give you an easy focus to try and keep up in the rankings. Being compared to others does seem to get past the ‘so what is this about?’ to ‘ok, I’m gonna go 100%!’.
Hopefully this is actually proving useful training, as I’m actually not doing any of the core training I said I would… maybe next week. Perhaps.
Good news! Not injured yet.
Good news! Not injured yet.
This is the first update for our Daft 5k January Challenge – you may want to go back and read our intro first!
Jamie: My high volume & high risk strategy appears to be going well, although I’ve missed one training session (long bike) and the distance is a little short. But on the upside, I’ve hit 40km of running in the first week and fit in three quality sessions: tempo, speed and a bike HIIT. These sessions are essential this month. Normal training blocks are 10-12 weeks, so three weeks of training and a week of tapering isn’t likely going to be enough to beat my PBs without pushing it a bit on the speed front.
First learn: know what core work and appropriate stretching is before writing it in your training plan. Sounds like a great idea and advised by many, but I wasn’t exactly sure what composed a good stretch workout. A few youtube videos later gave me a few ideas, but definitely something to work on. Second: I’ll be looking to incorporate some drills a couple of times a week before my easy runs. Good for stretching and warming up apparently. I almost feel like I know what I’m doing?
A lot of my running this week has been on Zwift, which definitely isn’t because of the weather and perhaps waking up a bit late. It’s made pounding the treadmill running a bit more interesting and we even popped on for a brief moment to “assist” Eddie Izzard on her way to completing her ninth marathon in nine days. Fair play to her! It was mildly amusing to see her Zwift avatar with a big huddle of other runners following along. The odd cyclist stopped by for a gawp as well. With another 22 marathons to go in January, it really puts our 5k shenanigans in perspective. Perhaps we need to be more daft??
Alex: Intervals. So many intervals.
I stuck somewhat to my plan – doing a tempo run and 2 interval sessions. It struck me whilst running one of the tempos that, at these paces, they’re actually just an interval training session in disguise. So, essentially I’m just doing 3 interval sessions a week – who knows, perhaps that’ll work?
After an initial tempo run on Monday I was looking forward to a bit more of a varied workout before my straight-up 6x2min interval session on Wednesday. Loading up the first 45min indoor cycle workout on Apple Fitness+ I was welcomed with ‘Hi Team, today we’re going to be doing 20 intervals’. Oh well… suck it up and focus on getting through them I suppose!
For Thursday’s bike session I purposefully selected a hill session. Again this turned out to be an interval session (just on a higher resistance). Ok, so 5 interval sessions a week must be the secret to success, eh?
Friday was my first frosty run in a while! The 3×1-2-3 intervals weren’t too bad – mostly avoiding slipping was the main concern. One deviation from my thoroughly researched workout plan was the progressive… something… distance? (the training where you just run basically). Rather than adding on an additional 5k to each run session I have just been rounding the session up to 10k – because that’s probably enough, eh?
As per my summer exploits I’m taking the weekends off. Woohoo!
A goodbye to 2020, revisiting the adventured we had ordering gadgets and apps to get through the year that was a little light on the traveling adventures!
A goodbye to 2020, revisiting the adventured we had ordering gadgets and apps to get through the year that was a little light on the traveling adventures!
Events mentioned in this article:
Journey to the North Pole (Virtual)
December has crept up quickly, and with 2021 presenting an opportunity for adventures Jamie & Alex discuss potential events and training motivations to get us through into 2021!
December has crept up quickly, and with 2021 presenting an opportunity for adventures Jamie & Alex discuss potential events and training motivations to get us through into 2021!
Events mentioned in this article:
Journey to the North Pole (Virtual)
Still mostly at home, Alex and Jamie discuss training with Zwift on the turbo trainer and what to look for in a home treadmill when you’re on a budget but still need to get some serious miles in!
Still mostly at home, Alex and Jamie discuss training with Zwift on the turbo trainer and what to look for in a home treadmill when you’re on a budget but still need to get some serious miles in!
Daft Runners 