Just rolled in from my third run of the year, again that same 20 mile wobble around the edge of Hyde Park.
And.... I ROCKED!! Even better than last time. This training programme is so much better than "the average"...
The first lap and a bit was quick. Too quick. Alarmingly, disturbingly quick. I began to think I might actually be superman. Not "a super man", like from Nietzche (which I so obviously am that it goes without saying), but THE Superman, like from DC Comics. But my secret nemesis substance would evidently be Pie, instead of Kryptonite.
Anyway, 9:35 pace at around 130 heart rate, averages for the first 5 miles. Ridiculously fast, compared to my first run just a week before. I bumped into my friend David Tillyer who happened to be running around the park clockwise (clockwise?! I know, what a weirdo!) and told him that if I didn't start getting very sh*tter, very quickly, I'd have to sandbag this blog. Nobody would believe that I could improve THAT much, THAT quickly...
Fortunately, I then got very much sh*tter, very quickly. After lap 2 the pace and the heart rate both started creeping inexorably upwards, and there was nothing I could do to stop it. Even when I tried to cheat a bit by going for a crafty pee break at the top of the hill to get my heart rate down, no joy. Maybe I am human, after all. And I was definitely paying for my earlier exuberance, in havin' it a bit too large on the first lap.
Although I still have 65 pounds to lose, so havin' it a bit too large wherever I go is still pretty much unavoidable.
Still - the final averages for the run were another huge leap forward. 10:55 pace at 146 heart rate, scores on the doors for the full 20 miles. How cool is that?! Almost a minute per mile quicker, after just one week training and three runs. The trend line is holding up quite nicely, too:
And.... I ROCKED!! Even better than last time. This training programme is so much better than "the average"...
The first lap and a bit was quick. Too quick. Alarmingly, disturbingly quick. I began to think I might actually be superman. Not "a super man", like from Nietzche (which I so obviously am that it goes without saying), but THE Superman, like from DC Comics. But my secret nemesis substance would evidently be Pie, instead of Kryptonite.
Anyway, 9:35 pace at around 130 heart rate, averages for the first 5 miles. Ridiculously fast, compared to my first run just a week before. I bumped into my friend David Tillyer who happened to be running around the park clockwise (clockwise?! I know, what a weirdo!) and told him that if I didn't start getting very sh*tter, very quickly, I'd have to sandbag this blog. Nobody would believe that I could improve THAT much, THAT quickly...
Fortunately, I then got very much sh*tter, very quickly. After lap 2 the pace and the heart rate both started creeping inexorably upwards, and there was nothing I could do to stop it. Even when I tried to cheat a bit by going for a crafty pee break at the top of the hill to get my heart rate down, no joy. Maybe I am human, after all. And I was definitely paying for my earlier exuberance, in havin' it a bit too large on the first lap.
Although I still have 65 pounds to lose, so havin' it a bit too large wherever I go is still pretty much unavoidable.
Still - the final averages for the run were another huge leap forward. 10:55 pace at 146 heart rate, scores on the doors for the full 20 miles. How cool is that?! Almost a minute per mile quicker, after just one week training and three runs. The trend line is holding up quite nicely, too:
As before, the blue line is how quicker I got after my very impressive 1 week of training, and the red line how much quicker I would have been if I hadn't lost any blubber. Approx 10% quicker in a week, and covering those 20 miles so much more comfortably.
Are you really not thinking of consigning your Hal Higdon/Runners World training schedule to the "emergency loo paper" pile yet? You should be!
I'll start stretching the distance of each run towards 30 miles, after next week. Then the real training can start!
In other news, I decided to enter the Javelina Jundred in 2012. It's a hundred mile race, in the desert. If you finish it you get this super-cool cowboytastic belt buckle. Just the ticket for moseying around Westminster.
Are you really not thinking of consigning your Hal Higdon/Runners World training schedule to the "emergency loo paper" pile yet? You should be!
I'll start stretching the distance of each run towards 30 miles, after next week. Then the real training can start!
In other news, I decided to enter the Javelina Jundred in 2012. It's a hundred mile race, in the desert. If you finish it you get this super-cool cowboytastic belt buckle. Just the ticket for moseying around Westminster.
Before I last quit running, in 2009, I did a similar hundred mile race, in Vermont. However it was up and down mountains, and was swampy, and horrible. And the belt buckle was RUBBISH.
Is it me, or does it actually say "100 MILF ENDURANCE RUN"? I wish.
OK food time. Ciao for now.
OK food time. Ciao for now.
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