Last year was my first IM -France- and, I suppose, it went ok for a first attempt at the distance.
I've been reviewing my training from last year and see that I followed a high volume, low intensity plan. The problem is that my volume was not particularly high... Averaged 11.6 hours/week from Jan - June.
The result was a loss of bike and run speed (I did sprints for 2 years before my IM) but my endurance was great. I really felt that the IM distance was no problem at all... there was no chance of blowing up on the bike/run because I simply had not trained _hard_ so there was no chance of going hard during the IM.
(This is getting a bit more long-winded than I intended!)
So, to get to my point! This year I'm thinking of training _hard_ during the winter/spring and will then introduce some long bike sessions during the early summer.
I have come up with a mid-week run session that I think will increase top-end-speed, indurance AND durability at the same time!!
Behind the building where I work there is a 1.3k lap throught the woods, this is where I have done the session and It goes like this:
3 min run to track and
Lap 1: Easy
Lap 2:Hard for first 1/5 and then Easy (Same pace as Lap 1)
Lap 3:Hard for first 2/5 and then Easy (Same pace as Lap 1)
Lap 4:Hard for first 3/5 and then Easy (Same pace as Lap 1)
Lap 5:Hard for first 4/5 and then Easy (Same pace as Lap 1)
Lap 6:Hard
My goal is to keep the PACE the same for the easy/hard bits throughout - so the perceived effort goes up all the time. And, on lap 6, if I don't hit the 4/5th point at the same time as I did during lap 5, I consider the workout failed!
If there is still anyoue reading at this stage, any comments or alternative ideas would be greatly appreciated.
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My Blog
I've been reviewing my training from last year and see that I followed a high volume, low intensity plan. The problem is that my volume was not particularly high... Averaged 11.6 hours/week from Jan - June.
The result was a loss of bike and run speed (I did sprints for 2 years before my IM) but my endurance was great. I really felt that the IM distance was no problem at all... there was no chance of blowing up on the bike/run because I simply had not trained _hard_ so there was no chance of going hard during the IM.
(This is getting a bit more long-winded than I intended!)
So, to get to my point! This year I'm thinking of training _hard_ during the winter/spring and will then introduce some long bike sessions during the early summer.
I have come up with a mid-week run session that I think will increase top-end-speed, indurance AND durability at the same time!!
Behind the building where I work there is a 1.3k lap throught the woods, this is where I have done the session and It goes like this:
3 min run to track and
Lap 1: Easy
Lap 2:Hard for first 1/5 and then Easy (Same pace as Lap 1)
Lap 3:Hard for first 2/5 and then Easy (Same pace as Lap 1)
Lap 4:Hard for first 3/5 and then Easy (Same pace as Lap 1)
Lap 5:Hard for first 4/5 and then Easy (Same pace as Lap 1)
Lap 6:Hard
My goal is to keep the PACE the same for the easy/hard bits throughout - so the perceived effort goes up all the time. And, on lap 6, if I don't hit the 4/5th point at the same time as I did during lap 5, I consider the workout failed!
If there is still anyoue reading at this stage, any comments or alternative ideas would be greatly appreciated.
#######
My Blog