Modified Fartlek and stuff

Pick a stretch of road between two points. Run from A to B at a normal pace. Run back from B to A in the same time. Repeat, but try to make the return trip quicker and quicker. Don't rest in between - the "Recovery" is A to B at a normal pace. You might have to progressively inject a few short spurts (about 3-5 seconds) to improve the return time.

It's been a busy week but I managed to do about three of the above on Friday evening and five today. My A-to-Bs today were 2:20-2:30, and the return trips were 2:30, 2:20, 2:20, 2:15, 2:10. I wound up with about 5K in 23:50 - nothing spectacular, but it was nice to do something different rather than just run an out-and-back. I'll try doing some 2:20s, 2:15s on the "outs" over the next few runs.

Interjecting the run with a few short bursts of less than 5 seconds doesn't tax at all and gains me a second or two every now and then. It seems a lot easier to run at a normal pace and up the speed (for a very short while) every now and then, instead of running at a faster-than-average speed and pausing to walk for a minute or two every now and again.

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Every day is a rain day here. This sort of weather is early for this time of year. Usually it only starts like this when the tennis at Wimbledon is in full swing - the finals are almost always rain-delayed. The rain is collecting on the kitchen window sill, much to my annoyance, but the $2 sill covers I made from bits of wood and vinyl floorboards work very well. The Mrs gave it the thumbs down for looks. Next stop - temperamental washing machine. I mustn't have a good karma with water-related stuff.

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I'm incorporating at least one set of exercises for legs, abs and pressups every day. You'd be amazed what you can get done waiting for the kettle to boil or while cooking. I do hamstring curls while washing up. The bicep curl/dumbell press combo - keep doing proper curls and press only when you can't curl any more, then go back to curls and repeat - I only do one side each day. Some days it becomes one set of 120, 130 reps (I don't count reps for presses). By the time I put the weight down I don't want to think about the other side, nor do I have the mental tenacity to properly do it all over again.

Well today I did three sets of those, all for the same side (left). My left side has about 250+ reps over my right side. I'm probably going to feel like this tomorrow.



Happy running!