2400 test treadmill

More progress but there is the caveat emptor that it was on a treadmill. Running on a treadmill is obviously different from outdoor running.
1. The momentum of the belt can drag you along and renders running at a certain pace marginally easier than outdoors.
2. There is obviously no wind at all or even minor undulations.
3. The accuracy of some treadmills can be off and I have read that a GPS is more accurate than a treadmill's electronic readout.

However, it is considered common practice to elevate the mill 1 per cent to better replicate outdoor conditions; I still have my doubts but even accounting for this the progress indicated below remains very encouraging. Additionally my next 2400m test will take place on the same treadmill and should provide a rock solid benchmark for my fitness in another four weeks. It should be noted this test took place on Tuesday 3 June.

1.50 11:50 (07:53) 133bpm average
1.50 10:39 (07:06) 144bpm average
1.50 10:06 (06:44) 152bpm average
1.50 9:25 (06:17) 163bpm average
1.50 8:57 (05:58) 170bpm average

MCVET 10k

There were three reasons for running this race: the $25 price was reasonable; I could walk to the start line; and MCVET is a deserving cause.
The race began at 0830 and already the humidity was in the high 80s and the temperature was in the high 70s. I decided to abandon any attempt at a sub forty time. In the first mile I made a conscious effort to hold back and all those streaming past me made it hard not to go with them, but I have had too many bad experiences in the heat to make that mistake again.
The first mile split was 06:35 with a HR of 171, indicating I was definitely working hard. By now we were approaching federal hill park and the field was slowly settling down and I was catching some of the early hares. The course double backs on its self on key highway, about 2.5 miles in and my second mile split was 06:57. My own slowing pace showed just how suicidal some of the hares' pace had been.
The course then turned right onto Pratt street and past the USS Constellation and right again onto President street, towards Harbour East. Here I looked at my Garmin and saw a pace average of 06:54 and thought,'hey, I'm maintaining pace pretty well'; and just then the Garmin bleeped to record the third mile split of 07:13! Blast, I had been looking at the total distance average pace and not the current mile average pace. From that point on I ignored the pace and the Garmin, save for a few glances to make sure the HR remained in the low 170s. It was at this point, with the pressure of the watch banished, that I began to enjoy myself and just concentrated on maintaining effort. Well into mile four I overtook a few more of the earlier hares who I had been stalking since I resolved to ignore the watch. A turn around on fleet street back towards Little Italy and I was soon to complete mile five in 07:12; mile four was 07:06, so I had settled down to a sustainable pace. As we approached the final 1.2 miles, turning right back onto President street, I could see a couple more runners up ahead. The field was quite strung out now and I had been running on my own for about a mile.
I slowly closed in on the runners in front and remembered the first runner I encountered from the race's beginning. I decided to make my move as we turned right from Pratt street onto the hill on Calvert. My thinking was that the combination of me overtaking him on a hill and putting in a surge would break any morale to respond. His constant looking over his shoulder as I approached indicated he was running on empty. As I put a surge up the hill I realised the next two runners were within reach. As I reached the top of the hill I took a look over my shoulder to see the runner I had overtaken was slowly falling away and I turned my attention to the two in front.
With about half a mile remaining I moved into a controlled sprint as we moved downhill and turned right onto Lexington street and towards the finish; I soon passed the next runner and moved into a full sprint in the last quarter mile to overtake the next runner. The crowd at the finish line warned him of my impending approach and as he looked over his right shoulder he tried to respond but it was always going to take too long for him to get up to speed before we crossed the finish line and I finished a few seconds ahead of him in 43:16.
This was a personal worst by over two minutes but I was satisfied with a well executed race. If Jeff Galloway's estimations about the affect of heat on performance are correct then the heat and humidity undermined my performance by at least 10%, giving me a cooler performance time of 39:20. Looking at the results revealed that two of the three runners I overtook in the last three quarters of a mile were in my age division and making that move in the last mile got the bling below.

At last-progress

At last-progress. I have been very remiss in updating the blog and this 2400m test took place at the end of April and took place at about six am. I think that might explain the very slow initial 2400m.
The progress in the remaining 2400 segments is undeniable and the final two 2400 segments might have been better had I been able to get my HR up; I suspect the early start and the effect of Circadian cycles prevented my body from working to its true potential.

The reduction in mileage to less than fifty per week and the inclusion of a weekly Yasso sessions, along with a tempo and marathon effort run on alternate weeks has yielded very positive results.

25 April
1.49m - 13:35(9:06/m) - 133bpm avge
1.49m - 11:17(7:34/m) - 145bpm avge
1.49m - 10:27(7:01/m) - 154bpm avge
1.49m - 9:46(6:33/m) - 162bpm avge
1.49m - 9:21(6:16/m) - 168bpm avge

29 March
1.49m - 12:40 (08:30) 136bpm
1.49m - 12:06 (08:07) 145bpm
1.49m - 11:13 (07:31) 156bpm
1.49m - 09:54 (06:39) 166bpm
1.49m - 09:08 (06:07) 174bpm

Nippy postscript

As soon as I crossed the finish line I resolved that Hadd was being kicked to the kerb. I do believe Hadd can benefit you but this depend on whether there is a dissonance between your marathon times and you shorter race times, where your shorter distance PBs indicate you should run a much quicker marathon and demonstrates an under developed aerobic base. On reflection this was not my situation. I had a poorly developed base late last year but that was primarily the result of severe overtraining and four months of Hadd has now left me under trained, but with a good base from which I should make good progress pretty quickly.
For the next few weeks my approach will be to drop my mileage to less than fifty miles per week; include a 'Yasso' session every week; and a tempo and marathon paced effort on alternate weeks. Standing my training on its proverbial head should make the next 2400 test interesting.

Nippy Nor' easter half marathon

The day before this I realised it would be my first half since September 2010! I was able to show up fifteen minutes before the start, collect my number, walk two minutes to the start and join a queue of three for a port a loo - that's my kind of no fuss race! In the first mile I needed to reign in my pace; in the first third of a mile the Garmin showed me running at close to six minute mile pace. I let the hares go and completed the first mile in 06:36. Shortly into the second mile I overtook probably half a dozen of the first mile hares. Mile two 06:39 and mile three 06:42. By now I was running on my own but could see a group of about eight a quarter mile ahead who were slowly pulling away. During the next few miles I had increased the effort but was slowing; my HR was hovering around 92/93% of maximum. As I approached the turn around and halfway point my pace slowed into the high 06:50s and I knew the second half would be miserable. It was now obvious that I should have been much more disciplined in keeping the HR below 90%. Long story short: I was running on my own for the next couple of miles and then in the final 5k a number of people overtook me. This was actually something of a blessing as it gave me people to try and hang onto and prevented me from completely throwing in the towel. By now my splits were well north of seven minute miling and I crossed the finish line in 01:32:19 to avoid a personal worst by thirteen seconds! Amazingly in a field of over 200 I managed to place eighteenth; had I been in the kind of shape I was in in late 2010, early 2011, I would have finished third - if, buts and maybes.

Plateau & the end of Hadd?

Latest 2400 test tonight and some strange results; at last I saw significant improvement at the 135bpm effort but I have actually gone backwards or remained pretty much static at the higher efforts. In the intervening five weeks I increased my sub LT runs to 82%, I wonder if that played a role in these statistics. It's time to reassess my approach and consider amending my approach but I'll take a few days to consider things; in the meantime Saturday's half-marathon should be instructive.

29 March 2012
1.49m - 12:40 (08:30) 136bpm
1.49m - 12:06 (08:07) 145bpm
1.49m - 11:13 (07:31) 156bpm
1.49m - 09:54 (06:39) 166bpm
1.49m - 09:08 (06:07) 174bpm

23 February 2012
1.49m - 13:38(9:09/m) - 136bpm avge
1.49m - 12:19(8:15/m) - 145bpm avge
1.49m - 11:00(7:23/m) - 154bpm avge
1.49m - 10:00(6:42/m) - 165bpm avge
1.49m - 9:13(6:11/m) - 171bpm avge

19 January 2012
1.49m - 13:43(9:12/m) - 136bpm avge
1.49m - 12:30(8:23/m) - 145bpm avge
1.49m - 11:10(7:29/m) - 154bpm avge  
1.49m - 10:07(6:47/m) - 163bpm avge
1.49m - 9:20(6:15/m) - 174bpm avge

2 December 2011
1.49m - 13:37(9:08/m) - 134bpm avge
1.49m - 12:39(8:29/m) - 144bpm avge
1.49m - 11:19(7:35/m) - 156bpm avge
1.49m - 10:23(6:58/m) - 165bpm avge
1.49m - 9:28(6:21/m) - 172bpm avge

Third 2400 test

23 February 2012
1.49m - 13:38(9:09/m) - 136bpm avge
1.49m - 12:19(8:15/m) - 145bpm avge
1.49m - 11:00(7:23/m) - 154bpm avge
1.49m - 10:00(6:42/m) - 165bpm avge
1.49m - 9:13(6:11/m) - 171bpm avge

Things are still moving in the right direction, although the pace of the 135bpm effort stubbornly remains the same as it has since I began Hadd. Additionally, the differential between 145 and 155bpm remains more than fifty seconds. I have concluded that both of these stubborn trends indicate that I probably need to increase the effort on my sub LT runs from 80 to 82% MHR.
My next 2400 hundred test will hopefully demonstrate the efficacy of increasing the sub LT effort and will play a significant part in my decision to do a spring marathon or not and also the pace at which I will race the Nippy Nor'easter at the end of March. The long term trends are quite pleasing and if I can continue to take about six second per mile off my 165 and 175 efforts every five or so weeks I will be quite happy. Interestingly I struggled to get the HR up to 175 on the final 2400m effort. I also felt that the 165bpm effort was more sustainable than it has been; I felt that I could have kept going at that effort for at least ten miles while this effort in December felt more like 10K pace.