Relearning Speed

The last two days involved a re-introduction to high intensity work for the legs.

Saturday saw me heading out to an uphill dirt road to put down 5 running repeats of approximately 300m or so, with a jog back recovery. The first four repeats took about 55-56 seconds, where for each I aimed to cover the distance as quickly as I could. The final repeat blew out to 64 seconds and definitely signalled I had reached my current limit of anaerobic fitness.

Sunday's session were some more hill repeats, but this time on the bike. 4x800m over a variable grade that saw a mix of seated and standing pedal work. A total of four repeats lasting approximately 90 seconds, but yet again the final repeat stretched out to 1:46, my legs protesting at the level of hydrogen ions hanging around in the blood and muscle.

It has been a good couple of months since I last tried to sustain any work at this level for longer than 20 seconds. It definitely showed. But I do expect to see considerable improvement over the next few weeks. No two sessions will be the same. The variety will provide an extra training stimulus over and above simply performing high power repeats. It does feel good to reach the end of your capacity in a certain aspect of fitness. It gives a very clear picture as to where you really are. Now I expect to make some solid progress.

Comments

  1. Ewen5 February 2008 at 20:30

    I never really think about doing bike intervals (not that I ride much these days). Makes sense though.

    300s are a good test - especially if you're doing them uphill. Definitely long enough to get into anaerobic territory.

    ReplyDelete

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