Accumulation



Since I've been back running after dental surgery, there hasn't been any missed training. Aiming for a specific number of weekly kilometres is not in my plans. Instead I am still happy to follow the original design. Ensure the key runs are completed and fill the rest with either an aerobic conditioning run or a recovery run as needed. Doing this should see some reasonable mileage. So far so good. Last week had about 85km completed, and by the end of this weekend's half marathon I will likely have a little over 100km covered this week.

Right now I feel like have I regained any fitness lost from the missed days of last month. Maybe even gained something too. If anything, I am definitely back on track. Rediscovering the ability to chew food nearly properly has certainly helped my energy levels too.

Testing

In the last week I've completed my 400m time trial and MAF tests. The results were as expected and indicate I am where I should be.

The 400m time trial gave me 1:10.6.
This is okay, but I would seriously like to have this down around 1:05 by the marathon. Preferably at 1:04 flat to be completely ideal, but speed and anaerobic capabilities have never been my strong point.

Maximal Aerobic Function

The MAF test has a slight difference compared to the lead up to the Police Games. I have a new heart rate of 153bpm instead of 149bpm. Everything else is exactly the same. Still the same 8.4km course to establish an average pace. The modification has come about because of the establishment of a reasonable time period of consistent training. This has allowed me to add 5bpm, then subtract 1bpm for being a year older. The formula and an explanation of the concept can be found here.

My latest test (the first at 153bpm) has given a MAF pace of 4:28/km. Even though it was run at an intensity of 4 heart beats higher, it is still faster than the 4:36/km I reordered in the previous training regimen and way quicker than the 5:34/km in August last year.

Hopefully I can have this down to around 4:10/km for the marathon.

Comments

  1. Ewen29 May 2009 at 04:03

    Good to hear you're back into it Jason. Of course if you did 400m-type training the time would come down - probably not in the plan though?

    The new test is 683 beats/km whereas the old one was 685, so slightly ahead there. It will be interesting to see how it comes down as the marathon approaches.

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