Pushing the Threshold

OBJECTIVE
1 mi. warm up
4 x 1 mi.@ lactate threshold (6:55) w/2 min. jogging recovery
1 mi. cool down

ACHIEVED
1.00 mi. WU - 9:55
4 x 1 mi. - 6:49/6:29/6:38/6:34
1.02 mi. CD - 7:53/mi.

5:38 AM 36° 79% 2 mph

Here's the blog entry for the same threshold workout that I did 10 days before the St. George marathon.

It was another cool morning. Aaron had planned to run with me so I dropped by his place before heading to the Y. After waiting for 15 minutes and still seeing no lights or movement, I went on ahead without him.

Beforehand this run seemed easy and hard all at the same time. After all it was only 6 miles and 2 of those miles were warm up and cool down. But pushing the pace would be tough. Enough thinking about it finally! Get on with it!

The warm up mile was slow then I was off. My pace was slow at first but I think that was just the GPS "catching up to me". I felt pretty good. At the end of the first interval, I passed two groups of runners out for a morning run. I guessed they were preparing for the Houston marathon in 10 days. After the first threshold mile, I doubled back on my route for 2 minutes of jogging recovery.

I really took off on the second mile. I knew the other runners were up ahead and had a good head start on me while I was jogging in the other direction. I wanted to catch them and "blow by" so they could see how fast I was. Over the first 1/2 mile, I didn't see them around the turns on the streets but I reeled them in soon enough. This extra incentive prompted a much-too-fast mile from me and I believe it impacted the remaining 2 intervals.

After a 2 minute jog, I turned back on the trail for the third mile. I tried to do a better job of maintaining a constant pace. I was however feeling the prior interval and seemed to be having a bit of trouble recovering.

Another 2 minute jog heading back out then it was on to the last mile interval. I can always do one more, right? I like that feeling when I'm not quite done but know I'm going to be able to finish the workout and that I'm on track for a good one by hitting my times.

I wanted to start slow and finish fast over the last mile. The starting slow wasn't a problem. And I was able to increase the pace but then I was just stuck at that pace and didn't seem to be able to cut it down a couple more times like I intended. That's fine just the same as my time was good. In fact this workout was a good one.

Looking back to the link above at the same workout before the St. George marathon. I was faster today by a significant margin. The workout wasn't a "killer" but it was "comfortably hard".

The purpose of a lactate threshold run like today is push yourself to the point where you "go anaerobic" rather than aerobic. At this point your body is producing lactic acid faster than your muscles can clear this waste product. If I calculated the threshold pace correctly (the only real way to determine lactate threshold pace is blood testing while working out) then I took myself right to that point then gave myself a break with the recovery jog. This time should have allowed my muscles to clear the lactic acid while still keeping my heart rate up. Of course, I'll never run this fast in a marathon but it's good practice for the body to become efficient at clearing lactic acid buildup. It's what causes muscle fatigue and pain.

Today's run was a success. I think it's the last hard run I'll have for a while. I've got slow 3-milers each of the next 2 days before a slow 13-miler on Saturday.

I came home and did all of my IT band PT exercises. I noticed increased flexibility today. I suspect that's from doing the exercises right after the run when the muscles are good and warmed up.

PRE RUN
FRS concentrate


POST RUN
SlimFast
Later, water, multivitamin, zinc supplement, & oatmeal w/flax, almonds, brown sugar & skim milk