Speed Workout Week 3-1

I have been sick for the past week so I skipped week 2-2... actually I did 3 sets and gave up after I realized that I could not catch my breath on the 3rd set... Today I did my week 3-1 and the results below:

1st Set - 3:34
2nd Set - 3:32
3rd Set - 3:35
4th Set - 3:35
5th Set - 3:42
6th Set - 3:40

Average: 3:36

I did only 6 sets as I just recovered from my illness and I believe my week 3-2 will be back to 8 sets again, or at least I will try. :)

Speed Workout - Week 2-1

Today's speed workout consists of 8 x 800m with similar goal race pace for 10km. I feel that I could handle the pace on my 6th and 7th sessions today which proves that I have improved slightly comparing with my 1st week of training. Will continue to train harder on upcoming sessions. :)

1st set - 3:38
2nd set - 3:31
3rd set - 3:34
4th set - 3:34
5th set - 3:36
6th set - 3:39
7th set - 3:40
8th set - 3:41

Average 3:37mins

Speed workout - 2nd session

Today had another speed workout for my 10k race. It's the 2nd session of 6 x 800m with 4:30mins/km. It was raining in the morning so I ended up in the gym instead. Below is the timing:

1st 800m - 3:38
2nd 800m - 3:42
3rd 800m - 3:41
4th 800m - 3:42
5th 800m - 3:37
6th 800m - 3:40

Average about 3:40 mins. Not as good as my 1st session but working out on treadmill that's considered ok.

Speed Workout Week 1-1

Today marked the beginning of my 10k speed workout. Trying to achieve 4:30min/km pace in my next 10k race in Feb 2013.

I did 6 sets of 800m with goal race pace with 2 minutes recovery. Results as shown:

1st set - 3:39
2nd set - 3:30
3rd set - 3:28
4th set - 3:36
5th set - 3:40
6th set - 3:40

Average is 3:36mins. Job well done!

Finished my first full marathon with sub 5:00

I completed my first ever full marathon (StanChart Marathon Singapore 2012) with 4:49 hrs. I am very disappointed with this result but at least I learned some lessons here that I could try to avoid in my future race.

First, I followed the wrong group of pacers. I followed the 4:00 pacers which I knew myself that I could not have the consistent pace as them after 25km. Indeed, after 22km I began to lose sight of them gradually.

I walked! Something that I always make fun of people who walk in a race and it happened to me now. I walked at around 26km mark... And after which it turned out to be a mixture of walked and ran! I regained my posture only at 35km mark and ran throughout to complete the race. What a disgrace!

I should use all my left-over energy at 40km mark. I know I still have some energy after completing the race as I could still walk fast and I did not exhaust myself to the ground. I should finish the race and knock out after crossing the finishing line. That's what I mean by using up all energy I have in me.

Anyway, it's my first marathon and though it was very far away from my targeted goal, but at least it's a sub 5:00 race. I will work hard on my 10k race now and then move on to half marathon in the beginning of the year!

Long run busted again...

I learned my lesson today. I should not have ran speed work a day before my long run. Should have been an easy run that would suffice. So needless to say today's long run become a 15km "endurance" run. Thigh muscle soar and painful so could not go beyond 15km. In fact, I struggled to complete which demoralized me so much that I wanted to run again in the evening but you can't run with will power alone right, can you?

Anyway, I will have my rest day for tomorrow and going back to my hill repeats on Tuesday. Cheers!

600-metre breakdowns workout

Today is the first time I trained in a stadium ever since I started running this year. It was amazing that once I had difficulty even completing 1.6km in a stadium and it's now a walk in the park.

My workout today is 600-metre breakdowns. I started with a 20-min warm up jog and went on with 600, 400, 300 and 200 speed workout with 300-metre recoveries between intervals. I ran 2 x and then ended with another 20-25 mins of slow jog. Overall it was a great workout though I am quite exhauted but to improve fatigue resistance at faster speed this has to be done weekly.

Still, I'm looking forward to tomorrow's long run. Cheers!