Monthly Archives: February 2008

Hill Repeats

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I ran hill repeats on Monday morning. I had to ask around for where I could find some good hills to run the repeats on. A hill on the West River Parkway was suggested heading towards Franklin Ave. It was a pretty long hill so I chose a segment of it, which ended up being .16 miles or 258 meters. It was a good hill to run up and down 10 times in the sub-zero wind chill. Below is an elevation graph from the run:

Each repeat had an approximate gain of 44ft while overall during the 5.6 mile run I gained 9 feet of elevation. Not sure how that happened since I started and finished in the same spot! Just thought I’d show you this nice graph!

[tags] Hill Workout, Hills, Training [/tags]

Full Lunar Eclipse Tonight!

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Did you know about the Lunar Eclipse tonight? We are expecting a full Lunar Eclipse to occur tonight (Weds) starting at 7:53pm Eastern the entire event will be over at 12:09am Eastern. The full eclipse will occur around 9pm Eastern and last for almost an hour. This is all from USA Today. They have a lot more technical details for you too!  This eclipse should be viewable to almost everyone in the Northern Hemisphere, so if it is clear outside you should take a peak!

I know of several events here in Minneapolis alone, so I’m sure there are plenty of events in your neck of the woods too! Just stay warm out there!

One is at Minnehaha Falls Park (Steven’s House) – Part of Coldwater’s Full Moon Walks.  Three Rivers Park District is hosting several events including snowshoeing adventures.

What is a Superset?

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This past week I ran a superset workout on Monday. It is a little confusing and took a little research on my part to figure out exactly what it meant when I first saw it. My workout on Monday was: Run 2 x 400/800/1200 meter supersets. It also had pace goals and rest intervals included.

In my training review post I described it as simply “a 1.5 mile interval with alternating paces inside the interval.” Supersets are also sometimes called compound sets and are great for building lactate threshold, VO2 max, running economy, and finishing speed, according to Running Planet.

Body builders use “supersetting” to “build more muscle in a shorter period of time.” Body Building for You defines it this way:

A superset is an advanced training technique where you perform two exercises in a row with virtually no rest in between. Supersets are an excellent technique for muscular development, especially if you are short on time. Supersets are not, however, the most effective technique for building strength or power.

Matthew McConaughey actually does weight-lifting supersets to become an action figure!

Back to the running side of things! Running Planet’s Rick Morris says:

Interval training has been used for many years and is highly effective in building your fitness. But running super sets can provide you with even higher levels of fitness and race performance. Running super sets are very similar to strength super sets. You perform two or more intervals at different paces without a rest period.

He describes three types of supersets –

1) Drop Sets – like the one in my training week these sets start out at near full speed and then back down the pace as the distance increases. These are designed to help your body: “become more efficient at clearing that lactic acid and using it to produce energy. Starting with a very fast pace also makes your 5K and 10K paces feel easier. You become a more efficient runner and are able to “float” or “glide” with a more relaxed stride at race pace.”
2) Progressive Sets – are the exact opposite, you start with a longer and slower distance and then increase it to full speed at a shorter distance. This is a pre-exhaustion workout designed to “help with your finishing kick and train your body to run fast when fatigued.”

3) Compound Sets – combine the drop and progressive sets into one workout. These are similar to ladder workouts where you increase your distance and then bring it back down – valley compound set. You can also do it the other way around and start with a longer distance and decrease it before increasing your distance again – peak compound set. These types of sets are designed to replicate the peaks and valleys of racing.

Supersetting isn’t for everyone. I wouldn’t recommend super sets for everyone, it is part of the training program so the training is designed around the intensity of supersetting. In fact my college cross-country coach doesn’t recommend super sets at all.

His thoughts:

Although a lot of people start off too fast in a race and gradually slow down, it is an inefficient way to race. Therefore, I would not recommend training your body in a way that would be an inefficient way to race.

When we talked about supersets I didn’t have all the information I presented to you to present to him, so I don’t know if that would change his opinion or not. But I think the fact that not many training programs use supersets makes a strong argument.

Last year during training I missed a couple of the early superset workouts so I opted out of the later ones as well. We’ll see what happens this year as I train “properly” from the beginning!

[tags] Super Sets, Speed Work, Training, Intervals [/tags]

Half Training: Week Three

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This was a rough week. I started feeling the fatigue of being on a set training schedule and working full-time. It didn’t help that my schedule fluctuated this week so one morning I got up at 7am to run and another 6am. Things should continue to settle down. I am also getting a little bored with running the same routes each day and really miss the opportunity to run on dirt trails. The weather has been a little wild too, fluctuating up and down – nothing like doing speed work with several layers of clothing on!

Monday – Run 2 x 400/800/1200 meter supersets. Run 400 meters at 20 seconds per mile faster than 5K pace, 800 meters at 5K pace and 1200 meters at goal half marathon pace. Do not rest between the distances. Recover between the sets with 800 meters at an easy pace. Cool down with 800 meters at an easy pace. Supersets are an interesting concept I had not heard of before last year and are specific to this training program as far as I can tell. I’ll write a post shortly about them in more detail. Basically it is a 1.5 mile interval with alternating paces inside the interval. My goal times were: 400 1:21 – 1:28 800 2:53 – 3:06 and 1200 5:07. I did this as an out and back run on the Midtown Greenway with a -24 wind chill at 6:20am (there were other runners on the trail!). After my mile warm-up here are my splits for the first set: 1:29, 3:23, 5:32. I didn’t know my pace but knew I was off-pace. After my 800 rest here are the splits from my second set: 1:44, 3:44, 5:52. I think it was definitely a mental challenge, I would much rather have run this on a track so to get constant feedback about pace and distance. I finished with about a mile cool-down and the entire run was 5.57miles in 45:01. It was nasty!

Tuesday – Run 6 miles easy. Run 5 acceleration strides. Biked at the YWCA for 14 miles for 45 minutes. Nothing too exciting happens on these workouts! I did do some accelerations increasing my cadence for a minute or so towards the end.

Wednesday – Standard warm up. Run 8 x 800 meter repeats at 5 seconds per mile faster than 5K pace. Recover between the repeats with 400 meters at an easy pace. Cool down with 800 meters at an easy pace. This was also an out and back run, it was 10 above which made it a lot easier to run. I think the same observations about doing interval training on a track versus on the road plays out here. Plus the change in surface would be nice too! My goal pace for each interval was 2:50 – 2:56. After a mile warm-up here are my splits: 3:08, 3:17, 3:16, 3:24, 3:23, 3:17, 3:23, and 3:28. Again none of them were in my goal pace. Each interval was still sub-7 minute pace though.

Thursday – Run 6 miles easy. Run 5 acceleration strides. This was Valentine’s Day! I woke up at 6am and felt exhausted and didn’t want to run at all. We also were expecting lots of snow when we woke up so I reset the alarm and went back to sleep. I think there is something to be said about resting when you are extremely exhausted to prevent burnout/over-training.

Friday – Run 4 miles easy. Run 5 acceleration strides. I spiced things up a little bit and instead of running down the Midtown Greenway I took off north towards downtown. I followed Chicago Ave which takes you right past the Metrodome – which is just over a mile from our house! I ran around it once trying to find a way to start running back south and after looping around it just over one complete time I found a sidewalk which ended up in a parking lot which took me to the trail leading from downtown south towards the Greenway. I jumped off the trail at Franklin Ave and wound my way home through a variety of side streets. I forgot to do my strides until after I was out of the shower! The weather was -4 air temperature but still sunny! I totaled 4.4 miles in 36:15.

Saturday – Run 10 miles. Run the first 8 miles at an easy pace. Run the last 2 miles at your goal half marathon pace. I was finally able to join the MDRA Polar Bears for a run this morning. It was a good size group and the weather was perfect 12 degrees above with the wind chill at 1 above. The sun was shining, a perfect day to prevent Seasonal Affective Disorder! There were lots of groups going out at different paces and distances I went with the second pack running just under 8 minute pace. We ran along the Minnehaha Parkway for about 5.4 miles and turned around at the Lyndhurst Community Center. We came back stopping for water with 1.5 to go. We finished our run in 10.75 miles at 1:26:40 (8:04). I decided not to do the pickup for a variety of reasons, but it was an excellent run.

Sunday – Rest! You better believe it!

Total Miles: 28.2 miles running and 14 miles biking. Combined total of 4 hours and 33 minutes of working out!

Week 4 should be a little easier week and the 10-day forecast looks a little more promising!

[tags] Half Marathon, Training [/tags]