Interval Run – Dec 10,2008

I had a slight body pain in the morning and it was freezing (25F) and so I decided to do the run in the evening. It was still cold in the evening (30F, including the wind factor) when I decided to do a Interval run. It's been a while since I did the Interval run and so I wanted to get the last interval run before the marathon. I did a easy pace one mile (8:25 min/mile) to get to the track near my house. I took a break for a couple of minutes and finished the first mile in ( 8 min/mile ). After taking the second 2 minute break for water, I finished the third mile in (7:45 min/mile). It was getting dark and there was a couple running on the track with an unleashed, although friendly, dog which threw me off a bit for the third mile. I speeded up for the fourth mile and managed to finish it in (7:30 min/mile). After taking the final break for 2 minutes, I ran back home for the last mile (7:45min/mile).

Mile 1 – 8:25 min/mile

2 minute break

Mile 2 – 8:00 min/mile

2 minute break

Mile 3 – 7:45 min/mile

2 minute break

Mile 4 – 7:30 min/mile

2 minute break

Mile 5 – 7:45 min/mile

Here are the average stats from the GPS

Activity

Type

Activity

Type

Miles

Time (HH:MM:SS)

Avg. Pace (min/Mile)

Avg. Speed

Calories Burnt

Avg. Heart Rate

Morning

Morning

Evening

Evening

None

None

Running

Interval Run

5.01

0:39:32

7:53

7.6

635

159

 

Interval Run – Oct 31, 2008

Since I am running the official Dallas Running club Half marathon on Sunday, I took the day off on Thursday and postponed my interval run from to Friday. I woke up early and reached the school track at 7:30 am. Instead of doing the usual short track runs, I decided to do a faster pace longer runs to prepare for the DRC half on the weekend. Here are the pace times from the training today.

1 mile warm up – 8:30 min / mile

5K (3.13 miles) – 25:50 min

2 miles cool down – 17:00 min

It was just 2 stops, one after the 1 mile and the other after 5K although I took a 30 sec time out during the 5K to tie the lace. These are the little things that you need to take care of during the race. Here are the stats from the GPS watch:

Activity

Type

Activity

Type

Miles

Time (HH:MM:SS)

Avg. Pace (min/Mile)

Avg. Speed

Calories Burnt

Avg. Heart Rate

Morning

Morning

Evening

Evening

Running

Track: 1 mi warmup in 8:30, 5K in 25:50, 2mi in 17:00

None

None

6:25

0:53:30

8:33

7

804

169

Interval Run – Oct 22, 2008

After a 10 mile tempo run yesterday morning, I decided to just get the Interval run out of the way today evening. While the tempo run is hard on my legs because of the reinforced concrete track, the interval runs are on a track which is not so hard on the legs. The best place to increase the speed is on a track. Today's track run was supposed to be 3 sets of (2x1200) with a 2 minute break between the 1200m runs and 4 minute breaks between the sets. Here are the times for the warm up, track run and the cool down:

Warm up Easy 1 mile – 8m 55sec

1200 m – 5m : 18sec

1200 m – 5m : 36sec

1200 m – 5m : 45sec

1200 m – 5m : 40sec

1200 m – 5m : 29sec

1200 m – 5m : 36sec

Cool Down Easy 0.85 miles: 8 m

The relative slower times (compared to last Track run) are because of the high wind factor forcing me to reduce the pace for about 600m. The reason for the relative slower third and fourth 1200m is because of some water fountain that sprinkled water on a part of the track that forced me to run on grass for about 150m and that slowed me down a bit.

Here are the average stats from the GPS:

Activity

Type

Activity

Type

Miles

Time (HH:MM:SS)

Avg. Pace (min/Mile)

Avg. Speed

Calories Burnt

Avg. Heart Rate

Morning

Morning

Evening

Evening

None

None

Running

Track Run: 1 mi warmup/ 3x(2x1200m)(2min RI) (4 min RI between sets) / 0.85 mile cooldown

6:36

0:50:41

7:58

7.5

804

156

 

 

 

 

Interval Training – Oct 15, 2008

Since I woke up late and had to get to work early, again I missed my morning run but got back early in the evening and made it to the school track at 6:15 pm. The track (the one I run on is synthetic) is much easier on your feet and there are no hills. So, this is a good place to try to improve your speed. As I blogged earlier, I am following the FIRST program (http://www.furman.edu/first/fmtp.htm) for the tempo and track runs. Here is a breakdown of the runs that I did today on the track.

Warm up Easy 1 mile: 9 min

Interval Speed 2 miles : 14 min 40 sec

Interval Speed: 800m : 3 min 35 sec

Interval Speed: 800m : 3 min 30 sec

Cool Down Easy 2.5 miles: 23 min

Here are the stats from the GPS watch:

 

Activity

Type

Activity

Type

Miles

Time (HH:MM:SS)

Avg. Pace (min/Mile)

Avg. Speed

Calories Burnt

Avg. Heart Rate

Morning

Morning

Evening

Evening

None

None

Running

Track - 1 mi warmup-400m jog - 2 mi - 800m jog - 2x800 - 400m jog - 2.5 mi cooldown

6.51

0:54:01

8:17

7.2

9.8

156

 

Interval Training – Oct 8, 2008

After doing the tempo run yesterday, I wanted to stick to my original schedule and finish the track run today. It would have been a overkill if I attempted this in the morning. So, I decided to do the track in the evening. I reached the local school 400 m track at 6:40 pm. According to the FIRST program (http://www.furman.edu/first/fmtp.htm) , which I am following for my Marathon training, I was supposed to do 2x(6x400m) i.e 2 sets of 6x400 m runs with 1.5 min break between each of the 400m runs and 2.5 min break between the 2 sets. So, totally I am supposed to run 12 rounds of 400m. When I started the track workouts about a month back, I used to do the 400m in 2 min. I decided to speed up a little this time. One of my colleague who used to be a track and field athelete runs the 400m in about 1:20 min. That is my long time goal but I wanted to cut atleast 20 sec for my 400m runs today. I was successful in doing that for 11 out of the 12 rounds. Here is a break up of times

1 mile warmup – 9:30 min

12x400m breakup:

Run #	Time
1	1:38
2	1:38
3	1:33
4	1:34
5	1:35
6	1:35
7	1:35
8	1:38
9	1:38
10	1:43
11	1:39
12	1:39

 

Total: 19:25 min , Average per round: 1:37 (That's about 6:38 min per mile !)

2.75 miles cool down: 27 min

Here are the average stats from the GPS. As you can see, the average heart rate is really HIGH! This means I unduly pushed myself. Need to be more careful of this when I increase my pace from next time.

Activity	Type	Activity	Type	Miles	Time (HH:MM:SS)	Avg. Pace (min/Mile)	Avg. Speed	Calories Burnt	Avg. Heart Rate
Morning	Morning	Evening	Evening
None	None	Running	Interval: 1mile/12x400/2.75miles	6.75	0:55:52	8:16	7.2	826	172

 

 

Interval Training – Oct 1, 2008

I woke up late in the morning and so couldn't go for running in the morning. So, I decided to do it in the evening.I bought a box of "Gu" Gels for my weekend runs today ! These are really good to keep you energized during the long runs.

I started the evening doing about 300 upper and lower Abs exercises and about 70 push ups. Then I took a break for about 30 minutes and went to the school track to start my interval training at 6:45 pm. This was a bad idea since I ended up running in pitch dark for the last 1.5 miles. So, it's always a good idea to begin the evening runs at 6:15 pm. Here is a record of my times for the interval training (1 mile warmup, 2 x 1200m , 4 x 800m, 1.85 miles cooldown)

1 mile warm up – 9:35 min

Walking for 2 min.

1200m (0.75 mile) – 5:35 min

Walking for 2 min.

1200m (0.75 mile) – 5:50 min

Walking for 2 min.

800m (0.5 mile) – 3:50 min

Walking for 2 min.

800m (0.5 mile) – 3:55 min

Walking for 2 min.

800m (0.5 mile) – 3:45 min

Walking for 2 min.

800m (0.5 mile) – 3:45 min

Walking for 2 min.

1.85 miles cool down.

Here are the average stats from the GPS.

Date

Day

Activity

Type

Miles

Time (HH:MM:SS)

Avg. Pace (min/Mile)

Avg. Speed

Calories Burnt

Avg. Heart Rate

1-Oct-08

Wed

Running

Interval

6.36

0:55:07

8:40

6.9

806

156

 

 

Interval Training – Sep 24, 2008

I started the day early at 5:00 am today since I had to drop my brother at his hotel. I went to the school track and field where I usually do my interval training on a school 400m track. It's a nice synthetic track where you can go at any time to practice. I reached the track at about 6:30 am. It was still dark. I did the first warm up mile in about 10 min. Then , I did 2x1200m, 4x800m and finally cooled down for about 1.8 miles.

Here is the log of the runs:

1 mile - Warm up – 10 min

1200 m – 6 min

Break -3 min

1200 m – 6 min

Break – 3 min

800 m – 4 min

Break – 2 min

800m – 4 min

Break – 2 min

800 m – 4 min

Break – 2 min

800m – 4 min

Break – 2 min

1.8 miles – Cool down – 18 min.

Here are the stats from the Forerunner.

Date

Day

Activity

Type

Miles

Time (HH:MM:SS)

Avg. Pace (min/Mile)

Avg. Speed

Calories Burnt

Avg. Heart Rate

24-Sep

Wed

Running

Interval

6.35

0:56:00

8:49

6.8

806

154

 

Interval Training – Sep 3, 2008

There were only two people from Asha that showed up for the Interval training today. Since we have the "Laugh out Loud" event coming up on the weekend, many people were busy with planning for the event. I met a girl, who was a cross country runner, at the track. She told me that she had some injury and was recovering from it and looking for a running group. We started our interval training with a one mile warm up, then did 4 x 800m with a 2 minute break's in between. I did the first 800 in 3m 30 sec ! Then the next two were in 4 minutes and the last one was in 4m 15 sec. Then we did a 2 mile cool down.

Here are the stats from my Forerunner.

 

Date

Day

Activity

Type

Miles

Time (HH:MM:SS)

Avg. Pace (min/Mile)

Avg. Speed

Calories Burnt

Avg. Heart Rate

3-Sep

Wed

Running

Interval

5.1

0:45:10

8:51

6.8

667

160

Interval Training – Aug 28,2008

I missed the Interval training with the Asha group yesterday evening since I was on a business trip to Phoenix. So, I decided to run in the Hotel gym in the morning.

Log of my Interval Training:

1 mile of warm up at leisure pace – 12 min/mile

8 * 800m at 2 minutes faster than my usual pace (10min/mile) i.e. at 8 min /mile i.e. 4 min for each 800m

1 mile of cool down at leisure pace – 11 / mile

Since I didn't have my GPS, here are the stats from the Cardio machine at the Gym

Date	Day	Type	Miles	Time (HH:MM:SS)	Avg. Pace (min/Mile)	Avg. Speed	Calories Burnt	Avg. Heart Rate
28-Aug	Thu	Interval	6.01	1:00:00	10:00	6	720	160

 

I was thrilled to reach my long term goal of completing 6 miles within an hour at a decent average heart rate.

Track Workout – Aug-20-2008

Today evening was a hard track workout. We were not sure if we will be keeping up the 7:00 pm time since it was raining heavily. I was keen to run in the rain as well since it would be good to have done it at least once just in case it rains on the Marathon day. Just before I went to the track, I noticed 2 rainbows in the sky. I have rarely seen two rainbows in the sky. I captured them with my iPhone (the 2G version J)

http://picasaweb.google.com/Srinivasan.Raghavan/RainbowDallas

As I reached the track, the rain had stopped completely. I was happy to see my fellow Asha runners reach there on time, if not earlier J

I did a one mile warmup at 11 min/mile pace. Then did 4 repetitions of 800 m each at 2 minutes per 800m for the first 3 repetitions and 2 min 10 sec for the fourth one. I wastaking a one or two minutes breaks between each repetition. Then I did the last mile cool down at 11 min/mile pace. Here are the averages from my Garmin Forerunner.

Date	Day		Type		Miles	Time (HH:MM:SS)		Avg. Pace (min/Mile)	Avg. Speed	Calories Burnt	Avg. Heart Rate
20-Aug	Wed		Interval		4.3	0:40:52		9:30	6.3	567	154