The Great Escape

Wharfedale in patchwork

A return to some quality on the dreadmill for intervals yesterday saw me hammer out 10x500M reps at a fair lick on the machine. At 11.3MPH and gradient set at 1.3% the pace should have been okay but my heart rate was still a bit short of where it should be. I upped the efforts to 2 mins in the final reps, determined to be exhausted. 

Unthwarted I set about some research online comparing notions of treadmill effort with running in the great outdoors. It would seem that a couple of adjustments are needed if you're seeking to truly match the workload. We located a couple of useful sites here and here for some helpful tips on pacing your session. Essentially you need to adjust the speed and gradient to compensate for wind resistance, undulations and the effort of running on normal road or track surfaces. Running all my sessions at 1.3% gradient was a reasonable judgement but I need to up the speed a notch or two next time for a more satisfying, lungbursting workout. 10 X 2 minutes is the plan; a top treadmill tip according to treadmill aficionado and classy runner, Gary D.

Asquith 18 - course profile

After the treadmill training trials this week I was cockahoop to be out on some firm road this morning. The legs were feeling less than frisky but mighty glad to see some sunshine and tarmac after being kept indoors for much of this week. Today was an 18 miler under clear blue skies and bright sunshine. The overnight frost didn't stop this runningbear from getting the long road miles in but did require nerves of steel as I dodged traffic on some of the busier routes around town. Patches of black ice and compacted snow added interest to this undulating route, which was run at a more civilised 7.23 pace this week. I'm definitely learning my lessons from the marathon training breakdown that was last spring; I plan to stay fresh for quality sessions and run steady and long at no less than 7 minute pace... unless it's a tempo session :] Another fine training week in the bank.