Saturday- Spun for 35 minutes, which feels very good (I need to ride more!) and ran 5 miles. Felt pretty good. I know I'm testing in the morning.
Sunday- W/U 2 miles, first one so slow it was like sleep walking. After the w/u, 4 miles at HR 150
Mile 1 HR 150, 7:58
Mile 2 HR 150, 8:01
Mile 3 HR 150, 8:05
Mile 4 HR 150, 8:05
Then I ran another mile just because. I am not that excited about this test. Although I'm not 100% (still feeling that bug a little) I want the HR a little lower. 150 is my Aet, so that's the target, but I would've liked to see 147ish. Oh well. And sure I would like to have seen faster splits, but who wouldn't. This is my second successful test, meaning it did a pretty good job of guaging my fitness that day. My last test consisted of splits around 8:12 and slower from there. So today is an improvement, but not huge.
For the record: Off week total mileage: 40 miles
I am a MAF infant. I have so much work to do and consistency and discipline are going to be very key. If my recent work-outs (last few months) had consistently been 130-140, 140-150 without much deviation at all, I'd probably see more improvement. Plus diet would play a huge factor. Well, you can't win them all.
Lucho suggested more design in my program, integrating a rest week every fourth week. This week will include a test. Every four weeks. I need to step-it-up-a-notch!
Happy Father's Day!
Hey Matt-
ReplyDeleteYour MAF progression should slow as you get more and more fit, which is GREAT! That means you're doing it correctly. As you come to a stand still in pace progression it then becomes time to cut yourself loose and start doing tempo runs and short intervals like 200's, 300's and 400's at 5k effort. I feel the long tempo run is by far the most superior fitness stimulation you can implement. Once you do reach that plateau and have hovered at the same MAF pace for a couple or several weeks then start at ~4 miles at 2-8 beats below LT and build it every week (for ~4-6 weeks) up to 10 miles. It's awesome..
With your diet- rather than use the scale to tell you that you are at a good weight, use performance as your guide. As you lose weight pay strict attention to MAF pace, PE, fatigue... all of these will decline once you cross over that ideal weight. I think it's better to be 1 pound too heavy than too light! I am trying to gain some weight back right now just so I can perform in training, my available fuel has been compromised from dieting. Just watch your training logs closely and look for patterns and consecutive poor performance..
T