Week 4 of 12 to SCMS

Monday (rest)

Off. Core exercises

Tuesday (interval)
3k w/u, 6 x 1k @ 4:55 pace w/1min rest, 3min rest, 4 x 400 @ 1:42-1:44 w/2min rest, 2-3k c/d

3k warm-up in 19:00 (avg pace 6:19min/km)

Bidadari Cemetery 6 x 1k @ 4:55 pace

Splits/k (loop) 4:28 4:37 4:37 4:36 4:34 4:39

in 27:34 avg pace 4:35 (w/o 1:00 R)

Bidadari Cemetery 4 x 400 @ 1:42-1:44

Splits/400m 4:09(1:39min) 4:05(1:38min) 3:50(1:32min) 3:51(1:32min)

in 6:24 avg pace 4:00 (w/o 2:00 R)

3k cool down in 18:43 avg pace 6:13min/km)

Total session (w/u + c/d) 13.6k in 71:41 (av 5:16 min/km)

I am very pleased with my intervals today as I recorded great timing for my intervals. Surprisingly I was feeling really strong for most part of the run, the key been able to recover fast during and in between my rest time, and this was done with a shorter rest time of 60secs as compared to previous sessions of 90secs. I am not sure if the improvement had anything to do with the Power Balance band.

Wednesday (easy)
8k easy pace
47:52mins (av pace 5:58min/km)

Thursday (tempo)
3k w/u, 10k tempo run @ 5:00-5:05 pace, 2-3k c/d
3k easy (warm up) in 18:11 (avg pace 6:03min/km)

Bidadari Cemetery 10k tempo run
Splits/k 4:37 4:57 4:58 5:02 5:00 4:56 5:03 4:59 5:01 4:43
in 49:19mins (avg pace 4:55min/km)

3k easy (cool down) in 19:16 (avg pace 6:25min/km)

Total session (w/u + c/d) 16k in 86:46 (av 5:25 min/km)

I had a great run on Tuesday but Thursday run was really a tough one for me to keep up with my intended pace. It was supposed to be a "comfortable hard" pace for me but it was tiring even though I was running at a slower pace as compared to Tuesday. I felt recovery was slow and at times almost breathless. Perhaps it was due to (1) Over-paced my first k (2) had a hard session on Tuesday (3) the lack water before the session and with no rest time in between. Overall really glad to be able to run 10k non-stop at tempo pace. Felt motivated after I happened to see this interesting article Run The Right Tempo Pace With Help From Runner's World.com

Friday
Yoga

Saturday (easy+strength)
8k easy w/5 x 20 sec strides
8k easy run in 47:17mins (av pace 5:54min/km)
20 sec strides splits(min/k) SR40sec

3:10(100m) 3:08(110m) 3:08(110m) 2:57(110m) 2:50(120m)

Sunday (easy)

20k long run @ easy pace
3k easy (warm up) in 17:43 (avg pace 5:54min/km)
Estimate 1hr 50mins (av pace 5:30min/km)

Estimate 2k easy (cool up) in 14:00 (avg pace 7:00min/km)
Total session (w/u + c/d) 25k in 2h 21mins43sec (av 5:40min/km)

After my 2k warm up, I started my Garmin watch to time my LSD but it fails me and suddenly went dead after only 1k, not sure what happened to the battery? Anyway (without the watch) at around 5:05pm I decide to start all over again and also no choice but to do a 20x1k loop at Bidadari Cemetery to better gauge my distance. Well I almost lost track of my count :p as at the same time I need to "feel" my pace. Think I over paced myself as I finished my LSD at 6:55pm, which is on average 5:30min/km pace, hope I have finally "upgrade" my easy pace :)

Summary

It is a week of 71km with surprisingly good timings for my intervals, although I struggled more with my tempo run but at least I still managed to hit my intended pace. If the article on Runner's World site is true, I look forward to more tempo sessions as it seems to be another important element for distance running. Another race coming up next week, certainly hope I can do well after all these weeks of training.