April 20, Wednesday,    5 p.m.

FORTUITOUS BREEZING!

On this bright and sunny spring day I was very fortunate to get in a workout that I did not anticipate.   I haven’t been very happy with the way my left foot has been feeling over the last few days.   And I was determined not to run again until it felt completely healed.  This is the foot I believe has been compensating for my sore Achilles tendon.  When I woke up this morning there was pain in my left foot again.  I decided that this would be another non running day.   I heated my left foot for 30 minutes before I began walking on it this morning.   This would have to be a swimming and biking day for sure .  On a trip to Home Depot early in the afternoon Arlene  and I passed the Horse Track.   I felt the cinders calling, and we decided to stop and walk a little to see how my foot felt.   It turned out there were no negative feelings, no soreness as I walked and began to jog.  It occurred to me as I was jogging that I was wearing my old Brooks trainers instead of my newer Asics. The shoe seemed to fit more snug then the ones I have been wearing lately to train.   Anyway my foot felt good!

So I made a decision to try a workout that did not involve too much running. I settled on one of Dr. Mirkin’s suggested workouts . The 30 +20+ 10 workout incorporates almost all of the essential elements of training with limited miles run. Dr. Mirkin  cites studies that have shown that six weeks of training twice a week with the 30 -20- 10 plan reduced 5K Runners average time by 38 seconds. Here is how it goes.

The 30 + 20 + 10 refer to periods of running at a specified  pace  The idea is to run 30 seconds at road training pace + 20 seconds at 5K race pace  + a final 10 seconds at maximum speed.  That is one full minute of running.   That is followed by one minute of slow jogging or even walking.   Each set consists of five of these segments.   A typical workout would be three sets with 3 to 4 minutes recovery between sets. The total of actual running equals only 15 minutes.   the heart remains elevated for 35 minutes.  There are 15 ten-second bursts at maximum speed. There are 5 minutes of running at 5K pace and seven and a half minutes of running at road training pace.

Running this workout today with 72 hours of rest was very exciting.   I felt like my body was firing on all cylinders.  Each of the elements I try to concentrate on were smooth and relaxed.   My breathing, my stride, my arm carry  and my foot plant all seemed to be in sync today and I was ‘breezing’  along with ease.  An apt term for a workout on a Horse Track. Continue reading 30+20+10×5×3 = 15 That’s Training Math! →