Laura is preparing for Helsinki Half Marathon with the help of Runner's High running school. In this article series we follow Laura's training towards her goal.
Almost two weeks of training done and it has gone surprisingly well. Of course my legs get tired after long runs, but that is part of the deal. Seems that my muscles are a bit confused as I am running again and especially as the distances are longer. However, I was quite surprised at how fast I recovered after the runs. I have been stretching and foam rolling after every run and I believe that helps a lot, so don't forget to help your body to recover faster!
This week's group training was all about speed resistance. The main part consisted of 1x8 min and 3x5min runs. The speed during the 8 min run was about 6 min / km and during the 5 min runs approximately 5 min 15 seconds / km. The pulse should have been around 80 % of your maximum level and I'm pretty sure that I run too fast as I did not have my heart rate monitor on me. The run felt really good, but I think I might have gotten a bit too excited about running again. Next time I'll wear my heart rate monitor just in case. It was much easier to do this kind of training in a group, especially mentally, as you don´t have to worry about keeping an eye on the watch all the time.
I´ve tried to focus on my technique in my training. As I have said in the earlier, there is a slight difference in technique between longer and shorter distances, which is what I have run before. The speed in training for longer distances should be quite slow so I end up jogging lazily instead of running properly which I guess is quite typical for sprinters. In other words, the running position may drop too low, the step is too bumpy and the cadence is like that of a turtle. In the earlier lecture we had about technique, I discovered that a perfect cadence would be around 170 which seemed pretty fast to me. Even though at the beginning it felt very odd, it did work in the end and running felt much easier and I did not get tired so fast. Even the longer runs felt tolerable as I haven´t been a big fan of them before.
You can work on the technique by improving your supporting muscles. Your midriff and gluteal muscles have to be in shape so that the position remains upright and linear while running. All kinds of core exercises, pelvic lifts, lunges as well as coordination exercises are a perfect way to improve your muscle strength and technique. Coordination exercises are even more effective when done uphill! ;)
Next week we will be uphill running in Pirkkola, so I am looking forward to that!
PS. Just received the results of the heart rate test. The results were not surprising due to a long break from running and health problems, but now I know from where to start from. I´ll tell you more next week!
