With 18 days to Shamrock, I figured it would be a good time to test my shoes of choice for the marathon – the Brooks Racer ST4. I decided on a treadmill workout in case the shoes didn’t work out (at least I’d be able to hop off and change into something more comfortable), and I knew the 10k Strength Builder DVD would keep me honest and not allow any wimping out.
You may or may not remember from an earlier post, but 10k Strength Builder starts off with a 10 minute warm up at “base pace” which includes several 30 second striders to prepare your legs and lungs for the workout.
The warm up is followed by 5 x 6 minute steady state intervals at a simulated 10k race pace. The incline starts at 0% but builds to a 5% grade by the end of the 6 minute period. For the final 6 minutes, Coach Troy doubles the incline so you end up running base pace at 10%! Oh yes, you get 90 seconds rest between each 6 minute effort.
The complete workout takes just over 50 minutes and is pretty challenging to say the least. Funny thing is, I felt so good tonight, I doubled up and did another 5 x 6 minutes with the same 90 seconds recovery. The shoes worked very well but I’m going to test them out in a local 10k on Saturday morning just to make sure.
I also received a card from the Shamrock Marathon organizers today containing bib number and race weekend instructions. The marathon starts at 8am on Saturday, March 22nd and my race number is 147. Sounds lucky doesn’t it?
Enjoy the 10K this weekend. sounds like you are poised for another great race.
It will be another indicator of where my fitness is at the moment. Should be fun!