Every week I do a 2.5 mile tempo run on Tuesday with guys from work.
It's a handicapped run, meaning that we stagger our start times so that we should all finish at the same time. Since we're all scientists and engineers, of course we keep track of times, and have a complicated algorithm to calculate one's handicap. It's based on a weighted average of your all time average, your average over the last 5 runs, and your fastest time ever.
The formula is perplexing, but that isn't what has been itching at the corner of my mind lately.
Here it is. My fastest times seem to come on a Tuesday following a hard weekend.
On Tuesdays following an easy weekend, or a moderate weekend, my times are slower. I don't understand why this is the case.
For the last year, my ten best times are all this way. Sometimes, it is the Tuesday following a race. Most of the time, I have not taken Monday off. These good times are not grouped into a type of training – base, build, sharpen, taper, run focus, bike focus. They do not come after epic weekends – not after the IM, not after the Jemez 50K/SF century double.
Today, I had my third best time. (It isn't plotted yet.) But I just did the Quad on Saturday, and Sunday I rode my bike.
My fastest time came after my first IM race rehearsal weekend, in which I swam 4200 yds, biked 113 miles, and ran 7 miles.
What gives?
Possibilities:
Psychological:
- I always feel like I am dogging it out there on Tuesday after a long training weekend. So maybe I push harder and ignore/discount the tiredness in my legs?
- Maybe there is increased confidence from the hard work over the weekend? (I don't think so.)
- Maybe the discomfort during the short hard tempo effort seems small compared to the long term discomfort of the weekend?
- I seem to recover quickly, so perhaps my short, high intensity engine is already replenished and maybe supercompensating from the weekend's hard work? (I doubt it – too quick, don't you think?)
- Perhaps the hard weekends force me to hydrate and fuel adequately at least after the effort, so on the following Tuesday my body is more prepared?
- Does this mean I'm not working hard enough on my hard weekends? Or does it just mean that the training is doing its job in making me faster?
Just an oddity that continues to surface. Any ideas?
2 comments:
Have you tracked your HR during the runs? It would be interesting to see how your HR compares against the other run.
Only sporadically. Mostly, my HR seems to track with the outside temperature! Interesting thought, though, maybe it's time to keep better records for awhile. HR could help answer some suspicions.
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