Picking up speed with Team Istrunbul

Half a minute faster per kilometer in one month.

Finally my speed and endurance are coming back! After half a year of not being able to run, when I cautiously started running again, I found that my old speed and endurance were largely gone. The entire fall was full of uphill races like Skåla Opp, Storehesten Opp, Stoltzekleiven Opp, Lake Garda Mountain Race, Limone Extreme Vertical, Blåmanen races, etc etc, which suited me fine, and my training mainly concentrated on uphills and terrain. Although my heart rate and performance were fine in these races, it did not translate into speed when it came to flat running, which was basically restricted to the one month I spent in Paris. Trying to run fast felt exhaustive and hard, and even slow runs bumped my heart rate up to threshold level when the distance got longer than 10-12 km. 

Moving to Istanbul gave a sudden improvement of form already from the very start. I think a new environment and joining a new running group gave a subconscious change in state-of-mind which was beneficial. Meeting new people and getting used to a new place kept my mind busy with other things than concentrating on the hardness of a run. The mornings runs of Team Istrunbul offer a large variety in speed and distance. The group is big, so there is always somebody to run with matching your pace and distance. I try to vary so that sometimes I do longer and slower runs, and at least twice a week I try to hang on to a group of faster runners. The best is when the fastest people are tapering or doing a (for them) low zone run, which gives perfect sweet spot (zone 3.5) conditions for me, as well as allowing them to tell entertaining stories all the way.

It is quite a lot of fun to check my training log since November and see the improvement. During November and December Frank and I did a few longer runs, but the distance never got over 16 km and the pace stayed slower than 7 min/km. Just before I moved to Istanbul we also did a few 10km runs at my sweet spot zone, which resulted in a pace of 6 min/km.

Nowadays, during training I run 10 km in 55 minutes staying in sweet spot all the time, which corresponds to pace 5:30. I have also tested that I can do 3-4 kilometers with pace 5:15, still not going above sweet spot. When I was training for Oslo half marathon in 2014, 5:15 was my target race pace, and it feels really good to get my body and head used to that speed again without feeling exhaustion. That is the beauty of running in a group. There is chatting and interesting stories all the way, so any negative thoughts about the hardness of running get distracted by all the fun stuff. The varying weather and the many beautiful sunrises also help keep my mind away from concentrating  thoughts. Also my long runs have become easier. During the last week I did two 20 km runs in pace 6:30, staying in zone 1 most of the time. This is a huge improvement compared to just a couple of months ago, when I had to break a 20 km 6:30 pace training at 14 km because my heart rate was close to threshold level.

In a sense I am experiencing the form improvement that I had in 2014 all over again. However, at that time I was not really aware of my heart rate zones, and I was pushing my self hard, feeling exhausted at the end of every single run. I think sweet spot training is really working. No exhaustion; just a lot of energy for the rest of the day, and steady improvement of form. What I have not been doing so far in Istanbul is interval training. Perhaps this is fine for the moment, as I am still building up my endurance and distance, which I need for the long flat races of this year. I might soon start doing treadmill intervals once a week. I have just tested the university sports facilities. They have treadmills, all the equipment I need to continue with my HSR training, as well as a huge swimming pool, which really makes me start planning a swimming session once a week.

So many opportunities, so little time...