Speed Endurance and Anaerobic Lactic System

Sunday, May 22
Ran to the Y (27:45), lifted and ran back (27:10).
7.5 miles

Saturday, May 21
After reading an article, Speed Endurance 1 – middle distance, by Peter Sandery Level IV-ATFCA Coach, I decided to do another round of 200s. Sandery suggests that those who want to improve their 800m race time should run the repetitions at their target 800m pace. He developed sessions that are aimed at improving lactic tolerance, "your ability to maintain pace as the by-products of repeated anaerobic lactic energy production accumulate." I guess these “by-products “ are the result of repeated demands on the anaerobic lactic system coupled with truncated recovery periods.

According to Sandery, a typical session consists of 2 sets of 6 reps of 200m at the target 800m pace, ideally a little faster than you are currently running for an 800m race. He gives some guidance about how much rest you should take based on whether your repeats are above or below 40. For instance, if your reps are slower 40 seconds, your recoveries should start at 60s and decrease by 5 seconds for each rep, down to 40 seconds. If your reps are less than 40, recoveries should begin at 45 seconds and decrease each by 5 seconds down to 25 seconds. Sandery argues that, "The recovery time between the 200m reps is not long enough for the by-products of anaerobic demand to be completely cleared from the muscles." A recovery walk of 400m in 6-8 minutes between sets is needed to enable you to recover for the second set.

According to Sandery, this type of workout, which I've done before, is designed to improve the ability of your body to transport lactate through muscle cell membranes;
the capacity to buffer increased muscle cell acidity; better pace judgement; and the ability to cope with the mental demands of sustained anaerobic effort.

So...I did 2 sets of 6x200...at 7 AM. My rest started at 60 seconds and I chopped it down by 5 seconds after each 200, ending in 40 seconds. My runs were 30s in the first set. The second set proceeded similarly, except the 4th one was in 32 and the 5th one was in 31. The rest were in 30.

A similar session is:
16 x 200m @ 800m pace, recoveries decreasing from 90s to 15s in 5s steps.

(I've been meaning to document that my hamstrings have been sore this last week, particularly my left one. In fact, the soreness reaches up high to my butt and down to my calf. I hope it's nothing serious.)