ToT 13k Hard Workout Countdown - #2

We're at the point now where there's some hard work in each day, but with extra rest. So today had some T-pace intervals, but with three minutes of rest instead of the usual one. This kept a fair bit of energy in my legs, considering by the end of it I had twenty minutes of harder running completed. That's when the fun began, with a 12 minute acceleration run. For this, I started at a moderate effort, then increased the pace every minute, until I was finishing with a minute at I-pace. In my case, I started at 8.0 mph, then upped the pace by 0.2 mph at every minute, finishing at 10.2 mph. I learned pretty fast that there was some fatigue present, since my effort was laboured earlier than I would have expected. The last two minutes were some of the hardest work I've done outside of a race.

Once again I had the footpod going, and as usual, the pace was estimated to be faster than what the treadmill claims. Similar to the i-Magic power readings, it's not necessarily about accuracy as it is about consistency. In my records I differentiate between treadmill runs and outside, so the differences are taken into account to figure out my workload.

A nice thing about the footpod is measuring cadence. Because of this, I may be adjusting some of my training focus for part of next year. At E-pace intensities, I'm holding a steady 90-91 spm. This is right where I should be. However, as the speed goes up, my cadence picks up more than I think is appropriate, at ~95 spm for T-pace, and 98 spm for I-pace. I think I need to work on my leg strength and increasing my stride length, so I can run these speeds at lower cadences. I'm relying too much on turnover at higher speeds. Without a longer stride, my maximum potential speed is capped by how fast I can get my legs around, and that has to be approaching the limit. I think I'm one of the few people who actually have to put in a concerted effort to bringing turnover down.

Run: 64 minutes, w/4x5 minutes @ 9.3 mph + 3 minutes @ 7.5 mph, 12 minute acceleration run (start @ 8.0 mph, increase 0.2 mph every minute)