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Thursday 31 May 2012

Giant cupcake to refuel your run & FIRST training


Every now and then you know that you need a little treat for the hard work and also to refuel your next run. A giant cupcake may be appropriate in my case. I received this as a gift and I was gobsmacked how huge it was. I placed the iPhone next to the cupcake to give you an idea how big it was. The cupcake has set a whole new meaning to carbo loading. It was delicious and so difficult not to overeat. Took hubs and me almost a week to finish it and I think will be at least a month to burn off the calories. 

I have done 2 runs this week as an 'induction' course to the 3+2 FIRST Half Marathon training program that I will start next week. This is the training program from the book Run Less Run Fast .
I am following the first week of the program and it's hard work. Basically you do 3 key runs a week and supplement it with 2 cross-trainings a week. The concept may not be easily acceptable for people who has followed high mileage training because many are unconvinced that this style of training will work for them. Pacing is an important component in the FIRST training program. All the paces are based on ones best 10k race pace. It has been proven that training intensity is the most important factor for improving the physiological processes and determine race performance. Each run should have at least a day of recovery in between. The non-running days should be supplemented by at least 2 cross-training sessions.After Key Run #1, my legs were fatigued but I didn't feel as if lungs are burning and I need to be hooked up to an oxygen tank. It's pretty tough but just enough to push you hard but not into total exhaustion. Good sign. Today was Key Run #2, I am quite exhausted to be honest because I think I have over-exerted myself when I went running with the boys at work. It almost turn out to be a race..Grrr!! I need to remember that I have to let them run at their pace and I should just do my own thing.

To give you an idea what the training looks like, here is a snapshot from the book and the training program. As mentioned in the previous post, I will update blog about how I feel about this program a few weeks into the training. It's a total of 16 weeks and I will have about 20 weeks until Adidas Auckland Half Marathon so I should have enough time to finish the training.


And here is another snapshot of the 16 week training program.




After looking at the program, don't you think I need another cupcake ?


Have you tried FIRST training program before?

Are you following a training program for your next race?

What is the biggest piece of dessert you've ever had?


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