Another day, another dollar. I suppose I have 7 dollars owed to me from somewhere.
The week started pretty horribly, but I managed to rally towards the end.
Failure to launch
I had everything packed and ready to go for my track workout last Thursday. I had a fuel plan and I had thoroughly thought this workout through. 2 sets of 4x400s. I got this. Mid morning work meeting turned into a lunch. Not a big deal, I can do this track workout after work...or can I? Short answer no. Having stayed later than I intended and having forgotten that summer was drawing to a close, the sun would have set before I got through my 400s. Tracks have lights, sure, but on a Thursday they're generally used to illuminate High School JV football games. #fail. I can do it the next morning, no big deal. Not thinking of it through as thoroughly as my normal afternoon / lunch runs, I left the house w/ an empty belly.
Eight total 400s, that's just 2 miles. NBD. No big Deal. After a brief warm up, I toed the line, hit lap on my 310xt and was off. Zone 4 felt more like the twilight zone. Where was I? Why was I there? WHY IS THIS SO HARD RIGHT NOW? I finished the 400 at 1:27. Sure, that was fast. but not vomit fast. I stopped my watch ready to concede defeat, but sometime within my allotted 90 second rest I gathered myself and tried again. 1:36. Considerably slower. and now this time death felt imminent. And after I stopped my watch this time, there was no going back for more. I sat there for a few minutes before I left for work. I had cut my workout short, I would be early.
Comeback
Long runs in the program I'm in are a lot easier to manage on your own, but doing them alone still suck. There's nobody to keep you accountable for getting up at 5am on a Saturday, nobody to gossip with or just interact with in silence. Running alone w/ just my thoughts isn't easy; there's not much going up there. So when I arrived at the Lake before 7, I already felt better about my previous failure. The run was good too. So I was happy.
Tuesday I found myself back on track at the track. This time with Googliano. 'Just a 5k, 400 on 200 off. nonstop.' The off was not a recovery slow jog. This was going to be difficult. I finished at under 25 min for my 3.1 miles so I was pretty happy. Googliano seemed to be pleased as well with the effort.
My blog sucks lately and I apologize.
Most people would prefer a quick death, but I'd take a long run over speedwork anyday. I got uncomfortable just reading about those workouts.
ReplyDeleteWhat training plan are you following this cycle?
hey Lindsey!
ReplyDeletesince June I've been working with a coach who's provided me w/ monthly programs that are drastically different from what I was traning w/ in my previous 5 marathons. in short, there's less quantity and a greater focus on quality. a week in this program generally consists of 1 track w/o a fartlek and a long run w/ recovery bike rides and core workouts sprinkled in. i like it. it keeps things fresh.