Track Tuesday : 3 x 1600

Sometimes I plan my track workouts weeks in advance, and I am really strict about sticking to the plan.  Other times, I don't decide what I'm doing until I show up to the track.  And then there are the days like today, when I make a last-minute plan, and then change it again after I start.  

Track workouts for me are not always about a specific training plan or goal.  I am fairly certain that most of my workouts would be more beneficial for 5k training than for half marathon or marathon training, but I'm ok with that.  I have no desire to run long-distance repeats in the endless circles on the track.  I suspect my short repeats really aren't going to do much for my marathon time, but I still think they are beneficial in their own way.  It's good to train your legs to do different things.  And I definitely saw the benefit of the track workouts when I ran the 2 mile hill challenge over the summer.  

I stayed after school today to watch the basketball game at 6:00, so I did my track workout on the school's old asphalt track. I was going to do 4 x 800, but about halfway through the first one I decided I was doing 1600s instead. As I was able to easily maintain my starting pace, it clearly wasn't the right pace for 800s anyway.  I ended up with 3 pick-up 1600s. My watch was convinced that a mile was 3.5 laps in lane 1, but I kept track of the actual 1600 splits. They ended up at 6:40, 6:38, and 6:29. (I did push a bit harder in the last 200m of the last one)

I felt really good about these repeats.  I wasn't trying to push them too hard, or to do as many repeats as possible.  It was meant as a chance to let me legs move a little faster without overdoing it, and I feel like that is 100% what I accomplished. 

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I did my first workout on this track last fall, and it was brutal!  Night and day from today's workout.  That day was hot, and there was someone mowing the grass inside the track, which aggravated my allergies and made breathing harder than normal.  It was my first track workout in a very long time, and I had always struggled with getting through the track workouts.  I managed to slog through the ladder I had planned, but it was low quality due to my allergies and overall dislike of the track. 

Fast forward to today, the experience was so much different!  I have been doing track workouts more or less consistently since last February, and having the group to do them with has made them so much less torturous.  Now I actually don't mind doing the workouts alone when I need to! 

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Do you do track workouts?  Alone or with a group?  Do you have a favorite distance for your track repeats?  Do you like track workouts or hate them with a fiery passion? 

Let me know in the comments!

Operation "Run Faster, Make Lungs Stronger" has Begun

...and so far so good!  I made my plan for the week based on pace instead of mileage, and I stuck to it well!  I actually exceeded all my pace goals, but that's perfect because the paces I had set ahead of time were really just minimums.  The goal was to try to stick to them so as not to start too fast and then lose the pace, and they did help me prevent that from happening.

In other news, all my hard work with TRX is paying off and 

I can see muscles in my arms now!

This week : 

M : 6.2 / 7:28 / 25 ft

yoga stretching

plan : 1 mile warm up, 4 miles @7:20 pace,  1 mile cool down

4 mile actual splits (7:02, 7:08, 6:59, 6:48)

T : warm up 1 / 9:00 / 62 ft

track workout 4.2 / 6:00 / 102 ft

cool down 1 / 9:20 / 0 ft

round-robin x 12 ab workout with group

plan : warm up, 3 x 1600 @ 6:25 pace, cool down

actual : 4 x 1600, average from 6:20 - 5:46, 4 minutes rest in between

W : TRX, full body 30 x 45/15

plan : TRX, full body

R : 7 / 7:25 / 276 ft

plan : 1 mile warm up, 6 miles @7:30 pace, 1 mile cool down

actual : 0.5 mile warm up, 6 miles ranging from 7:27 - 7:01, 0.5 mile cool down

F : off

Sa : 8.2 w/Adam / 7:34 / 66 ft

plan : 10 miles @ 8:00 pace

Su : 4 / 7:55 / 118 ft

yoga stretching

plan : jog, yoga

week total miles : 31.8

Consistency on splits didn't really happen this week, but on all runs but the track workout, split inconsistency has to do with placement of up/down hills.  I was trying to be consistent on the track, but the GPS was messing up and marking my splits in the wrong places, and therefore the pace info it was displaying was also not accurate.  I definitely worked to make the last one the fastest though.  

On Thursday, I had to make an unexpected trip up to PA, so I ran first thing in the morning before making the 6.5 hour drive.  I ended up sleeping an extra 40 minutes past my alarm because I decided sleep was slightly more important before a drive than the run, and that is the main reason I cut my warm up and cool down short.  Not that they completely made up for the 40 minutes by any means, but they still saved me a bit of time.  I usually have trouble running faster in the mornings, but I did some warmup yoga before the run, and it was at least after the sun came up, so I managed to stick to (overdo) my planned pace.

On Saturday I was catching up with a friend I haven't seen in years.  He only wanted 8 miles, and I decided it wasn't that important for me to get the planned 10, as long as I was running faster than the planned pace.  We started the run close to an 8 minute pace but gradually picked up speed throughout, making the last mile the hardest effort.

After some cold and gray days in PA, it was nice to arrive home and get out of my car to 75 degrees and sun!  I enjoyed my jog.  It was an easy effort for my legs, but a moderate-hard effort for my lungs, which are struggling a bit from spending 2 nights in a house that has been empty for a few months.  I think that combined with the fact that I wasn't running while in that house, and therefore not using my inhaler, caused me to notice the difference.  Since I wasn't running while there, I didn't even notice that my breathing was getting slightly more difficult until I was on my way out of the house.  Now, after 2 days in a row of running, I'm sure my lungs are just about back to normal.  

Gorgeous and 77 degrees for my run!

It was so nice out, I did my post-run stretching outside too!

Back to the Track...and some hail.

I'm pretty sure today was my first track workout since 2013.  So...it's been awhile.  Can't say I've missed it...but it's time to add some speed work that isn't just running hard up a bunch of hills because by now my body has more than adapted to the hills and it doesn't really work for me anymore.  And given the lack of flat-ness here in Lewisburg, the only real way to do a flat speed workout is to go to the track.  I've known for awhile now that I needed to start going to the track, but my return was delayed by that silly sprained ankle.  I didn't want to do any speed work until I was sure it was strong enough to take the extra pounding.  Today seemed like a good day.

It was a very eventful week of running...recap of each run after the week's summary...

This week : 

M : 6.6 / 7:47 / 476 ft

T : TRX arms & abs 18:25

W : 9 / 7:54 / 853 ft

R : TRX arms & abs 18: 25

F : 6.2 / 7:32 / 472 ft

Su : 4.9 / 7:10 / track workout

total miles run : 26.8

Monday
I found out mid-afternoon that WVSOM was finally going to have their memorial for my friend and running buddy Daryn at 5:00, so I went running around 3 instead of going to the Pub Run at 5:30.  My legs were sore/tired and it was really windy so I didn't try to push the pace at all.

Wednesday
I decided it was time to try a long(er) run.  And I really wanted to run hills, so I looped through just about all the best hills the neighborhoods of Lewisburg have to offer.  One of those great hills is in a neighborhood I rarely get to, so it was nice to go somewhere "new."  And I ran a hill near the end that I "enjoyed" so much I looped back and did it again.  It was a warm sunny day and I loved being outside to enjoy it with a run!

Friday
Rain was in the forecast for most of the day, but after a bit of rain in the morning, nothing much seemed to be happening.  The sky showed both brilliant blue and some ominous dark gray, so there wasn't really any telling exactly what would happen. I decided to ignore the clouds and count on the sunshine.  My last check of the weather a few hours before my run showed no more than a 20% chance of rain.  I started hearing thunder in the middle of the 4th mile, but it wasn't particularly loud or scary sounding.  Then it started raining lightly at the end of the 4th mile.  I knew that thunder and rain in the springtime was a recipe for hail.  It started raining harder.  I prayed it wouldn't turn to hail.  It was really windy, and I was getting pelted.  It didn't take too long to realize that rain doesn't sting quite that much even when the wind is driving it into you.  It was hailing.  I prayed the hail wouldn't get big enough to hurt me.  Luckily, it didn't.  But the wind got stronger, and the raindrops got bigger.  The sudden onslaught of fierce wind and rain had water rushing everywhere.  I could barely see where I was going.  I prayed no cars would come because I doubt they would have been able to see me any better than I could see them.  Standing sill didn't seem like it would be any better than continuing to move forward, so I kept going as best I could.  Of course the whole thing was over within about 5 minutes.  Probably the scariest 5 minutes of my life, but only 5 minutes.  Soaked to the skin, I finished my run through giant puddles while trying not to get sprayed by passing cars.

I felt like a drowned rat, but I guess I didn't quite look like one.

I just ran through a hail storm but I am still smiling...because what else can you do?!

Sunday
Back to the Track.  I thought about various different workouts.  Should I start with a 1600 and descend in distance, or should I pick a distance and repeat it?  Eventually I decided that the torture of the day would be 800s.  I was hoping for 6, with a switch in direction halfway through.  I ended up doing 4, because I was really struggling to maintain the pace on the 3rd one, and I wanted quality over quantity.  My infrequent training over the last few years has lost me the ability to judge my pace very well, so I switched the display on my watch to show pace, and used that to stay as steady as I could.  The goal was to do the 400s at a 6:20-6:30 pace.  I did a 1600 warm-up jog, then 4x 800 with a 400 jog in between, then 1600 cool-down jog. My 800s ended up at 3:17, 3:20, 3:21, 3:15. I did push a bit harder on the last one,  knowing it was my last, and not wanting it to be my slowest.  Didn't realize it would end up my fastest... Breathing was my main limiting factor.  Holding a consistent pace was also hard because the wind was strong enough to effect my effort differently on different sections of the track.

I'm pleased with the workout, especially knowing it is my first in so long.  As I get further into training and my lungs get stronger, I will be able to start feeling my pace better, and I won't use the pace setting on the watch anymore.  I do prefer to run by feel, but I felt I needed the watch today to make sure I didn't go too fast while my lungs were still working and then lose the pace too much when they stopped.