Friday, June 26, 2009

Speed Racer

Such mixed emotions about speed work!
We waited till 9pm to go last night, but it was still 90 degrees. I ran to the track for a warm up - around a mile. After we got there we decided we would do some 300m repeats at 6min/mile pace (67.5 sec). We did the first one in 71 seconds and I didn't think I could go any faster, but the man convinced me it was just because we had not warmed up properly yet.
We walked 100m to recoup then went again - this time 65 seconds. I thought my chest would explode and wasn't sure how I would do another. We walked our 100m and got a quick drink and ran one more. I just knew it was slower, but it wasn't - exactly the same 65 seconds. I thought I just might lose my lunch so Brady suggested we run 400m at race pace. We had miscalculted what race pace for the 400m was and ended up running it at a 7:40min/mile pace instead of 8:45, but it still felt slow compared to the 300's.
So, another short break was had and we decided to do another round. First lap was slower again - 70 seconds I think. The second I thought I had slowed, but I think Brady just sped up - ran it in 68 seconds. The last 300m we did in 65 seconds again. We got closer on our next 400m race pace lap at a 8:20min/mile pace. It really did feel slow - that's a good feeling!

Overall I know speed work is helping me - I just feel so slow and like I have to work at it so hard. It's crazy to me that I can get my head around doing 26.2 miles, but it's hard for me to get my head around doing 300m at a 6min/mile pace - let alone doing 400m, or 800m. Ah, he says we'll get there. I feel like I'm giving it all I can for now.
The other issue I have is once I'm done I feel fine. Like I could do it again. So much different than a long run. When I finish a long run I need nutrients, water, rest and if it's a really long run I feel fatigue for the rest of the day. With sprints it doesn't matter how tired I get during the sprint when it's done I don't have fatigue?? And then there's the added humilation of putting down that I did 3 miles - that's basically an off day or a recovery day! It's just a different mentality - I can already see benefit though so I'm going to stick with it and hopefully one day I will be a Speed Racer - lol! :-)

2 comments:

  1. So , very soon we will be calling you "Speed racer!" I like it!!! You are really working hard! I am still resisting the bike:)
    On another note, I'm having trouble accessing your blogspot, I'm going to delete from my favorites then add back in a couple of days and see if that fixes...keep racin'!

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  2. Well, you can't do an Adventure Race without a bike! ;-) And they are a ton of fun!

    Hmmm - wonder what's up with the blog - let me know if deleting and adding back helps! I love Web 2.0 tools when they work - lol!! :)

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