3x [2,4,6,8] ladders

 Stepping out the door at 6:45am, temps were pleasant in the low 60s, but the morning warmed up considerably by the end of the workout. 

3 x [200,400,600,800], with 200 meter jog recovery, and then a full recovery between sets. I think I've been out of shape so long that I no longer feel bummed about doing these "slow"--I'm just happy to be doing them at all, and maybe getting faster. 

set 1: 35s, 85s, 2:07, 3:00

set 2: 39s, 80s, 2:08, 3:01

set 3: 40s, 91s, 2:16, 3:08

Definitely swimming in lactic acid by the end, there.

5x800 track

 

5x800: 2:49, 2:55, 3:00, 3:00, 2:56, with 200 recovery. 

I spent the whole back half of 2021 recovering from that "niggling heel pain" in the last post. Then I got healthy enough to run one race in October, and then injured myself again in January, doing a long run on popcorn snow along the Comm Ave carriage path. That kicked off the 2nd round of PT since last post. ITBS pain in my knee has finally gone down, but I still feel like I need to closely monitor the situation. Anyway, as far as speed goes, I feel damn near zeroed-out. But I still want to get faster, and with my current times, it feels like there's ample space to do so.

4x400 track

Perfect morning today, with a tiny bit of breeze, but no real excuses. 76, 74, 74, 72. My left heel has been hurting (no real news there--it comes and goes). But it's the reason I'm not doing "real" track workouts at this point. All the same it's nice to know I still at least have the leg-speed for a 5 minute mile, if not the VO2Max. 

April 7th: Progression Run

2 miles warm up, then 7:30, 7:10, 6:51, 6:31, 6:26, 6:24. 

Done on open roads, via GPS watch. Was shooting for 6:30, 6:10, 6:00 over the last 3 miles. Didn't quite happen today. This is the 2nd workout of my spring training cycle. As with my workout last week, I needed to adjust expectations/time goals to match my current fitness. Thanks to COVID amongst other reasons, it's been so damn long since I've raced that I don't have a clear sense of where I stand. But one thing seems clear: I've got a lot of scope to get faster. And so far, 6 weeks into this cycle, I've stayed healthy. I'm telling myself I'll be clipping out 5:45 miles again like they ain't no thing in no time. 

Great Bear 5K Race Report

Well, there's still some fight in the dog.

Today is one of those incandescently beautiful spring days that reminds you why you live in New England. The apple trees and lilacs are in bloom; it's cool and sunny, with a pleasant breeze. The Great Bear is a local race, so I could walk over in the morning, enjoying the fine weather.

I got back from Japan with just my residual fitness, but since then I've gotten a good 5 weeks of training in, with two solid track workouts. I haven't really been racing enough to know what to expect from my body; everything felt good, although I didn't feel very aerobically strong. I didn't line up at the start with a particular time goal, just a desire to put in consistent effort and finish strong. Since the track is near the race finish, I had practiced the final kick, concentrating on my desire to not fall apart over the last quarter mile.

I went through the 1st mile in 5:21, starting in 5th, then falling to 6th. I was pretty isolated--not quite fast enough to run with the lead group, but still well ahead of the main pack. I hit the 2nd mile in 11:00 and looked back to see I was being chased down by a group of 4 runners.

In the third mile, uphill with the wind against us, I started to labor. 20 years racing hasn't cured me of starting, um, "ambitiously", I guess. Two of the runners from that chase pack had slipped ahead of me by the time we made the penultimate turn.

All too predictable. Much like last year. Except, I felt oddly unresigned to letting them slip away. I was aerobically maxed, but there was still a lot of spring in my legs, and I found myself accelerating. I got the lanky BAA guy by the final turn. Then in the final kick, caught and passed the compact black-haired dude in raybans. Finished gasping up a lung, in 6th place overall.

I've missed 5ks!

17:35, 6th place overall, 2nd AG.