I summoned the courage to attempt a "hard" workout, one that was tied to a watch, a distance, and a standard. I decided to try 4x1 mile with anywhere from a 1/2 mile to full mile jog recovery. The wind picked up early in the afternoon and really howled for most of the afternoon and into the evening. Finally about 8:15 it calmed down enough, and I made it out the door to see just how far out of shape I really was. Jogged a 1/2 mile warm up, then took off toward the east, running on main street here in Cokeville. I definitely get some strange looks, running on Sunday in a largely LDS community where everyone knows everyone. Oh well, come June 8th it will only matter if I'm in shape or not, it won't matter which days I trained on. Others may disagree...
Anyhow, back to my sluggish workout: My goal was to run 5:20s or better, which at 6300 feet is worth more than a few seconds. After a few feeble attempts at stretching, I took off. I felt like I was sprinting, and when I approached the 1/4 mile mark, I was a bit dismayed to see 1:22. Too slow. WAY too slow. I attempted to pick up the pace, and apart from the taste of pennies in my mouth and my head feeling like it was going to explode, I felt great. Time at 1 mile: 5:19. Whew, maybe I can salvage this after all. 5:19 for the second, 5:16 for the 3rd, and 5:15 for the last. I seemed to get stronger as the workout wore on. Make no mistake, I was working my tail off, and I can feel the "new fat" that Sasha eloquently described last summer. But with each good workout, with each run, I get a little closer to being in better shape. I think one of my strengths is that my body responds quickly to stress, so the plan is to do the same workout in 7-10 days and see where I'm at after 4 repeats of one mile, and keep going if I can. | 