Really good speed work track session with Schlarb this morning. It was balmy outside at about 30 degrees this am, compared to the 10 degrees the past few days. But the trails and paths and outdoor tracks are are still snow and cruddy. Fortunately, Jason has access to an indoor 200m track which came in really handy this morning. After an abnormally long warmup we got going and did 8 X 600 Meters, w/400 meter jog between. Then finished with 4 X 200 Meters with 400 meter jog. Splits for the 600's: 1:59, 1:59, 2:00, 2:01, 2:02, 1:59, 1:59, 1:47 Did all 4 of the 200 Meters right at 30.5 seconds. Jason was hitting 1:52's consistently on the 600's. I commented that I thought it was odd that my HR up through the 7th 600 was never getting into the 170's, while in the 5K last week I averaged 172 for 18 minutes, meaning, much of the time in the race it was 175-180. So I decided to stay with him on the last interval and was surprised by having a lot left in the tank even on the last lap and finished 2 seconds faster than Jason, and 12 seconds faster than any other split. My HR capped out at 176 on that interval, compared to 169 on the hardest of the others. I'm sure I could not have done sub 150's for 8 of those in a row, at least for sure without WAY overexerting myself...but I'm wondering if I was taking it too easy at 1:59 - 2:00 pace at first. I guess it doesn't really matter that much since I'm training for longer stuff mainly. And I think I should err on the side of slower out of concern for not over-doing it and injuring myself and keeping it enjoyable. But it made me wonder. Ran the track intervals in my five fingers and enjoyed the feeling of being right on the ground. I haven't run in them as much lately with all the snow and trails, and it feels good to get everything working hard, including the feet. 14 miles for the morning - 1:59 running time. - mostly flat - ~300' total incline during warmup and cool down. | 