Maria's Running Blog

Easy recovery run with 4x100m strides in the middle. I wore my HRM today, and average HR was 141. Total time was 28:57 (not counting strides), 9:39 pace. Slow, but this was a recovery run, so I didn't push the pace at all.

Tomorrow is Southern Veteran AC track meet. I may have to do javelin as a scoring event for the club (Gog help me!), but afterwards I will try to jump into 3000m (unscored). The goal is to break 13:00. I've never ran anything longer than 400m on the outdoor track, so I have no clue what to expect. I'll try to keep all laps at 1:44 and see what I have left in the end.

My biggest worry for now is getting to the track on time. I'll have to leave work no later than 5PM and then rely on a tube line that breaks often, and a bus (in a rush hour!). This track is not in the most convenient location.

This was my first track meet since college! I did javelin throw for the club as a scoring event, and I did ok - I beat my goal of 10m. My first throw was 10.85m, and my second one was 10.65. I didn't do more, because women's 3000m was moved forward by 10min, and I had to hurry. Of course, my upper body has no strength whatsoever, and my result is pathetic, but amazingly, the basics of technique stayed with me, and I was able to recall them after 20 years! I did the running throw with a split step and everything, and all my throws were legal, the javelin landed the right way, and was mostly in a straight line. I definitely scored for the team, just not sure how many points. My right shoulder is already pretty sore though.

Then we started on 3000m. As a non-scoring runner, I was put on the outmost lane, so I had to run a little extra, but it's no big deal. My goal was to run 1:44 per lap, and I did. I timed every lap with Garmin, and stayed at a constant pace. It was a very controlled race for me, I'm thinking I should've pushed it more, and set higher goal for myself than breaking 13:00. I felt great, it was a hard effort, but not super-hard. I started feeling lead in my legs with 900m to go, but it was bearable. I pushed the pace on the 6th lap, the time stayed the same, but I was pushing it - means I was getting tired. On the last lap, I really sped up, and last 100m went all out. Here are the splits (pretty boring, since they're so consistent):

:51, 1:46, 1:45, 1:45, 1:44, 1:45, 1:44, 1:33.

Garmin measured 2.97km, interestingly, and 12:56, but official time is 12:57.1. Now it's officially my first PR in 3000m. Unfortunately, there was no one to run with, I was alone right in the middle of the race, with huge gaps ahead and behind. I got 6th place out of 11 women. It would be easier to push more if I had someone within striking distance. But I liked racing on a track - no hills, no sharp turns, no bad sidewalks and potholes. It's easy to get into the rhythm and stay there. Some may argue it's boring, but not to me - I don't notice surroundings when I run hard anyway. Maybe I just love track, because it reminds me of my years training in Moscow, I don't know.

Conditions were near perfect, mid 60s, cloudy and no wind. A bit too humid, but certainly not too bad. Overall, it was a lot of fun! I'll try to do other meets if I can get to them after work.

Easy recovery run. Didn't feel all that great till about half way through the run, then felt better. My right shoulder and the area around it are sore from javelin yesterday.

Total time: 58:59 (9:03 pace).

I felt good after 2 days off, and decided to try to increase my CV reps. Last few weeks I've been doing 4x1000m with 1' jog rest, and today I thought I would try 5x800m with 0:45 jog rest, and maybe fool my body into doing the 6th repeat. I was hoping it would be easier, but it wasn't. It could have been even harder, especially since I ran repeats a bit too fast. First I did 4x200m strides (49, 51, 47, 48) and started on 800s. I was aiming for 3:40, but I went: 3:35, 3:38, 3:35, 3:37, 3:38. I was struggling on the last one, and that means I was running too fast for this kind of workout. I wasn't able to do the 6th, I barely finished the 5th at that pace. Maybe 45 sec. recovery is too short, but more likely I could've done the 6th, if I wasn't so stubborn and slowed down a little.

Then I did 4x100m strides and jogged home. By that point, I was so tired I was going 11min/mi up the hill (I thought I might as well walk it, but I didn't).

Total time: 1:04 (not counting 4x100m strides).