Run Buffs Run!

I didn't run the typical long run today, mainly since I was not in Boulder. I did find a good place to get some miles in, though. This was not too eventful of a run (I pretty much zoned out and cruised through the miles). I have a race coming up this next weekend, and am a bit unsure of what to expect. I know that I am in better shape now, but I am also tires as a result of training hard. I don't really know how it will pan out, but I plan on going out hard and trying to set a good time down.

A very easy run today to recoup from yesterday. It felt good to relax, especially since the weather is so good.

Today was the dreaded economy run. I ran 20x200 meter intervals (32 seconds each) with 1:50 rest between efforts. I didn't even feel that good coming into the run today so digging up the willpower was tough, but now I am glad that I did. I saw coach Wetmore (the head CU cross coutry coach) on the track. He seemed to be preoccupied with the construction around the track (Potts Field), but allowed me to use it despite it not being open for public access. I decided that I couldn't just slouch my way through this workout now that he was there, so I pretty much ran some of the hardest and fastest repeats I ever have. I hit one of the 200 meter repeats in 29 seconds flat, which had some nice hurt to it. Later this week I have a threshold workout, followed by a race. Whew, two VO2 max workouts, a threshold workout and a long run all in one week. This is going to leave me torn apart.

Today was an "easy" day to recover for tommorrows workout. I felt pretty tired, and it is hard to imagine that I still have another workout before Saturday's race. Whew, I'm gasping for air.

Today was a tough day. I woke up and it was foggy/raining (possibly a sign that I shouldn't venture out into the cold to do a hard workout?). Nonetheless I powered through the workout and got it done with minimal pain. I ran 5x1mile repeats at 5:20 pace (although all of my miles ended up being faster), and did 4x200 meter repeats at the end at 32-34 seconds pace. From there, I shuffled back to my appt. like a hurt puppy. In all, I am glad to have completed the workout. Although I may not feel perfect right now, I know that this training is going to really help me in the long run. Who knows how the race will go this weekend. I just run hard and hope for the best.

I ran the St. Pattys Day 5k today, and it was pretty bad. I started out hard (first mile in 4:45), only to find that the rest of the race was uphill. I was also very tired from the last few weeks of hard training, so after the first mile and a half I was completely spent. A combination of running uphill while your whole body feels terrible translates to a bad race. The pain level was tremendous, and when I finally did finish I felt light headed and dizzy. I am certain that it was the hard training that did this to me. This is the first time that I have fully trained through a race (very hard training at that), and it was not too fun. I do know, however, that with some recovery time, my ability now will be much greater than this past winter. In all relative terms this race was nothing big, and I shouldn't be dissapointed with my time. You can either train hard or race well, and I am definitely training hard. It is then logical that I will not race very well. Once again, this is time for me to build my fitness. The end game is what is important (BB 10k, CU time trials), and I need to put this race into perspective.