Weather - 68 degrees, sunny.
Ran hard today, more intense than usual. Per my plan to ramp up the intensity of my workouts, I ran 5 x 600m loops at Busey Woods. Each 600 was run at all-out pace, as if it was the final 600m of a race. I gave myself 400m rest between each bout. As I rounded the boardwalk during the rest, the phrase "dread and joy" kept appearing in my mind. Dread because going all out for 600m causes not only physical stress, but mental as well, as each step feels like it could be the one that brings me past the tipping point, and I wonder how I can continue to run in such a state. And joy because of giving every bit of energy and concentration to the moment - there is supreme happiness in that state of being. After the 5th rep my legs lost some energy, so I decided to end there. I ran 2 cool down miles around the cemetery and park, and then did some stretching and strength exercises.
As I walked home I noticed it was 5:50pm, and the track session with 2nd Wind was starting at 6:00pm. I was only 5 minutes from the track so I decided to jog there and see how many intervals I could complete with the group. Since my plan for the next 4-6 weeks is to make training harder than racing, I need to become accustomed to running hard when already exhausted.
I arrived at the track and saw the planning clipboard called for 4 x 1200m. I knew I was too tired to complete all 4, but I at least wanted to do 1. We did 4 x 100m accelerations to get ready, and even though my legs were not fresh, they still had strength.
The intervals were to start every 9 minutes, which gave an ample rest time, so I knew I could give a strong effort and still recover for the next 1200m. During the first interval I got behind Matt and planned to follow him the entire way. I wanted the pace to be faster than 5k, so about 6:00 /mile, or 90 second 400's. However, I was surprised to find that the group was running slower, so I passed Matt after 300m and picked up the pace. I finished the first 1200 in 4:26, which I felt good about. I was able to do 2 more 1200's, in 4:30, and 4:37.
This was a good start to my new regime of intense workouts, putting in 4 miles of on-the-edge running.
Friday will be a 2 hour long run. I plan on running it faster than my normal long run pace.
#194
z.m. - #107 | 