AM : Weather - 42 degrees, clear.
Ran 4 easy miles to work. I usually walk to work, but I am finding that running instead makes me feel livelier once at work, and the more I can practice running, the better. I will observe later on today if running easy early in the morning will have an effect on how I run a hard track session on the same day.
PM : Weather – 68 degrees, sunny, windy.
Beautiful day, a bit breezy on the track, but the sun sure felt nice. Ran 1 mile to Carle Park, did 3 sets of strength exercises and stretching to get warm, then ran 400M to the track. Saw Matt, the leader of the 2nd Wind track sessions, we ran 1.25 miles together. He told me about the River to River Relay going on this weekend, he seemed excited about going.
The track session called for 5 x 100M accelerations, 12 X 200M with a 200M jogging recovery + 30 seconds standing on the line, followed by a final 1 x 400M. Not too long distance wise, so I told Matt if I was feeling strong I would be doing 20-24 x 200M. Matt brought a time chart which gave recommended 200M and 400M times based on 5k time. For 19:00 it gave 40-41 seconds for 200M, and 85-86 seconds for 400M. I was happy when I read those times because those were the times I was hitting in my last track session 11 days ago. My goal for today was to hit 40 seconds consistently for the 200M. I was concerned that running with a group would make me run too hard, and I was correct in my worry, as I went under 40 for all 12 200’s. Here are the times :
1) 38 seconds
2) 38
3) 39
4) 38
5) 37
6) 38
7) 38
8) 38
9) 38
10) 39
11) 39
12) 39
I ran the 400M in 82 seconds, which matched my fastest 400 from the last track workout. I was still feeling strong following the 400M so I decided to go ahead and do 12 more 200M. I gave the same perceived effort, but my times went up a few seconds, which exhibits the strange phenomenon of running in a group versus running alone :
1) 42 seconds
2) 40
3) 40
4) 41
5) 40
6) 40
7) 41
8) 40
9) 42
10) 41
11) 41
12) 38
I handled the 2nd 12 pretty well, never really tired, and was able to give a harder sprint effort for the final 200M. This was a successful workout, I am still in a bit of shock at this new fitness level I have achieved, last year I ran this same workout in mid-April and was vanquished by 12 x 200’s. I am sold on the power of building a winter base.
Afterwards I ran 1 easy mile around the track, then walked 45 minutes home.
#152
z.m. = #66 | 