Wednesday, April 25th, 2012

9 miles.
Decided that today was as good a day as any (and in fact better than any) for a track session, so I decided to head to the the high school and see where I'm at.
Went the long way on the loop for a 4 mile warmup and got there feeling pretty good and entirely ready to go.
I've been thinking a lot about what Dave said about the safer aspect of concentrating on longer stuff that doesn't tax the body too much, as well as Scott reminding me that especially in light of a 16:05 first effort in months, speed is not an issue, so going by both of these elements of advice, doing multiple 200's at 32-34 and 400's at 68-71 is going to do no real good right now and maybe not until mile training next fall/winter.
So, what I came up with was a ladder of 2 x 400/800/1200 with 200 meter jog in between each interval and 400 meter jog between sets.
I figured the speeds would be good @ 5:04-5:12 pace, as that's right around where I'd like to be for the 10k coming up (though I have to take into account that late in a race that length right now, I might be happy to see 5:18's.)
Still, I was ready and so I went. Opened with a 74 second 400, in which I had to chill on the back half due to going through the 200 in 36. I was faster than I wanted to be, but felt OK, so no biggie. the 800 went 75/75, and I was OK, so I was happy and only slightly wary of the 1200. I went 76/75/74. Wow. Alright then. I can't say it was easy, but I never lost form and was breathing fine.
I remember running 4:58 throughout at Fairhaven and it wasn't too much off this and this was after 9 miles yesterday and doing it in trainers.
So, somewhere in the 400 recovery between sets, I realized that yes, I am not in the kind of shape I was last year. There was nothing especially standing out that told me this, just an overall feeling of "Fuck me, this next set is not going to be as easy is it?" But, I suppose that's track work in a nutshell anyway, as one of the things it does is prepare you for that race feeling of how the second mile doesn't feel nearly as easy as the first and all those after usually require exponentially more effort.
So, the 400 went 74. The 800 was 74/75 and yes, I was working, but I was also getting reacquainted with how I have to adjust my upper body as I get fatigued and make it do more of the work while at the same time relaxing my back to breathe. So, I was now pretty beat and the 1200 was staring me in the face. I figured I want to make sure I'm alive for the final 1/4, so I'd better be smart on the first.
I went 76/76/72 and closed well.
Did a couple laps to get my bearings and headed home happy and confident. I ran 32:44 last year all beat to shit after Boston. That translates to 5:17's/ Given the fact that I ran 5:11's last week for 1/2 the distance, I really don't know if that will happen again. Still, after today's workout, I will go into the race with at least the notion that it remains a possibility and perhaps even with the hope for something more.