In the evening I had my first full track workout in at least a month and a half. Finally off the hills, I was looking to start running at threshold... no more tempo (or threshold on hills)! The workout seemed daunting, 2 mile @ 78s/400, 1.5 mile @ 76s/400, 1 mile @ 74s/400, .5 mile @ 72s/400. Even though I wasn't sure I could stay with them at this point, I slotted in behind Dickson, Charlie and PMurph. I surprised myself however and ran even and strong with those guys for the whole workout! We actually ran a little fast for each interval:
2mi -- 10:20 (5:10/mi)
1.5 mi -- 7:36 (5:04/mi)
1 mi -- 4:53
.5 mi -- 2:21 (took over the second half)
I'm pretty sure this is one of, if not the best track workout I've ever done, and not just because of the paces (I've never run a sub-5 mile toward the end of a workout) ... what made it so good was that I felt really smooth and comfortable the entire workout. No forcing or dying off. The recoveries were long, however, so that may have affected things. It helped to have a good B group, especially with Dickson and Patrick's encouragement. We have some good workouts ahead of us.
It seems that Todd's training... the hills, building speed on long runs, and even the bike/swim workouts have really helped me get stronger. I really felt it on the 2-mile... that was a 16:00 5k pace, and yet I felt like I could have kept going and sped up for at least another mile. It's making me pretty excited for Shamrock 5k. I'm feeling confidence in my running again, which I hadn't really felt since Columbia 2010.
That's it??? .85 mile swim plus a bit warm up /cool down, 5 mile run, plus a bit extra? What about your ride? Geez. I should be sleeping instead of picking on you for being dedicated to 3 sports! :)
ReplyDeleteActually, 2 miles swimming, TriathPaul. I just prefer not to bore people more than they are already by detailing my warmup, drills and cooldown.
ReplyDeleteGo to sleep!
Nice workout, CTR, those are some blazing track times. What are you shooting for at Shamrock? There are a few guys from here that should be around what I suspect you're looking to run. Is Wiggy doing the 5k as well? I know he has the half the following week...
ReplyDeleteWiggy should be there, if his immune system decides to work (sick again, crazy). I haven't run that race before, but I want under 16:00, maybe close to my track PR. If I know someone from your side who's going for something like that, that'd be awesome. We have a good crew going, it'll be fun.
ReplyDeleteAre you going to be there?
Oh, BEASTMAN de Heer will be there, glad to have him back out running hard again.
ReplyDeletePhil Liggett once advised never to trust a dutchman. Crafty-folk, they are. You have been warned.
ReplyDeleteI knew you and Dirk were running, and I saw Wiggy's name on the GRC calendar but wasn't sure if he was racing. I think there should be a few people you can key off of. One of our guys has a PR similar to yours (15:45 indoor 5k from two weeks ago, 15:49 road 5k) and he believes he can run 15:15. I think 15:30 is more likely. This is the type of race where you run 10 seconds faster just because the first mile is so ridiculously fast.
ReplyDeleteI'm not racing, but I'll be out there. I'll be sure to let you know what's going on for after the race if you want to hang out following the run!
ADDITIONALLY I had to let you know about my lunch today following long run: went to the diner and ordered a burger topped with BUFFALO CHICKEN TENDERS. It was tenderlicious.