Strides

Tonight was an extra run workout at Foothill College. I carpooled with my awesome mentor Erin and her husband George, who was running the show (so to speak!). We were early, so Erin and I walked a mile around the track to stay warm while people showed up. We then jumped into the official warm-up - a 15-minute run/jog/walk at intensity level ~5. I started my watch and somewhat surprisingly ran an 11-minute mile, then because I had 4 minutes left in the warm-up I went one more lap.

So far: 2.25 miles, feeling pretty good.

Except then, as we were stretching, George described the "main set." There were two options, one for more seasoned runners who'd already been doing speed work, and one for the less experienced runners who were new to speed work.

Guess which workout I did?! That's right! The one for the less experienced runners! Actually, even with experience I am still slow, so whatever.

The main set included a one lap run at intensity level ~5 (steady, easy pace), then each subsequent lap included a 100-meter (1/4 lap) dash at intensity level ~8 followed by a 300 meter (3/4 lap) recovery run/jog/walk. No stopping, go for 30 minutes. Sounds easy, right?

I took my splits, for a good laugh, and whoa are they bad.

The first lap, the easy run part, was fine, and my split was 2.48.77. Then I hit the 100-meter dash at the beginning of the second lap, and started strong, felt fast, legs moving quickly, form was good...

Then I hit about 50 meters into the dash and thought I might die. My form fell apart, I slowed down. I made it through that first dash and jogged the remaining 3/4 lap to recover, breathing so heavy I thought my lungs might explode. Split for lap two: 2.43.47 - not bad! Faster!

The second sprint I started strong, but not as strong - a slower start so I wouldn't fall apart at the end, but it didn't help much - I finished the sprint heaving and feeling sloppy. Frustrating, but I jogged the rest of that lap as well, which I considered a major victory. Split for lap three: 3.00.69. Significantly slower.

Third sprint (and fourth lap) - my sprint felt fantastic until I hit the 100 meter mark and my legs wanted to explode. I had to walk after that sprint. For about 1/4 lap. Then, back to jogging. Split for lap four: 3.01.44. Clearly my sprint was faster, but the walking averaged out the total lap time.

Fourth sprint/fifth lap: 3.20.63. Clearly getting tired at this point.

Fifth sprint/sixth lap: 3.18.54. Thinking I might die at any moment by this point.

Sixth sprint/seventh lap: 3.11.74. Here I think I hit a pace, and finally figured out how much I should be walking after the sprint. Still, considered lying down in the middle of the track and crying. My legs were falling off at this point.

Seventh sprint/eighth lap: 3.10.46. On pace, but pace is crappy. Think jogging into traffic might be less painful than more running.

Eight sprint/ninth lap: 3.23.25. Here, I am falling apart. I can't feel my legs, even though I am walking a significant amount of the lap after the sprint, and it takes me a long time to catch my breath after the sprint. I could swear someone ran up next to me and stabbed me in the ribs, but no. It's just a side cramp. Walk with my arms over my head like an idiot, trying to take slow, deep breaths.

Ninth sprint/tenth lap: 3.31.16. Struggling to stay upright. As I rounded the last corner, George tells us we should start the cool down. He means slow down and recover. I want to lie down and cry. I keep running.

I got in two extra laps at the end, one jogging and one walking, to cool down. My total time for the ten laps (or 2.5 miles) was 31.30.15, which averages out to a ~12 minute and 36 second mile. Slow.

But, my total mileage included a 2.25 mile warmup, a 2.5 mile speed workout, and a 0.5 mile cool down, for a grand total of 5.25 miles on the track. For me, that's good.

Afterwards, George, Erin and I went to Rojo's Wraps for dinner and I had a spectacular veggie wrap, then came home for a long hot shower. The thermometer on my car said 45 degrees when I came home, and I couldn't stop shivering.

Tomorrow night is a swim workout that I will call my recovery workout - it'll be in "the bubble," an enclosed pool that is hot, steamy, and crowded. It will be slow and it will feel like someone is sitting on my chest and I will probably hate it, but the warm water will be good for my legs.

Because my legs, tomorrow, will be screaming at me. I can already feel it.