More Fun At The Track

It seems as though I like to blog about my track workouts and I’m not quite sure why. Maybe it’s because track is a new thing for me, or maybe it’s the area that I stand to gain the most improvement in and, therefore, have more to write about. Who knows, but here I go again!

Since it’s starting to stay darker longer, and the track at CSHS doesn’t turn on the lights for no real reason, I started today’s workout a bit later. It was still sort of dark, but once again, upon arrival, I noticed that I would have to scale the chain link fence to get in as there still wasn’t enough room to squeeze through the two gates that let you onto the track. As I landed on the other side, I could hear that somebody was already running, but the only things I could see were a dark silhouette and the glowing light from their Garmin. He was running such that he had to make right hand turns and, for some reason, that seems foreign to me, so I decided to run in the opposite direction anyway. Here is what I was supposed to do:

Warm up:

• 20 Min: Include 5 x 50 yard buildups and drill down/back
• 1 x 400 as build to elevate HR

MS (2x):
• 1200, 800, 400, 200 with 3 min ez or rest between
• All of these should be done at sub 7 min pace. Maintain good form on the final set and don't let body get out of control.

CD:
• 1 mile ez. Plan time to stretch after

And here are my results for the main set:

• 1200 = 4:46.0 (6:16 pace)
• 800 = 3:24.4 (6:43 pace)
• 400 = 1:28.7 (5:52 pace)
• 200 = :41.8 (5:04 pace)

• 1200 = 5:14.0 (6:52 pace)
• 800 = 3:26.6 (6:50 pace)
• 400 = 1:31.9 (6:09 pace)
• 200 = :39.9 (4:58 pace)

Here is the text exchange that happened immediately after I was done:

Me: Can you see the big ass smile on my face all the way from Anthem?
Carlos: Yes
Me: Figured as much. Couldn’t wipe it off the entire time I was on the track! Is this a breakthrough?
Carlos: Absolutely it is! Call u later today.

And here are the notes I put into Training Peaks:

“Seriously?!? I felt AWESOME during this workout. At the beginning of each set, I felt like I was shot out of a cannon and never felt like I was working the entire time. I was surprised at the ease of going fast this time. My smile was ear to ear baby!”

Now some of you will look at those times and ask yourself, “What’s the big deal?” but like I said, this is a new experience to me and it’s kind of fun to see paces like that. Since I’m not a track guy, notice that I’m not referring to the actual times. Right now, those are meaningless to me. I’m sure the more I get out there, the more they will make sense to me and I will begin to migrate away from the pace, but for now, it’s exciting to see a 4:58.