Today, Matt planned to run intervals with Danny. He was going to leave me behind and run without me!! Can you believe that?! Rarely does Matt run without me and when he does, he always leaves a very sad Karen behind. Just like a forgotten puppy, I sit by the window and wave sadly as he takes off, a pout on my face. “Give it a try, you might find you like it”, Alex always tells me. Okay, to humor both of them, I was running on the oval torture device.
Rain poured down in sheets. I watched curtains of thick droplets blow across the lines on the CR track. The warm-up mile was nice and slow. I can’t remember the last time I ran on such an even surface. It felt effortless. The light shoes felt great. After a few minor adjustments in the laces, I got to down to my own track workout as the boys set off on theirs.
Goal: 4 x 800 @ 3:34.
What I ended up with (and 1:30 rest in between):
1- 3:29
2- 3:40
3- 3:32
4- 3:34
I remember running 0.5 mi repeats on a stretch of road in our neighborhood in Fairbanks. That was the last time I did short intervals like that. To run a 3:40 nearly wrecked me. Today, despite the drenching I got, it was surprisingly easy. At :30/mi faster than my 5K pace, I definitely felt like I could continue on and do more. I eventually noticed aches in my calves with the lighter shoe.
And I guess that Alex was right (promise me you won’t tell him!!). When I don’t kill myself at EVERY SINGLE INTERVAL, it almost borders on fun. Removing obstacles that occur on my typical route (I do my tempo runs on a gravel trail and it does come with significant hazards), I found that I could focus exclusively on form and speed. And with just a few minutes of running and then rest, it wasn’t nearly as boring as running countless loops appears.
It helped that my iPod music didn’t suck. Mes Aïeux, you are a wonderful training partner.
1 comment:
The first time I ever did intervals, I was terrified, but finishing the workout was SUCH a sense of accomplishment!
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