Ye Olde Myle Tyme Tryle

After running a non-satisfying 10k race on January 12th (Nookachamps, in Mount Vernon, WA), I decided to write myself a 6-week mini training cycle, in preparation for my next scheduled race; the Smelt 10k, in La Conner, WA on February 23rd. The first three weeks was my base period, building up to just over 34 miles (last week), then backing off on the mileage in favor of some added speed work the final three weeks.

This week is the first speed week, meaning—in this case—track time.

I hadn't run on a track since August 4th, when I ran a slow 3 miles with my sister, before throwing in a 2:58 800m for good measure. About a week before that, I ran a mile time trial on a different track in 6:26. Since then, though, it's been mostly roads (and, recently, my favorite hilly dirt & gravel trail once again.)

I woke up yesterday to a very blustery morning. No rain, but the wind was gusty, and I wasn't sure I wanted to try to run a fast time in those conditions. Fortunately, the wind died down considerably, so I ventured to the track.

After running two clockwise warmup miles on the track, I changed shoes (from my Brooks Defyance 3's into my Brooks Pure Cadence), shed my warmup jacket and long-sleeve tech shirt and stood ready to test the watch in just my shoes, shorts, visor, tank top and gloves. A bit chilly, but streamlined and unencumbered.

I've been running well lately, but haven't done any real speedwork, so my expectations were rather vague. My dream goal was to break 6 minutes, but I knew I wasn't ready for that. I thought that maybe I could go 6:0-something, but even that was wishful thinking. Realistically, I thought I'd have a shot at 6:15.

There was a bit of a tailwind on the back stretch, meaning I'd have to finish each lap running into a headwind. I intended to run my 400m splits as evenly as possible. I crossed the line for the first time in 1:32, which felt hard but relatively sustainable. Lap two came in at 1:35, for a 3:07 half. Doing the math in my head, I knew I'd have to finish strong to even break 6:15. Lap three also came in at 1:35, but I knew I had a little left in the tank. Not much, but I figured I could kick the final 100m to maybe run even 800m splits.

Not having run fast recently, a full-out sprint to the finish felt awkward, but I managed to close out the final lap in 1:28, for a 3:04 second half and a final time of 6:11. Not my dream time, but still 15 seconds faster than last summer's mile time trial, so I'll take it.

After walking a quick 400m, I added 2x800m at 5k race pace...or that's what I intended. I clocked 3:17 and 3:15, both a bit quick. I closed out the session with a clockwise cooldown mile, for five miles total on the track.

The day after, I'm a bit sore in a couple of areas (calves, hip flexors and upper glutes), but otherwise I feel fine.

I fully intend to break 6 minutes in the mile before this year is over.

I've always loved running on the track. I enjoy the roads and trails, of course, but there's something about the track that gets my competitive juices flowing. The variables are minimized (aside from the wind), and it's you against the clock...or other opponents. Boring? I can see how some runners would think so, but being a numbers geek, the track suits me as well as other venues. Maybe it's also the nostalgia factor that appeals to me.

And since I've made this public already, I might as well post it here. At nearly 46 years of age, I still apparently don't have the maturity to leave my high school 5:01 mile in the past. I'm going to take a shot at the stars to see if I can hit the moon (or, tilt at one big windmill, if you will.) One of my goals is to run a sub-5 minute mile by the age of 50. That gives me four years. If I can train consistently and without injury (those are HUGE "if's"), then I believe I can do it. Even if things go perfectly, it'll be incredibly difficult. I do have a couple of things in my favor, though, that I didn't have as a high school runner. I'm physically stronger now, and I know quite a bit more about training, nutrition and recovery. If I fail to reach the goal, I won't be disappointed, but I'm going to give it a full effort. I won't devote the entire four years to doing track intervals, but I'll gradually build a (hopefully) huge base and create "seasons" for myself, during which I'll focus more on speed. It should be fun! If I stay healthy, and even if I fail to reach the goal, I'll be a much faster, fitter runner.

As always, I'll post the incredibly exciting updates right here.

Run happy, my friends!

PR's Dropping Like Flies

Natalie just wrapped up her last track meet before next Thursday's District meet. It was a HUGE success for her. She not only set two new PR's; she crushed them. She ran her best mile by 12 seconds, and her best 800m by 7 seconds. Here's how her season has looked so far:

• Date         1600m     800m
• Apr 25       6:45        3:15
• May 2        6:57        3:14
• May 9        6:43        3:13
• May 16      6:31        3:06

Needless to say, she was excited. In the 1600, she was motivated to beat a fellow teammate who out-kicked her by a second last week. Today, Natalie got her revenge by about two feet at the line. Last week, she let her teammate get too big a lead in the 4th lap. Today, when her friend took off (with about 300m to go), Natalie stayed right with her, then threw down an impressive kick. She ran very nice negative splits in the process: 3:18/3:13. She was still spent by the time the 800 rolled around, yet managed to set a new PR in that race, too.

Consequently, that deconditioned 6:42 mile I ran at the track a couple of weeks ago has been soundly crushed by my 7th grade daughter. I hope I can give her something else to shoot for when I'm able. If she keeps going through high school, my old 5:01 mile may be in jeopardy. I sincerely hope it is!

Bragging, cont'd.

Natalie's third track meet of the season yesterday was a success! Two more PR's for her. She shaved two seconds off her 1600m time, running a smart (i.e. negative splits) 6:43. She continued a steady pattern of running exactly one second faster per week in the 800 (3:13 yesterday, 3:14 last week, 3:15 the first meet). This was on a dirt track, as opposed to her first meet (and previous mile PR) on a rubberized asphalt track. Middle school track season up here is short (only 5 meets), so there's one more regular season meet next week, followed by the District meet. It looks like she'll make it to Districts.

I think I managed to light a bit of a fire under her. I went to the track myself last week to run a mile time-trial. Being unconditioned myself (not a slight to Natalie's times...I just used to be quite a bit faster), I knew I'd run somewhere in the neighborhood of what she's currently running. I managed a 6:42. Yesterday, she came within one second of that time. She hasn't admitted it, but I KNOW she wants to beat her old man. If she does, I'll have to see if I can give her more incentive. Maybe I'll run an 800 to give her something else to shoot for (assuming my old injuries don't take me down first). Unless I can make a full comeback to running, I'll be seeing nothing but the bottoms of her shoes before too long.

Yesterday

Yesterday
Track was such an easy game to play
But now my speed has really gone away
I ran a time trial yesterday

Suddenly
My foot is better than it used to be
Now the treadmill isn't all I see
A high school track
Sounds good to me

I ran a warmup mile
That's my style
Before I tried

To test my
Current speed
With a hard mile
Yesterday

Yesterday
You ask, "what time did your Garmin say?"
6:31 with quite a high heart rate
I ran a time trial yesterday

I felt really slow
But I know –
I took a break
And no speedwork
Had I done
Before my mile run
Yesterday

Yesterday
I took my fickle right foot out to play
I'm slow, but running might be here to stay
I was quite pleased
With yesterday




[maybe I'll record this...]