Obstacle Course

First off, best wishes to Joseph. Be well and you're in my thoughts.

This week was 62+ miles in 7 runs.

m: 5 easy
t: 1 @ 5:20 + 4 @ 5:49 + 1 @ 5:20
w: 7.5 easy
th: 7.5 with 2 x (2/5 @ 2:00, 1/5 @ 58)
f: 5 easy
s: 11 with 4x5x440y
s: 16+ at 7:15 pace

Tuesday was a nice tempo workout. I started with a mile at 5:20 to take some of the zip out of my legs. This was a nice workout and really replicated the feeling of a HM pretty well. The tempo pace wasn't too fast, but my legs were a little tired. The 5:20 after the tempo was just gratuitous.

Thursday night was an easy run with a light speed workout on my HS 1/5 mile dirt loop. 2/5 @ 2:00 then 1/5 @ 58 seconds. Then jog for a bit and repeat. Oddly, the second set was easier than the first.

Sunday was an easier long run - 16+ at 7:15 pace. I tired to keep them all over 7:00 pace and only slipped under for one.

Saturday was low 40s and windy. When I showed up at my 440 yard dirt track, I was the only one there. I set about doing a couple warmup laps and making some marks in the dirt for using the 50 yardlines and the football goalposts as my guides for the 110s. As I was doing this, a whole little league team showed up for batting practice on the infield. Watch out.

Then the octogenarian who speed walks in lane 1 showed up. I don't mind him so much, but he does that jaunty old man thing where he swings his elbows real wide as he walks and I've almost caught it in the chin a couple times trying to cut by in lane 2.

Then some other runners showed up.

Then a couple who thought it would be cool to have their 5 or 6 year old daughter rider her bike around the track while they jogged. Ride it the wrong way. In lane one. And swerve out trying to hit runners. And park her bike across lanes 1 & 2.

Really, when you are doing 440s, the last thing you want to see coming down the backstretch, when your eyes are tearing up from the wind, is the Huffy Training Wheel Express bearing down on you.

I was dodging people on every lap.

Regardless, the workout was good. The plan was 4x5x440. Jog 110 after each rep, then 440 after each set.

1 (Goal: 1:24): 1:17, 1:20, 1:20, 1:21, 1:21
2 (Goal: 1:22): 1:21, 1:21, 1:20, 1:20, 1:21
3 (Goal 1:20): 1:20, 1:19, 1:20, 1:20, 1:19, 1:19
4 (Goal 1:18) 1:17, 1:17, 1:18, 1:17, 1:15

I was really happy to nail all my times on this one, and especially with the last set. Somehow I lost count on one set and did an extra rep. Of all things, how do you undercount intervals?

It's the first workout this year that I felt like I really nailed like I wanted to.

On the second to last rep the stunt biker was (finally!) leaving with her parents. Not to be intimidated though, she felt compelled to run back over and jump in front of me in lane 1 and put her hands on her hips. I gave her parents as cold a stare as you can manage when you are in oxygen debt.

Good week. Fun runs. Feeling faster.