Saturday was Speed and Endurance Day. I needed to get in another speed workout, but also wanted to keep building on my endurance. So I decided on 800s and not "just" 8 this time, but ten!
Last time I did 8 at about 3:18 and it was quite tough. I thought I would take it a tiny bit easier and shoot for 3:20 to 3:30 range and be sure to do ten, with 1/4 mile jogging recoveries. With the run to and from the track I would get in ten miles.
Another perfect day in the 50's, overcast skies. I get to the track and there is a girl's soccer game going on the field. About 10 year olds I guess. Nobody else is running, but there are maybe 150 parents in the stands, and other teams hanging around, some on the track. No problem! The barriers for lanes1 and 2 are not in place, so I just hop right into interval number one. Other than occasional moves into lane 2 in the straights, I had the track to myself!
First 800 was 3:26. Perfect. Didn't feel too hard. Good hard effort, but not killing myself. Kept it up through 5 and decided to take a water break and an extra jogging lap before launching into the second 5. This workout was not easy, but I took them one at a time and tried not to think about how many were left. Kind of like doing a long run. Just keep plugging.
By the time I got through 8 I felt pretty good! I knew I was going to make it and it gave me a little extra adrenaline to finish. Good enough to push a little harder on the last two.
Here are my ten splits:
3:26, 3:23, 3:26, 3:26, 3:23, 3:26, 3:30, 3:29, 3:26, 3:15
Total average 3:25
Felt good to still have a little speed left at the end, even though my legs were feeling pretty fatigued midway through the workout. Occasionally I would hear a cheer from the parents and pretend it was for me. But not one person said anything to me the whole time. I was just some wierdo doing 30 laps on the track.
So I'm feeling confident. Yasso theory says i should be able to do a sub 3:30 marathon, so I'll take that. Today I have been using my "stick" that I got for Christmas. Sweet, sweet pain! Knocked off 5.3 miles with the dog today. My body is accepting all the increased miles without much complaint. 38 miles scheduled for next week. Ten weeks to the marathon. It's all good.
I need to start doing some speed work and some weights. I have been debating the merits of doing legs, I have a short window in the mornings at the Y so my upper body is almost all the time I have. I also want to start going to a Yoga class. We shall see on that one.
ReplyDeleteI got a stick last May, and that little torture device would have saved the Spaniards a fortune in firewood during the Inquisition. I think I need a foam roller, but I can use one at the Y, so that isn't as high on my list.
Ten weeks will go fast. I personally like speedwork.
ReplyDeleteI had no idea that you were posting here as well as RW. I call this a good find for me.