The weather cooperated again for this week’s track workout. The horrible humidity we had over the weekend broke yesterday. It wasn’t quite as nice as last week, and it wasn’t a crisp, cool, fall day like we’ll have for the marathon (right?), but at least the weather wasn’t working against me this morning.
My goal this week was to add another 800 to my workout, run all seven intervals at 3:25 or under, and keep from getting hurt. Goal accomplished. The intervals weren’t quite as fast as last week, but instead of coming off a rest week, I was coming off a full training week that included 20 miles of brutal hills on Saturday, so that was to be expected.
I made it a little hard on myself by forgetting to check my split at the 200 meter mark of the fourth interval. I didn’t want to miss my target, so as usual I overcompensated and pushed a little too hard over the last 200 to finish in 3:20. I took a little walk at the beginning of my recovery lap after that one, but I still felt the strain over the last half of my workout. Still, I managed to hit my splits, and I had enough left to pop another 3:21 on the last interval.
I know a lot of people hate track workouts but I’m enjoying mine, at least when the weather cooperates. Maybe it’s because it’s been years since I’ve spent a lot of time on the track, so the novelty keeps me engaged. Or maybe I enjoy the sense of accomplishment I get from hitting my goals. Today was sort of like winning seven little races. Or maybe it’s because I’m holding back from an all-out effort to keep from getting hurt, so I’m not suffering as much as I might otherwise. But picking up an injury from working too hard on the track is no fun at all. And running is supposed to be fun!
(9.7 mi. run; 150#)