Speed Workout and a Dip in the Pool...

Justin, Lisa and I ran over to the F&M track yesterday over lunch to do a speed workout (my dumb idea). Justin and I did 400s and Lisa did a bleacher workout. So, we jogged 1.5 miles to the track and a half mile around the track as warm up. Then, we did 4 400s with 400 jog between each (for a total of 2 miles). They went pretty well. Actually, they were right around (or a little lower) the last time I was doing 400s. That's awesome, because I haven't been doing any speedwork at all.

400 #1- 1:31
400 #2- 1:33
400 #3- 1:28
400 #4- 1:28

I'd like to do these every other week and add a 400 each time until I get to about 8-10 of them. We'll see how wooped the triathlon training makes me though. That will probably have some bearing on whether I keep this up.

And, I got to the pool this morning and did another workout. 100, 300, 100, 300. I'm really getting close to the 500 yards that I'll be swimming in the tri. I think next week might be 350...

Quality Not Quantity

I've been training for some longer race for so long now that I have kind of lost track of the total miles logged vs. quality of miles logged ratio. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that I've always run to control my weight. More miles equals more calories burned and that's that....

But, I think I'm turning a corner in my training. It's not that I don't want to manage my weight. In fact, I have gained a little weight since the baby came. But, I really would like to change up my training a bit. I'm finding that just going out for a run to log miles is not challenging/exciting anymore. I need to do something to shake it up.

And... not coincidentally, I have done two different workouts this week that weren't just "going out and running". The first was a stair/bleacher workout that Lisa has been doing that I really liked. We did three step variations (both feet on every step, one foot per step, and one foot ever two steps) and did an entire side of the bleachers at F&M. That was a really fun workout and will become a part of my routine I'm sure. Also, we did a sprint workout in the middle of a jog at the track. We did two laps around the track of sprint the straight away and walk the turns. It wasn't a lot. But, my legs are sore today.

Anyhow... I'd like to focus on different and speed at this point. I think it will help me do something other than just "log miles". Anyone else do this?

Speedwork, I Hardly Knew Ya...

Today was the end of my 5k training speed sessions (thankfully). I really love the challenge of working hard and pushing the limits. But, I'd be lying if I told you it was fun.

Today was 8 x 400. I have to tell you, it was hard... but I really feel the improvement. And, it's also showing up in the results. When I did 7 x 400 a couple weeks ago, 3 of the 7 400's were at 1:34 or higher. This time, all 8 400's were at 1:32 or lower. I really improved on the back end (last 4 400's). In fact, my 5th 400 was a 1:29!! So, I can't deny that I am getting faster. I run my target 5k on the 4th of July and then it's on to the marathon training. If I don't PR, I'm gonna have a long time to chew on it.

Run recap
Warmup- 7:37
400 #1- 1:27, 400 recovery- 2:50
400 #2- 1:29, 400 recovery- 2:59
400 #3- 1:31, 400 recovery- 3:20
400 #4- 1:31, 400 recovery- 3:30
400 #5- 1:29, 400 recovery- 3:47
400 #6- 1:32, 400 recovery- 3:44
400 #7- 1:31, 400 recovery- 3:47
400 #8- 1:32, cooldown- 3:46

Speed workout logs from Wednesday

This is just a quick post to log my splits from the run. I don't have a time for the first split because I was so concerned about the sprint itself, I forgot to hit the lap button.

Lap 1 (1st 400 and warm-up included, 1 mile)- 8:21
Lap 2 (400 recovery)- 2:46
Lap 3 (2nd 400)- 1:37, 6:28 pace
Lap 4 (400 recovery)- 3:01
Lap 5 (3rd 400)- 1:43, 6:52 pace
Lap 6 (400 recovery)- 3:28
Lap 7 (4th 400)- 1:37, 6:28 pace
Lap 8 (cool down, .54 miles)- 6:23

The schedule recommended running the 400s at "mile pace". I'm not really sure, based on my fitness right now, what that is. But, I'm guessing low 6:40s to high 6:30s. For 2 of the 3 400s that I have a time for, I was well faster than that. So, that's good. Not bad for a first effort. This is really just a benchmark at this point.

Run recap- 3.02, 29:00, 9:35 pace

First speed work... and my Garmin

How about that? I had a really busy day yesterday. I try to go out to lunch with my wife and daughter every Wednesday when I have class because that is the only time I will see them that day. Only problem was, I had planned to run over lunch. So, from then on, my day got kinda crazy.

I decided to go over to the McCaskey HS track between work and class (done work at 5:00, needed to be at class 20 minutes away at 6:00). So, needless to say, I didn't have a lot of room for error.
I got over to the track and it was taken for HS track practice (duh). So, I ended up doing the workout over at the soccer fields with my Garmin. One day, one saved workout already.

All in all, it was good. I did find it difficult to not have a visual target for the 400. Having to look at the Garmin for distance was kinda annoying. Steve tells me that I can program 400s though, so I will try that next time. And, the 4th 400 was tough. I was really losing steam by that one. It's hard to believe that I will be doing 8 400s in one workout in the relatively near future. 4 was tough..