Rock N Roll (ain't noise pollution)
I commented on Sunday that I noticed, going through my 2006 log, that in January of that year I made my first foray onto the track in the last week of January. 6 miles (9.6 km to be exact) non-stop at 6-minute pace. I thought I was in shape to replicate that workout and this morning I set out to do so.
Ran out to Interboro HS track and it was still dark when I got there. I thought of a Nike commercial, set to an AC-DC song, that glorified this least-glorious of moments - going at it hard before most folks are even up. I did not want to do this run, which made me all the more determined to do it. I took four laps to warm up, hitting strides on the straightaway that started to crescendo until, at the last turn, I doffed my long-sleeve t and took off for good on the straightaway.
The workout was simple, six 1600s in six minutes each. No recovery. That's 1:30 a lap. First lap came in at 1:33 and I sped up a bit afterwards but couldn't make up those three seconds. With 800m left I was still three seconds in the hole but I had enough kick to get in at 35:59. Perfect. I did one more lap at semi-cooldown to give me 10,000 meters (10k) in 37:35.
I've never done a track workout where I haven't learned something about myself. About facing my fears, about motivating myself, about exploring what I'm capable of. The miles came one at a time this morning, the first one a bit tentative as I was unsure of whether I could keep it up, the subsequent ones with a bit more rhythm as I hammered them out steadily - here a second under and there a second slower. By mile 5 I had to push and to my gratitude I found the focus to do so. I wanted sub 36 badly and I got it. And after my victory lap to give me 10k, I was surprised at how out of breath and nauseous I felt.
Before writing this I read over my entry from the 2006 workout that inspired this one. In it I described much different time and place, calling 6 minute pace a "marathon pace" where today I saw this more as a tempo run. Then I was satisfied with my time and also how easy it felt, today I am satisfied with my time and the reassurance that my fitness is at least comparable to what it was then.
And, coincidentally (or perhaps not) I write about that Nike commercial in the entry. I checked out the link I gave and the commercial is still up. I don't endorse Nike, but the clip still gets me going, especially when the guitars get going as the runners do. That is how I felt this morning.
11.5 total miles in 90:20 running clock.
Ran out to Interboro HS track and it was still dark when I got there. I thought of a Nike commercial, set to an AC-DC song, that glorified this least-glorious of moments - going at it hard before most folks are even up. I did not want to do this run, which made me all the more determined to do it. I took four laps to warm up, hitting strides on the straightaway that started to crescendo until, at the last turn, I doffed my long-sleeve t and took off for good on the straightaway.
The workout was simple, six 1600s in six minutes each. No recovery. That's 1:30 a lap. First lap came in at 1:33 and I sped up a bit afterwards but couldn't make up those three seconds. With 800m left I was still three seconds in the hole but I had enough kick to get in at 35:59. Perfect. I did one more lap at semi-cooldown to give me 10,000 meters (10k) in 37:35.
I've never done a track workout where I haven't learned something about myself. About facing my fears, about motivating myself, about exploring what I'm capable of. The miles came one at a time this morning, the first one a bit tentative as I was unsure of whether I could keep it up, the subsequent ones with a bit more rhythm as I hammered them out steadily - here a second under and there a second slower. By mile 5 I had to push and to my gratitude I found the focus to do so. I wanted sub 36 badly and I got it. And after my victory lap to give me 10k, I was surprised at how out of breath and nauseous I felt.
Before writing this I read over my entry from the 2006 workout that inspired this one. In it I described much different time and place, calling 6 minute pace a "marathon pace" where today I saw this more as a tempo run. Then I was satisfied with my time and also how easy it felt, today I am satisfied with my time and the reassurance that my fitness is at least comparable to what it was then.
And, coincidentally (or perhaps not) I write about that Nike commercial in the entry. I checked out the link I gave and the commercial is still up. I don't endorse Nike, but the clip still gets me going, especially when the guitars get going as the runners do. That is how I felt this morning.
11.5 total miles in 90:20 running clock.
posted by seebo | 12:38 PM
1 Comments:
Seebo,
You know I *really* like your blog, but I have to ask: was this meant to be time trial, vo2 workout, tempo?
I only ask because it's great you were able to hammer those times, but I'm wondering if that was the intended purpose of the workout? If it was a time trial, sounds great, but if it's meant to be more tempo, maybe too hard??
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