"What's this," you ask? "Another post?"
Indeed. It's not a day off, just waiting to go to the pool in a little while. I know, you're excited. I'm excited too. News time.
I managed to get up before Kayla had to leave (unbelievably) and eat some food to fuel the morning's pre-work run. I knew that I would only have about 45 minutes max, so I decided to get in a speed workout on the track. I have a 5k in about two weeks or so, so I decided that it would be a good idea to see what some mile times on the track would be. I haven't done speedwork really for the run since last fall, so I believe it may be time.
I ran the mile to CMU's nice outdoor track at a leisurely pace. As I was making my way around the back stretch, getting ready to wind it up for a mile, who do I see but my long lost triathlete friend, Steph Stambaugh. She's been busy owning the women's B class in the Eastern Collegiate Cycling Conference this spring, preparing herself to own a lot of races again this summer. We chatted. It was good. Had to work later so I was on a deadline. Time for a mile.
The first lap was pretty decent, I guess. just under 80 seconds. I know. Don't laugh. Slowed a few seconds each lap and ended up at 5:28. Can you believe the "under four minute" crowd? Me either. I'm okay with it for a few reasons.
a.) Ummm...not a mile runner. Obviously. Of the miniscule speed work that I've done on the track, I've never really recorded mile times. Need to start somewhere, I guess.
b.) I was doing an entire workout that a mile TT was just a part of, so I definitely didn't give it everything.
c.) I didn't give it everything because I don't really know how to run a mile regarding pace.
d.) I think I can still expect to run reasonably faster in a race because of motivation, adrenaline, tapering and other runners. This run was pretty much lacking motivation.
It's nice to have a more clear picture of what sort of racing I'm going to be targeting this year. Last year, I began still thinking the 70.3 distance was for me, but later had the revelation that I'm better suited for Olympic distance races. At that point, it wasn't really possible to alter my training to drastically affect my races. This spring, I've been more okay with just putting in thirty or thirty-five miles (although that's my bare minimum) because I know I'm racing a shorter distance. This does mean, however, that I am trying to get more sessions in per week to even out the mileage. As the quote goes, cycling is a blue-collar sport; you need to put in the work. It's so much easier to have a double workout day when I only have a 1.5 or 2 hour ride to do if I work in the evening. Last year, I would try to get in 45 or 50 and that would pretty much kill the day. No running or swimming, both of which I need to be doing a lot more of.
Regarding running it's nice to know because I can now focus a lot more on speed work. I probably would have benefited from it just as well racing 70.3s, but I seem to be more motivated to do it because I feel that it will have a more tangible result. I'd love nothing more than to be able to knock off a few minutes from my 10k by the end of the season. I'd like to get in one of these session every week, so I'll keep you posted. I'll be interested to see what kind of improvements I can make with my mile splits from week to week.
Anyway, I ended the workout today with a few miles of sprint sides/jog corners before running back home in time to shower and head to work. 5.35 miles, 32:30 something, 6:07/mile average. Not too shabby including the run there and the run back.
Well, should be headed to the Y for a swim right now, but the rain has picked up again. Forgot the rain vest. Idiot. My means of getting there is my bike so if it doesn't stop within the hour, I'll be ticked. In the meantime, I'll make like an old man and work the crossword.
P.S. congrats to my oldest brother, Matt, who scored the game-winning goal to win the "Stanley Cup" of his adult hockey league. Go, bro!
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