Track workout. First one of these in a looonnnnnnggggg time. It was fun, and it seemed to go well. The pain was unfamiliar, but not too terrible, especially after 6 or 7 reps. It never got any easier, just more familiar. The wind was blowing about 10-12mph from the south, so I oriented myself on the track to have the wind in my face on the first straight, and at my back to finish. Yes, that was a comfort accomodation, and yes, I sometimes put an icebag between my legs after workouts (not sure if that is a regional joke or not--anyone else use that?). Temps weren't too bad, about 68F at the start and 77F at the end with a good bit of humidity. Bad for a long, hard run, but good for short intervals.
The prescription was 10-12x400 around 70 about every 3:30, with a 400m jog as recovery. I was hitting the 400s at 70 and taking 1:55-2:00 to do the 400 recovery, so most reps were done on 3:10-3:20. On number eight, I recognized the value of the extra ten seconds rest, as after taking a ten second walk break, I went from feeling like I was falling off the pace to feeling as good as I did at rep four or five. Rep six was the hardest--the form faltered a bit--and rep seven was the slowest. Outside of those two reps, the rest were roughly equal, with the first four feeling more fluid and strong than the last four. That was probably obvious. I was able to really get over my hips and stride out well through the first five. After that, the power seemed to drop out, and I felt a bit of a brownout in the lower legs--not as much toe off, stride frequency dropped, some over striding was noticed, and the lift of the quads and the pull through of the hamstrings were noticeably less powerful. Lactic acid burn was not noticed through about five reps, then it showed up consistently with 100-120m to go. Breathing was about the same, pretty heavy with 150m to go, until the seventh rep, and then it gradually started earlier and earlier to about 220m to go. The last two I made an effort to relax (face, arms, etc.) through the last 100m, maintain stride frequency, get over my hips, and do the whole 'lift and pull' thing. It was harder, and required a good amount of focus, but it seemed to work. Here are the numbers:
10 minute warmup.
Key: 400m rep(400m rep avgHR-400m recovery jog time)
68.71(141-2:14) | 69.12(161-2:01) | 69.21(160-1:59)
69.99(164-2:11) | 69.65(161-1:59) | 69.67(164-1:59)
70.02(165-2:06) | 69.57(164-2:02) | 69.17(165-2:02)
69.42(166-1:59) | 68.55(169-1:58) | 68.00(170-x:xx)
5 minute cooldown.
One final note. Here in the United States, we treat runners like criminals. All of our publicly funded tracks are locked up like prisons, (literally--the track I was at this morning had an 8-foot outside fence, and a second four-foot fence inside that surrounding the track, both of which had to be gotten around to get on the track.) and anyone who is caught using a track behind an invariably locked gate is, at a minimum, asked to leave, and at worst, reported to the police. It's utterly ridiculous. We have three tracks in a metro area (yes, I think it's funny to call it that, too, but it's the correct term) of 70,000 people, and every frickin' one of the tracks is locked up 98% percent of the year, and probably because it is assumed that they will be vandalized. What a waste.
Run Two | Weather | Supplemental | Nutrition | Sleep | Injury
5 comments:
Interested to here what you have to say about tracks and fences. Here in Canada the problem is more in the lack of them. My small town has one, but it is sorely in need of repair, and as you can imagine, it isn't a priority.
Hear not here.
I thank my lucky stars that I live right across the street from Minnehaha Academy, where it is pretty much a matter of opening an unlocked gate or hopping over a 3 foot fence. But a couple time in the last few months I have noticed that the goal post on the football field has been pulled down to one side, by some pricks I'm sure. If this results in less access I won't blame the school, but I'll be pissed.
Good workout today Eric. I can only imagine it was quite warm. It was here anyway.
Tracks in the United States are a funny thing. It seems like every town with a population over a few thousand has one, but they are almost always locked up and unavailable for public use. If they are available, usually a few bored kids will vandalize the hell out the place and get it locked up for everyone.
I can't figure out how tracks keep getting built and surfaced, and I can't figure out why anyone would spend the money only to lock the damn thing up behind a fence for all but four Saturdays a year.
It befuddles me. Kind of like, how did the United States suddenly turn into 1930s Germany?
Patrick, thanks. It was warm and humid, but not bad. I forgot to add the weather to the entry--it's there now. Thanks for the reminder.
Right now, it's 94F with a 71F dewpoint. Just about like Mombassa World XC. Love the Continental Climate!
Your experience with tracks mirrors mine. I haven’t run on a track in many years for the very reason you cite - locks, fences, and security. Years ago there was much more open access to the high school or college track. I could just walk through an open gate and get in whatever workout I had scheduled.
That all changed when some punks decided to douse the Tartan with gasoline and scorch about 30 meters of glorious track.
I miss it.
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