Today’s big training lesson was about pacing.. or rather, the lesson was that I need to learn about pacing!
The workout was warmup, then 4 minutes, then 4x90sec, then 4 minutes, then 4×90 sec, then cooldown. I am still learning my place in the group, pace-wise. The first 4 minutes went great. There was a group of about 4 of us together at a decent clip, and then when there was a minute to go I pushed the pace a bit. (Overall: 6:22 average pace)
When we got to the 90 second intervals, I let loose and was up in the top 4 of the entire group.
Interval 1: 5:46 pace. AvgHR 175, MaxHR 186
Interval 2: 5:46 pace. AvgHR 177, MaxHR 187
Interval 3: 5:31 pace. AvgHR 181, MaxHR 188
Interval 4: 5:56 pace. AvgHR 181, MaxHR 189 (highest point for the entire workout).
Then we had another 4 minutes! I’d pushed hard to see what sort of speed I had, but wasn’t able to recover for the rest of the workout. Darren had said that the first 4 minutes was a little fast because it was downhill so we weren’t necessarily expected to go faster, but still this should be a good strong effort. Whereas the first time I’d been a mid-packer, I was definitely pulling up the rear by this point. (How sad, at a 6:32 pace??!?!)
And then we had four more 90 second intervals??!! I also have to admit (or use the excuse) that I’m not a fan of intervals on a narrow path where you have to worry about falling off the side or seeing the right way to go. Running in the dark can be exhilarating, but it’s dangerous at high speeds.
Interval 1: 5:43 pace. AvgHR 176, MaxHR 187
Interval 2: 5:51 pace. AvgHR 175, MaxHR 186
Interval 3: 5:52 pace. AvgHR 176, MaxHR 186
Interval 4: 6:01 pace. AvgHR 177, MaxHR 184
By the last interval I was relegated back to my “back of pack” status, with others finishing strong and my puffing like I was dying. But, we were done.
As we headed back to the car, I lamented to some of the other runners that I didn’t understand why I was able to have speed on the short parts but really struggled during the sustained work. One of them said “running a few marathons should help that”. Um, I’m not sure about that! I think it’s really just about knowing my limits and running smart. I saw even today how I wasn’t able to sustain that first burst, so I need to figure out what is sustainable, then steadily push those limits. It’s not about 2 minute jams anymore!
Overall: 8.1 miles in 1:06:45
