Of course, we do. I got to the track and ran a lap before having to go to the bathroom and then we did a warm-up mile. The workout prescribed for me was 4 x 1200 meters at 5:15 with 3:00 rest (and 1 by mile if I wasn't dead at 7:20). That meant 1:45 for my 400's. Whenever I've tried to run a 400 on the treadmill, that's the pace I set. Hmmm, this could be a disaster I thought. I was thinking more like a 5:30 pace, but the man with the plan disagreed. I was fortunate enough to have somebody giving me the workout and the times tonight, all I had to do was run, no worrying or stressing needed, so I toed the line.
The first lap was 1:43 and I felt stressed, but not too stressed, maybe the man with the plan was onto something. Hit on 2 at 3:28 and dead nuts on 5:15. I was breathing hard and my throat felt really dry, but I wan't wheezing or anything. I grabbed some water and focused on getting my heart rate down and trying not to tighten up. My "We Got the Runs" partner in crime and MG were also running these with me, but they were a few seconds ahead. We were all supposed to hit on 5:15, but they were pushing it a bit. I was content not to be an overachiever and try to keep up, so they usually gapped me by about 2-4 seconds each 1200. It didn't bother me, but by the start of the third 1200, I could feel I had tightened up, especially in my gluteal area and that was a pain in the ass (double meaning). I stayed focused on running even splits and doing my workout.
The lacrosse kids were practicing on the track, so a few balls and players ended up in lane 1 at the same time as me, but I compensated for any swerving or slow downs I had to make to avoid being lacrossed to death. There was a very loud bang behind me on the backside once that made me look back, only to see nothing. NC was coming up on me hard and I was confused until she said "that ball almost took my f*cking face off." Apparently, one of the players has made a really hard shot that no one managed to grab that passed oh so close to her face. I had decided it would be best to look straight ahead the entire workout because I didn't wan to know if I was gonna take a lacrosse ball to the head. I didn't want to see it coming. I just wanted to be knocked right out!!
I managed to hit all my 1200's on 5:15 or 5:14 (there might have been one I hit on 5:13, which is better than 5:17, in my opinion). It seemed no one was going to do the mile and the man with the plan said to do what you wanted. That was the last straw that made me feel guilty. I would step up and do an honest effort last mile. Three others did to. We started off the first lap with me leading, which was weird, I didn't lead but one time all night! Lap 1 was 1:48 (2 seconds fast), but pretty close. I had heard footsteps behind me the first lap, but when I turned around at the 100 meter marker after a dead quiet, there was nobody. I looked over at the start/finish line. Those (fill in blank with colorful name) had stopped!! They ditched me.
I kept going and hit lap 2 at 3:38 or 3:41 (can't remember now). By lap 3, I could feel the fatigue and tightness setting in. It felt like my feet weren't coming up as high and my arms were at chest height. I kept running, thinking you don't know you can't hit the time until you finish, so keep going. Lap 3 e-speed called out 5:30. Now, by my math I had to run a 1:40 to get in on time and I swear I heard her say "come on Beth, pick it up." I was confused and obviously senseless by that point. I hurried down the track, like a turtle on meth and avoided a near crash with a lacrosse runner on my lap and kept trying to hold on. The last stretch seemed longer than normal of course and I kept hoping it wouldn't be more than 7:25 when I hit. It was 7:14. I realized my math error and was glad it had been in my favor. I was pooped, felt stiff and old, but I made it through. Just like a turtle, I was slow, but steady.
Track workout: Success!!
1 comment:
You did great! That was a great workout and you were solid the whole way!
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