Thursday at the track; 5x800/200

I awoke with a feeling of apprehension. My legs were still feeling tired and heavy from the previous workouts, and I really wanted this one to be good despite all that. It's getting closer to my important races (7 weeks from tomorrow!), and I am feeling the pressure to get in shape quickly. But it's not something I can completely control - I can do the hard workouts, but if my body just needs more time, well, then there's nothing I can do about that. There are some things I can control: diet and sleep are among them, and I've been doing a bit better on each. I did actually sleep 8 hours last night (10 pm - 6 am), and I have been eating better for the past few days. That's pathetic that it's only been a few really good days, but the bad days also haven't been that dismal, so that's progress. I'll take what I can get. But I digress. Back to the track.

I arrived at the track and the weather was SO warm! It's doing the typical Utah thing - straight from winter to summer, with no spring. It was 62F (16.7C), and so I wore shorts and a short-sleeved shirt, and worried if I'd get hot! It was overcast and humid, too. It felt weird for it to be so warm; I've really only worn shorts for my outdoor workouts about 5 times so far this year, because our spring was unusually cold.

I warmed up with 1600m, accelerating at the end (last 200m in 1:10ish) to make sure that all systems were "go", so to speak. Today was really the first workout that I did not worry about either foot hurting, and my toenail is getting much better as well. I felt pretty good on the warm-up, and my tired legs seemed to perk up a bit after the first 400 or so. I got hopeful that this might be all right.

I did a few extra dynamic flexibility drills today to give my hamstrings a little extra TLC, and off I went. I was to do 5x(800m - 30s rest - 200m - 3 min rest). I did the first 800 in 4:31, and then the 200 in 1:00, and was feeling pretty fast and fluid. The legs felt OK, and technique felt smooth. So far so good. I wondered if I'd crash though. I did the next 800 in 4:30, and the 200 in 1:00, and though I did feel my legs getting a little tired, they weren't bad and I allowed myself to hope a little more. My heart rates were appropriately high, and breathing was good. The 3rd 800 took 4:33, and the 200 was 1:00 again. This was a good sign - a week ago on this workout, I started to have problems on the 3rd 800, and today I was feeling fine. OK, I was glad I only had two more to go, and I was somewhat tired, but felt all right. On the 4th 800 things did slow down a little; I did it in 4:36 and the 200 in 1:02. Yeah, I was getting tired, but thought I might be able to pull off one more faster 800. The last 800 was 4:33; I pushed very hard at the end of that to pull it off, but I figured if the 200 was slow it would be OK. I sprinted as hard as I could for the 200 and finished in 1:03; I guess I was a little trashed at that point. Still, I felt really good for this workout. It was SO nice to feel really great about a workout, and I enjoyed going fast.

Total time for the 5K: 27:48. OK, yes, I got a lot of rest in between, but I just wanted to feel good about my sub-28:00 5K even if it wasn't done continuously. Might as well enjoy it!

I did get warm, but not too hot, so the weather didn't seem to be much of a factor, though it did get up to 67F (19.4C) by the time I finished.

I feel really good about this workout. It seems quite comparable to the times I was reaching last summer when I was in good shape. I don't think I'm in as good shape as I was then yet, but the times are getting close. I still have 7 weeks to make them even better.

After the workout, I did 600m easy, stretched a lot, and then rushed to get to work on time. Now, at lunch time, I'm feeling pretty good; calves, hamstrings, and obliques are feeling it, but I don't feel trashed. It will be interesting to see how I feel tonight and tomorrow. Tomorrow will be some cross-training, and I am most interested to see how I do at the club 5K race on Saturday. I feel the possibility of a sub-29:00 and it's exciting!

Heart rates and other details are in the Garmin connect link below, if you really are interested. They were mostly averaging in the low-to-mid 160s and max in the low 170s. My recoveries to sub-120 were about 90s-2 min on the last few intervals. That seems pretty good.