Remember when you were a high school student bogged down with a couple of hours of homework each night? Remember how hard it was to make yourself get started but how great you felt when you were finished? I recall several occasions when I just didn’t want to do my work but I knew that I had to. I also remember how satisfied I felt when everything was done and I knew I was prepared for the next day of classes and quizzes.
It seems to me that speedwork sessions are much the same as homework. Inevitably, I always feel a bit of dread before I start my tempo or my 800 meter repeats. Will I be able to keep the speed I’m supposed to run? Will the recovery jog be long enough? Will I crumble in front of my new running group and look foolish? (Okay, I know that these questions are ridiculous, but, hey, they’re actually what I think!)
If you’ve been reading my blog you know that my coach gives me three quality workouts and asks me to run a specific number of miles each week. This week’s instructions were to complete 5 x 800m repeats in 3:40 with 400m recovery jogs, 4 x 1 mile in 7:50 to 7:55 tempo run with 1 minute recovery jog between each, and an 18 mile long run with the last 5 miles run at marathon goal pace. My total number of miles for the week should be 45 to 50.
1. 800m Repeats - Since I hadn’t had a break since Sunday’s race and long run of 15.2 (Monday I ran 7.2 at an easy 8:40 pace), I was a bit nervous about this workout. I’m happy to report that I did it! After a 2.7 mile warm-up I completed 5 x 800m repeats in 3:30, 3:37, 3:34, 3:39, 3:35, respectively. Including the 400m recovery jogs after each repeat and my 2.25 cool down, my total distance for this run was 8.1 miles.
2. Tempo run – By far, this is the most challenging workout for me. Whenever I read that I have to do a tempo run I always think that it sounds easy, but it’s not as easy as it sounds. Tempo runs should feel “comfortably hard”, according to Coach Mark, anyway, and I trouble determining what comfortably hard means to my body. But…I did it and I think I understand the comfortably hard concept…FINALLY! After a 1.9 mile warm up I ran 4 x 1 mile tempos in 7:55, 7:42, 7:44, and 7:43, respectively. As I mentioned earlier, I had 1 minute of recovery jogging between each mile. Including the recovery jogs and the 1.6 mile cool down, my mileage for this workout was 8.0. Importantly, it felt easier for me to maintain a consistent pace during this run!
3. 18 Mile Long Run – Coming Sunday with a leg of the Rochester Marathon thrown in for good measure! (I’m on a Greater Rochester Track Club Women’s Masters team.)
Speedwork really is hard work but it really does make me feel stronger and better focused. Like anything else that’s worthwhile, speedwork requires dedication and persistence. In fact, when I think of the commitment one makes to speedwork I’m reminded of “Ulysses”: “To strive, to seek, to find…and not to yield!”
