Farewell to the Hill City group runs

Yesterday was my last group run in Lynchburg, and it was a very interesting mix of track, a hill and "conversation" pace running. It sounds confusing, but actually running it makes perfect sense: After a good warmup and some ins and outs on the track, we ran a fast 800 with a 400 recovery, then jogged over to a nearby hill. We ran the hill hard. The hill led to the other side of the track. Once we got to the track, we jogged to the start line and ran 1,200 meters. Then we repeated the hill workout. Once back on the track, we ran 1,600 meters. Then we repeated the hill and finished with a mile or so cool down. The hill wasn't too steep, but it was quite long. The weather was OK. While it was cool, the humidity was horrible.

Times are the track were: 800 - 3:23; 1,200 - 5:21; and 1,600 - 7:27. Total mileage for the day was 6.8 miles. It was a great workout overall and by the end of the cool down, we were all very happy the workout was over. Just about everyone in the group had ran the half marathon on Saturday, so we were quite worn out.

Today was a much needed rest day from running. Tomorrow I plan 3 or 4 miles and Saturday's goal is 14 miles (my longest ever), which will put me over 30 for the week. Next week I'll be in Richmond, not fully moved, but my plan is to just go with the flow. If I find that I need to move a run to the evening I will. I'll be back in Lynchburg next weekend and will have one final long run here before the big move. The two weekends after that are going to be busy, but I'm planning to maintain the long runs between 14 and 16 miles no matter what happens. I've basically told myself I can miss one long run that'll be traded for the major move-in day. More on that later. I don't know how much time I'll have to blog over the next few weeks, but have no fear, by the end of September things in the online world should be back to normal.

Quality on the track

Today's group workout was once again on the track and I got a friendly reminder about quality vs. quantity. (And a friendly reminder that I hate the alarm clock at 5:45 a.m.) While overall mileage is important, a workout like today will go a long way in making me a better overall runner.

Today's workout was eight 400 meters, with a 200-meter recovery after each lap, except for an 800-meter recovery after the first four 400 meters. It included a warmup with a core workout and several laps around the track. Overall mileage was 5.3 miles.

This workout was designed to help learn pace a little better. To my surprise, the second set of the laps seemed easier, with the last lap being the fastest. Lap times were: 1:46, 1:47, 1:45, 1:41, 1:41, 1:40, 1:37, 1:33. Like I said, this focused on pace, not speed. I felt very comfortable out there and very happy that I've learned to not waste energy at the beginning of a workout. Due to vacations, our group was slimmed down today and we were all running within 5 seconds of each other.

When I was on track ...

I found a file with a track workout from early March. This was two weeks before my half-marathon, so I was in prime shape, and I had done track workouts several weeks in a row. It's still interesting to compare it to this morning's workout. The weather was a bit cooler and the workout was about 2 hours later in the morning. I'll attribute much of the time differences to the different weather conditions, the fact I'm not quite where I want to be as far as being in shape is concerned, the fact the workout was quite different (but it's still the same distances) and my weekly mileage at the time was higher than where I am now. I'm still in that 10 second window though ... and basically 10 seconds within what I did this morning.

800: 3:15
400: 1:27
400: 1:27
800: 3:25
400: 1:25
400: 1:25
800: 3:24
(Each distance had a 400 recovery except for the second 800, which was followed by a mile recovery.)

Getting on track

I'm not sure when I'll get used to running at 6:15 a.m. It just doesn't seem normal to me.

Anyway, today's group workout was tough, but fortunately it was similar to workouts I did this past winter. And the weather was absolutely perfect. Upper 50s/low 60s, relatively low humidity - you couldn't ask for better weather in Virginia in early July.

So, here's the workout I did this morning on the track with a bunch of much faster and older moms that I now have much more respect for.
800: 3:24
800: 3:32
800: 3:26
400: 1:24
400: 1:31
800: 3:33
(each distance included a 400 recovery)

Including a warmup and cool down, I logged about 6 miles. We also did about 5 minutes of a "core" workout, something I plan to do much more of this summer. As far as effort is concerned, on a scale of 1 to 10, I'd say I gave a 7 on the 800s, a 10 on the first 400 and an 8 on the second 400.

I'm pleased that I can pace myself well enough to have my slowest and fastest times on the 800s be within 10 seconds. I can probably push myself a little harder, and that'll come with more experience. As far as the 400s are concerned, today I felt like I had the energy I usually do for a final kick. On the second 400, I was a bit tired and couldn't push it very hard down the last 100 meters, but I still had a good burst of energy.

So now comes a very quick recovery today (lots of water and a good night's sleep) for the Academy One Miler in downtown Lynchburg tomorrow. I have a goal of less than 7 minutes, but that will all depend on how this morning's workout affects me. It'll be my wife's first race, so I'm looking more forward to that than I am setting a PR.