According to the schedule Tuesday was supposed to be 4x800m intervals at the track. Unfortunately when we got there the football team was still on the field and the marching band was just warming up, marching on the track?? We guessed they must be practicing Homecoming?? Anyway, we were unable to get on the track to get our workout in so we decided to try again on Wednesday evening, what we should have done was adjust and get in Wednesday’s easy run, but instead we headed home for dinner. Not a big fan of after work workouts, body is too hungry.
So last night we tried again, this time we also invited Steve, he was looking to get in a four mile and I suggested he could get it done on the track, with getting dark earlier it is getting tougher to get evening workouts in. When we got there, the only people on the track/field was that soccer team, but the track was clear so we started our warm up laps. When we finished with the warm up, Steve was just arriving, so he started on his 4 miles we started on our intervals. Unfortunately for Kris, her shins started to bother her on the warm up, so she was not sure what she could get done, but she started just after took off.
My first 800 was fast, wish I knew how fast but I had an issue with Kris’s Polar HR watch and did not get it started. I was able to see my HR and it was 172-176, which was about the target for tonight’s workout. I defiantly could tell I took off fast and slowed down a bit on the second lap. Really sucking wind when I was done, took a cool down lap and even then an extra minute to rest before I started again.
Second time was the charm, got the watch started and I finished with a 3:01, one second faster then my goal range but felt better, did not take off so fast this time. Cool down lap, grabbed the water this time. 3rd 800 was a bit slower, 3:08 this time, but still in my target range. Cool down lap, HR is no longer coming down as fast this time, down to 142. 4th and last 800, 3:00 my fastest timed 800 of the night, remember I had no time for the first 800.
All in all I was very happy with tonight’s workout. All of my 800’s were in the time range and my HR was actually lower then what I was expecting, closer to my Tempo range, 87-92%. And the average for the 3 800’s and the cool down laps was 144. So the question then becomes, do I have more in me, could I have gone faster? Do I have a faster pace in me? The second lap was tough every time so I am pushing myself.
During my workout I noticed that Kris had stopped, her shins were still bothering her and she did not want to push it, which is the smart thing to do, but I know that she wants to go fast and wanted to push herself tonight. I had to reassure her that one bad workout will not derail her training and that she is smarter taking it easy so she does not make anything worse. We have an easy run scheduled for tonight so we can see how she feels.
Two other things of note. Just after I finished my last cool down lap, Steve was just finishing his 16th lap; he was able to get in his full 4 mile run, good for you Steve. And it didn’t hurt any of us that the lights at the track were on, probably because of the soccer team but it worked for us as well.
After the workout it was VERY clear that I still have a bit of my cold from last week. Spent the next two hours in varying degrees of coughing fits. Feel fine today, but the hard workout really shook something loose in my lungs.
