Goin' Round and Round

Today was one of those workouts that makes you dizzy, but is a necessary element of any training program: 15 x 400m repeats on the track. We did 20x400m a month or so before Freescale, so this was a shorter workout than that, but it's still a lot of laps. When I got to RunTex, I stayed in my truck until I had to get out, a little sleepy, and once Gilbert arrived, the bulk of the troops left for the track. Gilbert needed to update his new phone, so I stayed for a moment so he could enter all my phone numbers. Once that was done, it was closer to 6:00, and only Amy and Frank were still around. So, our little group scurried off to the track, chatting away, and we arrived not too far behind the rest of the folks. It was nice out there, by the way, crisp, clear and 45 degrees. My kind of running weather.

Drills drilled, it was time for the assignment. The Boston people had to do 20x400m, and Gilbert sent them off right away. The rest of us were split into two groups as well. Those folks only doing 10K racing this spring were to do 10-12 x 400m, trying to drop their times as the workout went along in groups of 4 repeats. Those were to be done with only the 1:00 rest between repeats. Those of us doing the Indy half marathon had to do 15 x 400m, with the 1:00 rest between repeats, but also after every 5 repeats, we were to jog a 400m lap. So, 3 sets of 5x400m repeats, dropping our per lap times by 2 seconds each set.

We started with our friends, so our initial group was Amy, Rich, Richard, Brian, Rachel, and Jennifer. We took turns leading the laps, and by the end of those 5 laps, we had ended up with the 1:40 target average that I had hoped for. At that point, Richard, Jennifer and I did our first jogged lap, and the others stayed on the other schedule. Jennifer is doing Boston, of course, and wanted to stay with us instead of trying to chase the other, faster, Boston people. We even had Frank with us on that jog lap, so we did some chatting as we went around. The next set was pretty successful, too, and I was glad to have Richard with me. It's hard to keep your pacing on target when you're by yourself on the track, and we helped each other by taking turns leading those laps. One more jogged lap, and time for the last set. We were supposed to get down to 1:36 or so on this set, and I guess we did our job. I took us through those last 3 laps, and armed with the knowledge that Richard was right there, counting on my pace work, we finished in good fashion. The end of a long running day...

Splits: 1:42, 1:41, 1:41, 1:40, 1:39 for the first set. 1:40.5 average, right on target. Second set was 1:40, 1:38, 1:37, 1:38, 1:37. 1:38 average on the nose. Perfect. Last set was 1:37, 1:34, 1:35, 1:35, 1:31, for a 1:34 average for the set.

Overall, I averaged 1:37.5 for all 15 repeats, which was quicker than the 1:39 average in the last time I did the big 400m repeat workout. This is another encouraging sign that I may be due for a big PR at the Capitol 10,000.

We ran back to RunTex with Frank, Jennifer and Colleen. Richard ran partway back, and then turned around to go back to his car (he parked at the track due to a morning meeting). We were a little quicker going back, but still within cooldown pace range. For the day, 7.4 miles.

I stretched just a little bit after we got back, and after some conversation with Rich and Colleen, it was time to get back in the warm car. It was chilly standing around in damp clothing, of course. Another great day at the running office.

The long run on Saturday should be interesting, featuring the hilly part of the Cap 10K course and then the Scenic loop plus a Bonnell ascent. That should total between 15 and 16 miles. I'll be able to run with the normal gang for the first 4 miles or so, and then, depending on what they decide to do, I may be alone for quite a while. I'm hopeful that they'll want to tag along until the point at which I peel off to do the Bonnell climb.