Up, Up and Away (W-W-W-W-Wilke!)

Today was the first Wilke workout of the marathon training season. This is often a milestone, especially for those who are experiencing Wilke for the first time. Gilbert gave some folks the option of doing the shorter warmup version (starting and finishing at the park at Barton Springs), but for veterans he suggested the longer version (start and finish at RunTex). Let the record show that I tried to gin up a good excuse this morning for missing Wilke, and I really did feel a bit out of sorts upon awakening, but couldn't justify skipping...sadly. :-) I was pretty much the last guy on warmups, but that was okay with me. I took my time getting over to Wilke, just to make sure that I gently brought the running machinery up to operating temperatures.

The long-form runners got to skip the drills, so we quickly got the workout details (minimum of 3 x Wilke, max of 7 x Wilke...with a suggestion that marathoners all do 7, then 3 backwards and 3 short uphill striders), and we were sent off. There was a mist in the air that made the asphalt slippery in spots (and later it rained on us for one or two repeats for the full basket of fun), but it was time to go in spite of that.

I just picked a spot about halfway through the pack, and held that spot or moved up a bit in the order as the workout went along. I've more or less learned how to negotiate Wilke after years of trying it, and for me, I just pick a good hill-climbing gear, focus on form as much as possible, and get on up the hill. Gilbert told us this time to start a little further back than usual, and we were to finish quite a ways further up the hill than usual (it was pretty flat for the extra distance both at the top and bottom, but still longer).

I met Courtney today as she introduced herself on one of the downhill recovery jogs, and that was pretty fun, just as a change of pace during the repetitive nature of this event. I joined up with Brian and Brad for repeat number 5, which felt to me like it was going to be my last one. I had made a internal deal with myself at the start to aim for 5 repeats with an option on all 7, depending on how I felt. When I got to 5, and by the time we reached the finish, I was done. I made some Wilke noises on the last couple of repeats, but I held up pretty well, I think. The three backwards Wilkes went really well, with no walking steps, and as usual, that part of the workout makes your quads absolutely turn to deadened putty. It's sort of cool that your quads feel like that, because you know you've really been working, but you also can't wait until you figure out a way to somehow make that feeling go away so you can run home. :-) The cure? Well, our coach has figured that out, too. We finished up with 3 shorter uphill striders, and despite the fact that it seems so contrary to sensibility, your legs really do feel better afterwards. Go figure.

After quite a few cups of replenishment fluids, I fell in with Chris(?), Brad and Brian for the jog back to RunTex. It's amazing, but since we were running back pretty casually, my legs felt better and better as we went along. We all chatted away, and it was a pretty enjoyable journey. The stats for the day are something like 7.8 miles total, and my HR on warmup/cooldown was really in the pocket. For a change.

I got in a full stretching session, which I needed, and I got a chance to hang out with Lisa C. for a while, too. Another Wilke workout in the books, and although I sort of disappointed Gilbert by "only" doing 5xWilkes, I'll call this one a success. Tomorrow is EZ running in the 'Hood and a gym workout. One day at a time. Just one by one...