for my warm up, i had on my t-shirt, gloves, hat, and arm warmers. this was the right amount of clothing. but twenty minutes later, as i was changing into my track shoes, i noticed a stark increase in temperature. i decided to hit the track with just my singlet and shorts, which proved to be a great idea. it just kept heating up with each and every lap of the track. until the end, as i was sitting back in my car, changing back into my trail shoes, where i was dripping sweat. large drops, two, three at a time, blurring my vision and smashing to the ground.
the workout was amazing, exhilarating, and so incredibly tough. my least favorite workout use to be 800m repeats, after this morning it has switched to 1000m repeats. the concepts with this distance is that you are to run at the same pace and effort you would an 800m but an extra 200m is tacked on at the end. this may not seem like much. what is a half a lap? but by the last couple repeats, when you hit the 600m mark and realize that you still have to go around the whole track again, it becomes an intense battle.
i hit my times nearly perfect on. my slowest was a 3:10:18--and this was my second repeat. my quickest was my third at 3:08:80. typically on these track workouts, i memorize my 200m and 400m time and then reset the watch every lap. today i tried a different technique. i decided to not reset my watch until after the 1000m and memorize all five 200m times. last night i wrote them down :38, 1:16, 1:54, 2:32, 3:10. and then for the rest of the night i kept repeating them in my mind. every time gracie would wake up for a feeding, as i was changing her diaper, i would be repeating these numbers in my head. over and over again. until they would come without thought.
i think this helped me to be even more consistent over the course of the 1000m. it left all the extra mind energy of adding and subtracting numbers to see how close i am to the target time. i can just look down at my watch at ever 200m and know exactly where i am at. this helped me to focus solely on my running.
:38--focus on holding back. don't go out too fast or you will suffer for the remaining 2:32.
1:16--don't slow down. don't settle into a slow pace. push through that turn but not too hard. not yet.
1:54--you should now be settled into your pace. but this is no reason for your mind to float off into the clouds or to be annoyed with that ancient hunched over asian lady who walks with incredible slowness around the inside lane of the track even though you speed by her within centimeters yelling 'track.' this is a focus but a rhythmic focus.
2:32--this is a battle now. but only stage one. don't push too hard yet. don't give your all. but don't give in to your weariness.
3:10--this is where legends are created. become one. leave it all on the table. don't let that time of 3:10 slip away from you. at the end of this 200m don't let your watch say 3:11 or worse yet 3:12. you are fit enough to run this. and run it ever faster.
i found myself even on the second repeat making excuses for myself. my legs are too sore from holding and rocking gracie. i haven't had enough sleep over the past week to hit these times. my mind is too wearied from all that afternoon/evening running. i'm not ready to run this fast. i was foolish to move up a point value from mr. daniels. i had to grab each of these doubts, one at a time, and stuff them out of my mind and just do my workout.
one day at a time, one workout at a time, on point at a time, one repeat at a time, one 200m at a time.
that's how i had to run today. i feel powerful afterwards.
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