and you thought 1000m was tough

and along comes four minutes. four little tiny minutes. at your death pace. for me my death pace is 38 seconds every 200m. this takes me around the track 3 times and then about three quarters of the curve. last week doing those 1000m at 3:10, i thought i was going to die. 50 more seconds feels more like 50 minutes. i actually ran more than four minutes. i decided to pick a spot on that bend that i could run to so i wouldn't be looking at my watch to hit exactly four minutes. this would also give me an idea of consistency.

but let me rewind . . .

this morning was winter. i started at about 7:15, feeling sore and tired. it took most of the 20 minute warm up to really feel warmed up. especially in my legs from the cold. it was a beautiful morning though. lots of fog, which i love. a clear sky. the full moon still hovering to the west.

after warm-up, i kept my hat, gloves, and arm warmers on and hit the track. the place was packed. more runners/walkers than i have ever seen on it before. but they were all very nice and knew about proper track etiquette.

six sprints. these were fast. and i felt fast. my warm up finally did its work and i was soaring. it always helps when there are people there to witness your workouts. makes you run faster. i pretend that they have a copy of my workout. so they know if i'm going to slow or skipping out early.

then came the hard part. 5 x 4 minutes at my hard pace. i went into this workout with fear. and maybe rightfully so. this was the first time since starting with mr. daniels that i wasn't sure if i was going to actually finish the workout. i doubted. i kept trying to tell myself that he knew what he was talking about. that it is only pain. all the little mind tricks we use to trick the mind and body.

and then i was off. i hit the first one right on time. but so out of breath. hit the second one on. still unsure. it was at the end of the third one that i knew i would finish this workout. that i would do all five. that i would have victory.

i had dumped my hat off at the start after the sprints next to my water bottle. as i'm coming into the final straightaway, 3:35 seconds into this 4 minute effort, i notice the ground keeper picking up random garbage left on the turf from the cross country meet. he picks up my hat and water bottle. without thinking i yell out 'those are mine!! can you leave them there?!?' and that's when i know. if i have the oxygen left at the end of this repeat to shout that such a way that he can understand what i am saying, then i have the oxygen left to finish what i started.

and so i did.

it was hard, but that's running. as i did 4 minute repeat after 4 minute repeat, people began to leave the track and no more where coming. during the 3 minute easy run right before the last one, the last guy left the track. and i was alone. with the fog coming in. no one to witness this. it ended up being the slowest of the five but i hit my 200's right on pace. here is a breakdown of them: 4:01:9, 4:01:6, 4:02:7, 4:02:33, 4:03:46. this comes out to an average of 4:02:4.

the odd thing about this is a vividly remember every time i hit that 1000m distance and thinking if i were to stop now, this would be an easy workout. this is encouraging. it means i'm more comfortable at this pace.

when i got back to my car to change shoes for the cool down, i realized that my singlet was on inside out. i was embarrassed for one half of a second. and then i remembered my workout. i suffered through the death and survived to tell about it. who cares what i look like?

this idea did not prevent me from taking off my singlet and turning it the right way for my 20 minute cool down. it's one thing to look stupid. it's another thing to look stupid on purpose.