Speeding Up

After a recovery run yesterday where the heart rate was a little higher than usual but still within range the 70% range, I went into this morning's workout with a bit of trepidation. I wanted to get in some speedwork at the track because I plan to run a 2 mile road race on July 4 in support of the local high school's track team. I could run the 5 mile race instead, which would probably be more beneficial in the long run, but I just don't feel like putting in the extra effort when the temps will most likely be hot. I'm a wimp.

I was kind of waffling over what workout I should do during my 2+ mile warmup to the high school. I couldn't decide between 400s, 600s or even on and off 400s. The track was the most crowded I've seen at 6:30 am with a few walkers, individual joggers, some unleashed dogs plus a group of 5 women doing laps and straightaways. I guess with school out, early sunrises and pleasant weather that happens.

Usually I have the track all to myself at this time so I was hoping I wouldn't have to do a lot of weaving in and out of human traffic, other than moving out to lane 3 at the 200m mark for 20-30 meters due to work being done on the infield that was fenced off and jutting out into lane 2.

After some abbreviated drills and strides, I settled on 6x600m with a 200 jog as the workout and I wanted to run around 80 second 400 pace for the repeats.

In contrast to my 200 workout last Friday, where I felt like I pressing too much and overstriding, the 600s this morning felt more under control. I was able to maintain at a steady pace, and while in the beginning I had to hold back a bit from going out too fast, at the end it was definitely getting hard.

Overall I averaged a bit over 2 minutes for the 6 x 600s so I'm pretty please with the overall effort. It's interesting how last week's 200s made today's 600s feel a lot easier.

I know if I hit the track on a regular basis I could quickly regain fitness and speed for the shorter track distances and road races. Of course there would be a greater chance for injury so I think I'll just stick to putting in the miles, building strength and possibly attempting a marathon in December...