Aimless Trackwork?

It always seems to happen. In my desire to get track fit, I tend to over do it, when a more convervative approach would be the safer course. Take this morning for example. It was another cool, windy and overcast morning with temps in the mid 50s and I headed to the track for a speedwork session.

I planned to do some 300s, aiming for 51-54 (68-72 400 pace) with the hope of dropping it down to the 48 region at the end. Of course, I haven't run anything close to this pace recently, but that didn't stop me from trying.

After a 2+ mile warmup to the track and some drills, I jumped into the workout. The plan was 2 sets of 3 x 300 with a 100 jog and a 400 jog between sets. The first set averaged 52.2 with the last one at 50.7. However, it was a little too fast with not enough rest for me, and I lacked any kind of zip during the second set and only averaged 53.6.

After 4 laps of easy running, I ran 4 x 150 strides to try and keep the legs turning over and then ran home for my cooldown. I felt a little twinge in my upper right hamstring/piriformis during the workout and so I'll have to watch it carefully over the next couple of days.

In hindsight, it's clear to see that I tried to do too much with the workout and it served very little purpose. If I wanted to focus on speed such as 800 pace then I should have lengthened the rest interval between repeats. A 100 jog was definitely not enough. And if I wanted it to be more of a strength workout then I should have slowed down the repeats to the 54-57 range (72-76 400 pace) and kept the rest interval.

Unfortunately I tried to have both and failed. I hope the hamstring problem is minor. In the meantime, I learned of an all-comers meet in my area on July 20 so I'll see if I can get in one 800 race this summer before shutting down the trackwork and starting on a marathon buildup....