Almost a year ago we had some serious rainstorms that caused quite a bit of flooding. One of the casualties of the flooding (other than all my college textbooks) were the lights at the track where we do speedwork. They stayed off for the rest of the summer. Made for some interesting track sessions in September and October.
Last week a sign went up on the track entrances informing the public that the track would be closed for repairs from July 5th through August 12th. I honestly don't know what they're repairing but I'm hoping it's the lights!
But in the meantime, what does a team do when they need to still get in some speedwork?
Cue the sidewalk. Last year when we couldn't use the track we ran on a path through the park across the street. One "loop" of that area was about .33 miles. Last night, though, we did something different.
The sidewalks around the perimeter of the campus the track is on equal just shy of one mile. So, why not run miles instead of parts of miles?
And that's what we did. 2x2 miles to be exact. With about a quarter mile recovery in the middle. Well, first I rode my bike to the track (a little over 3 miles) and we did our warm-ups and moving drills in the parking lot. Then we did a 1 "lap" warm-up before moving into the main workout.
The goal was to run half marathon pace. I ended up running with our resident ultramarathoner who is actually pretty speedy at "shorter" distances. Which meant I ran a tad faster than my current half marathon PR pace. I was definitely pushing it toward the end but I never felt too uncomfortable. Especially considering it was pretty warm outside.
When we finished we did a half mile cool-down. By that time I had to hop on my bike and get home otherwise I would have stayed for the strength workout. Coach was herding people toward the monkey bars at the playground next door when I left. I'm bummed I had to leave! Although, my arms were pretty sore already (from the tetanus shot on Sunday and a killer gym class on Tuesday) so I suppose it's probably not a bad thing.
Sometimes doing speedwork can feel like a chore. You know it will help but sometimes it's so miserable while you're doing it. Last night's workout didn't feel that way. Although, my quads were pretty trashed when I got on my bike to go home. Fingers crossed I feel better on Sunday! I've got another duathlon to do!
Alternate OPRC Track by snmnstrz21 at Garmin Connect - Details
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