Hold steady

Another week done. During the school year I find myself in the sweet spot of 50-60 miles, usually closer to 50. The demands of home and school pull at the time, making a typical weekday run around 35-50 minutes. If I could get my act together I'd like to hit 60-75, but that's saved for when the days start to get a little longer.

One workout this week: 10x400 at the Dempsey Indoor at UW. Average was 69 seconds per rep, and had a solid 2 minutes of rest. It felt great to be inside where it's warm, lit, and fast. My running bros ran 300s a tad quicker. I'm glad coach didn't toss me into the deep end, as I would not have survived.

Mileage: 51.17 miles
Races: 1- 2 mile series, XC! Muddy and sloppy. Came in 12th in 11:20. Considering I ran 11:15 about a month ago in significantly better conditions (a bit muddy, but dry), this is great.

Next up: 2 mile series (track!) in 2 weeks, followed by the Valentine's Day 5k at Green Lake the following week.

A lion and I walk into a room...

The Super Bowl is here, and I do plenty of reading in the lead up to it. One article discussed the sports psych the Seahawks employ to work with their athletes. In the article, the psych says that he is just trying to get guys to acknowledge the lion they're most fearful of. But they don't want just to know its there, they want to invite it into the room and pet it. 

That is the attitude of the distance runner doing speed work- or at least my attitude. I have 18-20 years of experience that tells me what is or isn't feasible. Most times, this is great. The ability to temper enthusiasm in a marathon, hold back a little in a 5-10k. Be measured. But to get faster, you can't say "too fast". You can't go "I've never done a workout that fast, so I need to dial it back." Instead you need to acknowledge the fear of failure (fading, not finishing), and then stare it down.

That has been this speed cycle for me. I've done consecutive workouts that have been as fast as I've gone. 2ks in 6:25-6:27, 1600s in 5:06, 1200s around 3:48, 800s in 2:29. Each time there is the concern- venturing where you haven't been is unnerving. But the desire to get faster needs to outweigh that concern. The difference in pace isn't too micha we're talking 2:29 for 800 instead of 2:33. But it's enough to go- careful. 

But now isn't the time for careful. It's the time for fast.

Making Left Hand Turns

January is the speed cycle in my training. Goal is to get some speed before cycling into marathon work by mid-February. So far so good.

I've run 3 hard workouts indoors, along with a set of tempo intervals on the outdoor. The results have been encouraging. First was 3x2k indoors. They were 6:27s, and felt good. I ran outside with 6xMile in 5:30 on short rest, followed by 4x200 (33s). Then mile reps in 5:05-5:08 (4xMile) indoors. Last was tonight going 6x1200 in 3:45-3:52. I struggled with 3, 4, and 5 before rallying on the 6th.

Speed work is the great unknown for marathoners. You know you need it, but really don't do it enough to know how far into the well you can go. The thought of running 6 sets of 75-76 second per 400is daunting when you rarely do it. The doubt crept in after rep 2 tonight- how  I going to do this?!

Ultimately it's left hand turns. You focus on the person in front of you, and I'm fortunate to have a great club with people to run with. Zone in and hang as long as you can- hopefully through the line.

Next race: 5k in February. Gotta get fast.