Something new at the track

RUN 10 miles in 8:27

For the first time, I ran with T and his group. His sessions always seemed more intricate than the plans I brought for myself and since I was out of inspiration for my personal plan I thought I'd try this today.

The "on" intervals at about 5K pace: 600 on, 300 rest, 300 on, 150 rest, 150 on, 100 rest. Repeat 5 times. That adds up to a mile, and the mile should end up being about 10K pace. My mile intervals ended up being in the 7:45-ish range.

The first interval I miscalculated and did 5 laps. The last interval I cut short to join the group's 10x100 CD. So I don't have much data to report, but I do have some observations.

First off, I'm amazed I could run this at all after having a 43 mile weekend! Yay and Wow! Goes back to my theory that most fatigue has a mental component. If you think you're tired, or think you should be, well then that's probably how you'll feel. Second, I may have been running but I wasn't strong. My 600's faded around the 300 mark, and my 150 and 100 rest were barely enough. But yowza I was doing sub-8 miles! This goes back to my speed work-as-mental-training theory, that if you can force yourself to do speed work even when you're tired you'll be surprised with the result. This lesson is what drove the Rt 66 HIM half-mary PR: when you're in-race and feeling tired, you'll know you're capable of continuing because you did it every Tuesday in speed work.

Third, it takes a lot more brain to run with math. Usually I get lost in the run and my mind drifts. It's easy to do that when the plan is something like a 1200 with 400 rest. But to break the track up into segments and count the laps--woo that's not as easy! So I liked that the miles just clicked by. Finally, it took extra brain to enforce the pace. At the end of the first mile, I was blending my on and rest paces into one steady pace. Instead I needed to keep the on fast then milk the recovery.

This felt great, and I'll be back next week!

In general, I'm feeling 50 times better than I did yesterday. My energy and mental clarity are super today, I feel like I'm high on something. Yesterday I was sludge. I went home early and just laid on a bed for a few hours, also drank LOTS of water. I was worried that my lab meeting this morning would be sludge, but instead I felt great about it. Apparently, taking recovery seriously means I can seriously recover. Duh! But it's hard to do this sometimes.

I have a decision to make for tomorrow--The goal mileage this week is about 60 miles. The plan calls for a 4+12+6 midweek and a 28+12 weekend. I'd already modified the midweek 20 miles to 10+bike+10. Now I'm asking myself--how important is that weekend 12 and would it be better to run tomorrow instead? If I put the run on Weds (tomorrow) I'll get 6 miles probably in a two-a-day commute. If I did that, I'd only run 6 miles on Sunday. Which is the better option? Two long midweek runs and a weekend back-to-back? Three midweek runs and a one quality weekend long run? Split the 12 miles between Weds and Sun?

Putting the run on Sunday would be harsh and potentially damaging. Although the mental toughness and willpower needed that would be ultra race specific, and really good for that HTFU I'm going to need in the race. But I didn't do this 28+12 for the first 50M (was too tired) and I survived the 50M. But this is the 2nd round, I'd like to think I've improved to where I can do a 28+12 back-to-back.

I'm thinking that 12 is just a number, and if I ran 4 or 6 on Sunday, I'd get the same effect: I'm tired and I'm making myself run. And the two-a-day commute is one of the hardest things to do. So I've decided: 6 mile commute tomorrow, and 6 miles on Sunday super EZ, or whatever it takes to add up to 12 miles.