Week 7 - "Indoor Speed, Again"

If you think you're too small to have an impact, try going to bed with a mosquito.
Anita Roddick

Everything we do in our lives has an impact. Whether it is a good deed by helping a stranger in need, or being mean to a family member who loves you unconditionally. Even things we do to our own bodies have a positive or negative effect on us. Pushing ourselves in training can have two effects good and bad. Smoking, drinking, eating unhealthy can have negative consequences but in the same breath, eating healthy foods, not in balance of the food pyramid can cause harm as well. Life is delicate balancing act and every action you do has a reaction.

It is the same in nature. An earthquake near the bottom of the Earth in a country of less than 17 million people has caused a global impact that can never be changed. An action 4,733 miles from our inhabitance has shortened each of our lives each year by 1.24 milliseconds and the Earth’s axis forever changed by a mere 3 inches. How will this action effect our brothers and sisters in years to come?

On a tinny tiny scale, the Master’s Swim meeting with Head of Operations of Alpharetta LTF had an impact on how they perceive their members. Their paying members. Currently their actions have caused unhappy reactions to my friends and me. This facility is in the business of making money and is not a charitable organization with limited funds. They sell a service of a high quality gym and it is expected that they honor this by doing their job. Their actions yesterday to rectify their lack of commitment they push as a marketing tool needs to have a positive action on its members or the reaction will be seeking alternative sources. The clock is ticking.

Yesterday followed up on an action set in motion. I met Carmen on the treadmills at lunch to help her with her running form. Carmen was knocking out a 1.5 run inside because of the snow that was coming down in droves during the day (though I think she should have been outside). A couple of weeks ago I gave her some pointers on her stride and wanted to follow up with her to see if they were working. The input or actions I gave to Carmen have had a positive reaction on her form and efficiency. She has stated that her runs feel less labored and a little more at ease. There are a few more pointers and drills Carmen can do to improve, slowly, but the outcome will be a positive one.

This morning was another action. The action of getting up and running track on the treadmill. This process is like rubbing up against the grain the wrong way. I have come to terms that one treadmill work out a week is enough, but with the continual bad weather in Georgia we have been forced indoors too many times. The work out called for 6 X 1200M (.745 miles) at a 4:21 time. This type of distance is doable on the mill, so I headed off to LTF to meet up with the Wonder Twins since they were running 4 X 1200M’s at a 4:46 time.

Arriving upstairs at 5:45AM, I saw the Twins on the mills and headed in their direction. As I approached the time on both of their mills were 11 minutes. This meant that they had started at 5:34AM and not the scheduled 5:45AM that we had set. The early start meant that I would be huffing out 2 of the 1200’s and the cool down solo. The Twins are in harmony with each other and any other outsource force seems to be only a disturbance.

During the reaction in my head to their action, Jonathan hopped on the mill next to Jay. Since he had just started as well, I would at least have some company for the last segment of the speed work.

I started out with a warm up that quickly went into the first 1200 at a treadmill speed of 10.3. I was able to maintain form and cadence while focusing on the blurred T.V.’s on the wall.
The rest interval was 400M or .25 miles. I walked part and ran part until the next 1200 was do. Number 2 through 4 went about the same. No change in the pace or speed but the temperature in the building in combination with the running was causing a reaction of sweat to pour off me.

When I hit the end of the 4th 1200 the Twins were done. Bob gave me a knuckle hit and said good luck. All I could think about at that point was I will need all the luck I can get.
I started into number 5 with a little trouble. The legs had felt the effects of the last 4 reps and were screaming for me to stop. This is the point where you need to settle in and remember the reason for these types of sets. They are built in to train the brain to handle the fatigue in the legs and continually push yourself forward.

After the completion of the 5th and going into the last 1200, I got angry. Not at any one or anything but pretended that the people up ahead a few rows on treadmills had all just passed me. This action fueled a reaction of pushing harder and focusing on momentum to overtake these runners. How could they think of passing me and being ahead of me? Who is this dude in basket ball shorts and the lady in a yoga outfit? How can this woman with all that hair in a ponytail flapping all over the place be a head of me?

I narrowed in on the backs of their heads and tuned out the pain, the heavy breathing, the barking in the legs and the sweat dripping into my eyes to overtake the pack and finish at a pace of 10.5 for the last 400 meters.

Stupid I know. But, when you are on the dreadmill it helps to have an imagination.
Today will be a continuous focused on actions of the positive nature as my promise made 14 days ago. There are no bad things in the World that cannot be fixed. With a good outlook, a helping hand to a friend or a stranger in need the impact of my actions no matter how small will have a mega reaction to the surrounding World or at least make Carmen a lot faster on the run…