Wednesday
Track: "a course laid out for running or racing." That is what was on the schedule for this morning.
The scheduling of this particular session started yesterday at 11:33AM from a distribution email from none other than Jay. Jay had posted the Wonder Twins speed workout for Wednesday morning which comprised of:
200M on :44 (200 RI)
400M on 1:31 (400 RI)
600M on 2:19 (400 RI)
800M on 3:07 (400 RI)
800M on 3:07 (400 RI)
600M on 2:19 (400 RI)
400M on 1:31 (400 RI)
200M on: 44
As I glanced through the workout (which is one of the best sessions on the track) I realized that the variances in speed and distance were not conducive to the constant speed workout I had planned. While the Wonder Twins had a step up and step down approach, I was scheduled for 3 X 1600M’s @ 6:00 pace.
Just from experience of running track, I knew that we would be on top of each other distributing the flow of each other’s agenda.
I shot an email back basically “taking one for the team” stating that since my speed workout was long intervals I would opted out of the track workout and perform these sets of 1600M’s on the treadmill in the morning. This way we would not run into each other and mess the other one up.
Almost instantly, I received emails from the Twins (weird how in sync they are) requesting my presence outdoors with them. I attempted to justify my reasoning for the change up but they would not hear of it.
As I thought about the approaching track session and the differences in speed and distance and how I had no other option if I wanted to still claim my manhood among the Twins, I had to make this work for all.
First thing was to stop thinking linear. I had to get myself off the 400M lane and focus on the oval as a whole and not just Lane 1. This means calculating the distance of Lane 2 through Lane 8 to come up with a reasonable measured distance for the start and finish of a 1600M.
The formula for calculating the distance of each lane is based on the distance, straights, radius and width:
L = 2S + 2pi(R + (n-1)w)
L = 2(100) + 2pi( 31.830995 + (7-1)1.22)
L = 200 + 6.2381385(38.83381) = ~444M
Which is 3.58 laps for 1600M’s
This means I would need to run 3.5 times around in Lane 7 with an additional 32 meters at the end to make the full amount. Brother…
It would be so much easier to run on the treadmill, mindless and let the mill do all the calculating for me as I just ran on the wheel like a hamster. However, where is the challenge in that?
4:50AM. The alarm sounded as a reminder to wake up, but I had beaten the clock to the punch by 10 minutes. As I laid in bed under the warmth of my sheets the mind raced. Recalculating in my head, the distances, the pace, the start and finishes. Every thought was different than the last until the sound of the alarm jolted me out of the racing anxiety settling me into one driven thought, “let’s do this”.
Arriving at the gym the lot was unusually full for 5:15AM. With the weather constantly changing and the weekend's being unfavorable lately to bike, the local area cyclist have congregated in Brian’s spin class on Monday’s and Wednesday’s filling it to capacity.
I made my way to the second floor after hitting the locker room to run 15 minutes on the treadmill to warm up the aching muscles from Sunday’s 18-mile hill run. After the 15, I headed to lobby where the Wonder Twins were waiting.
We headed out into the cold towards the AHS track. Conversation was light because the wind picked up and cut through our entire technical garb right to the core. The silence on the run down meant that each of us was focusing on staying warm and loosening up the muscles for the speed that awaited them.
The road into the AHS was treacherous. There is a constant stream of water that cuts across the road, which today was a sheet of ice. We navigated the black ice and made it to the mouth of the beast, the track. As we arrived at it’s opening the cold wind picked up hitting us head on as a signal from the beast that it was not going to bow down to us this morning.
We entered with an unwelcoming feeling as we scouted around the arena marking our start, split and finish points. The markings were ready and now we were ready. The Twins were to take the inside lane and I was assigned Lane 7.
We took off at different times (so I would not mess with their paces as I passed them) the Twins starting the first 200M and me on the first 1600M.
I started the journey in Lane 7 and fell easily into a pace. I hit the first 400M at 1:18 which was fast. I cut the stride down as I ran into the wind on the north stretch of the track. The nose, eyes and ears immediately froze. My breathing increased as I took in the chilly air pushing myself around the north curve hitting the 800M mark at 3:15. 1.5+ laps to go. The third lap was consistent at a 1:25 though still too quick, with ending the last leg of the 1600M for a total of 5:50. The next two where similar to the first but I pushed for negative splits on both while decreasing my speed to come closer to 6:00. The times for the 3 X 1600M were 5:50, 5:55 & 5:57.
The second 1600M was in the opposite direction. I learned that I am weaker on this direction with having the left leg on the outside. This leg is weaker and the one riddled by sciatica. These factors push me on the outside of the lane, where as running south to north I hug the inside of the lane. Need more work on isolating the legs.
I cannot attest to the Twins workout, but I have to say, I need to keep my eye on them. I have seen over the last 6 months their simultaneous speed increasing with every workout.
After the track, we quickly headed back to the shelter of the gym to escape the cold. We stretched, talked with Chris, Stacy and Susan L. Then we all went our separate ways for the day.
The sacrifice of taking the outside lanes was worth it. Though it would have been easier to take the easy way and run the mill, I am glad to spend the time with Bob & Jay and observe their progress since our training schedules do not allow for this often.
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