A great workout died in its adolescence.
The 4x1.5 mile workout scheduled for Wednesday was going to be a great mix of speed and duration, giving me four chances to push through the fairly arbitrary mile mark of a hard run.
Jerry's plan for the B group was 79, 78, 77, 76, and I was ready for that, enduring what is now a thankfully slow track pace of 79-second quarters and slowly but confidently speeding up.
The first one went EASILY- 7:50 with a 5:14 mile en route.
I followed Dickson for the second and we started hitting 76s consistently, going through the mile in 5:05 (my fastest mile in I don't know how long) and continuing to 7:40. Those last two laps, however, I felt growing discomfort in my abdomen, and I was worried my hold on my digestive track was as tenuous as a North African despot's control of his county. Which county? Take your pick, really...
After crossing the finish line, I sped up to B-CC's lobby to use the bathroom, and managed to return just shy of the four minute recovery period. Maybe I could avoid disrupting the workout after all. I rejoined the group as they sped off, but 200 meters in I knew my hubris has gotten the best of me-- while my training partners were jogging relaxedly, I had been rushing back and forth, stressing out about finishing the workout, basically NOT recovering. I jogged back to the line, waited for the group to come through at 800 meters and joined them for the next 800 to stay loose and warm- 2:31. The civil unrest continued and it became necessary to exile more dissidents.
I joined Dickson and Dangerous Dave for the last of their 'peats, and was handling it pretty well, coming through 1200 in 3:50, but I knew my time on my legs was numbered. I decided to go for it and try to run a fast mile, but I wasted a lot of breath trying to explain to them what I was doing.I took off with 300m to go, but tied up with 100 left. I managed a 75 for the last 400 to finish with another 5:05. I jogged a bit then joined Brian for a 76/77 last quarter.
I wound up with 4.75 miles of quality speed work, but it was far from what I wanted to do or what I was capable of doing. Just as I knew I was in for a bad workout during my warmup last Tuesday, I was ready to handle it, probably run below 7:40 for the last two, but my digestive problems poisoned my chances.
Thursday I ran a Catholic 11 at lunch, averaging 6:25. I pushed pretty hard up Harewood Road, but for the most part was relaxed and focused on my form. I'm tired and need a good night's sleep.
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