Today was my first day back to running after my sickness after my first week back to running after a 2 month break. I've gained a little bit of weight, which is okay, but that coupled with the sickness and the lack of running, I slow. I so slow.
But that's ok because it felt good to get out there and run.
Today's workout -
Warm up mile - I actually didn't end up doing the full mile because I was late because I couldn't find the running pants I really wanted to wear, and I took a new way so the group started running and I caught up with them and got probably half a mile
6 sets of 1/4 mile repeats - my goal was to stay around the 2:40 mark. My first one was 2:30 and then I pretty much stayed under 2:30, ending my 6th lap at 2:19.
I tried a couple of different ways to speed up. One time, I did 25 strides and then a 15 second rest which resulted in a 2:20 time. One time, I ran 30 seconds fast, 30 seconds slow which resulted in 2:22. Then I did 25 strides fast, 25 strides slow which resulted in a 2:24. My last one, I just ran slow up the hill and ran fast down it which is where I got the 2:19.
*just a reference point - I was running a 1:47, 1:50 quarter mile repeat before - not blowing any doors off but a difference none the less*
The thing I noticed most was my lack of endurance/stamina. I was tired after 6 sets. So, obviously I have lots to build on.
Here is my pattern - I run, get faster, run get faster, run get faster then burn out and don't run for 2 months and get slow again. My goal for 2012 - DON'T BURN OUT.
How do I plan to meet that goal - I am NOT running a half marathon in 2012. I'm focusing only on 5k's and 10k's. That way, I never really have to bang out miles on the weekend and I can focus on getting faster. I think that will really help. I kind of just jumped into marathon running and never really worked on getting faster, hence the reason I'm not fast. So, this will be nice to just focus on speed work/tempo work and not having to do long runs.
