Today's task: 10-15 minute warm up, 6 x 400s, twice - 1:35 pace, 90 second rest intervals, 2:30 rest interval between sets, 10-15 minute cool down
Today's weather: 50 degrees, sunny, breezy
Today's outcome: 11:55 min warm up, 1:26, 1:26, 1:27, 1:26, 1:26, 1:28, 1:29, 1:28, 1:27, 1:28, 1:27, 1:27, 11: 47 min cool down
I was dreading this workout since I first read it on the training schedule before I even committed to the full marathon. I've done 6 x 400s before and could barely eek out the last two intervals. How on earth was I going to do six, then six more??? I felt nervous thinking about it last night. And this morning when I woke up. And all throughout my legs and back workout. And waiting at the bus stop. And driving Brynn to school after the bus didn't show up (really???). And some more when I drove to and from Camryn's school.
My nerves were consuming me, and it reminded me of my days as a competitive gymnast. I always got really nervous before a meet, and I would feel nauseous, shaky, and pee a hundred times before going out for my event...everything I experienced this morning. And when I finished my warm up and was staring down the 400 meter path in front of me, I really started having flashbacks to the gym, minus the smell of feet. The short, straight path ahead reminded me of the vault runway, and the brevity of a 400 meter interval felt so much like performing a gymnastics routine...give it all you got for a minute and a half, then chill.
After a quick stretch, I was off. I'm still trying to figure out how to pace these short sprints, and I ended up finishing 9 seconds ahead of my target pace. Happy that I had some wiggle room for the rest of the workout, I ran the second interval and got the same result. Interesting. I managed to consistently stay between 1:26 and 1:29 for each of the 12 intervals, which felt like a thrilling victory after last week's treadmill debacle. Since it was such a nice day, there were quite a few people out on the path, which made me feel a little self conscious about all the panting and grunting I was doing.
What I loved about this run was the sense of focus I felt. When you're running that hard, you can't think of anything else but getting to the finish. And when you're finished, you can't think of anything else but catching your breath and getting ready for the next round. There was absolutely no room in my brain for thoughts of anything other than the task at hand, which doesn't happen often. I'm almost always thinking about several different things at once, so being able to tune everything else out and just be in the moment of these intervals was awesome.
And just a little tidbit...Ryan picked up some Clif bars at Sam's Club for us to use as recovery fuel after these tough workouts. They've got 20 grams of protein, which is great for rebuilding the muscles we just completely broke down. I've had the chocolate peanut butter and the chocolate mint so far, and surprisingly, to this lover of all things chocolate and peanut butter, I think I enjoy the chocolate mint the best. Tastes like a thin mint without the guilt!
Happy my legs didn't have a case of the Mondays today...hope your week is off to a great start, too!
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