Thursday was 1200s. I’ve never done 1200s before and it was a weird distance for me. I wanted to stop after 800, or throttle down a bit for a mile pace, but at 1200 I didn’t know how to run consistently. Something has happened to my “group” in the morning, and for the first 3 repeats it was just me and David Sing. Michael joined us for the last one, but I swear, it always looks like that kid is sandbagging, though I know he’s not, because he wins races. Wish I could do that. Anyway, Gilbert wanted us to do 90 second 400s, but we were off on our pacing like I said, and did the first 1200 in 4:45 (95 second 400s). Second repeat was a bit better at 4:35, but the other David and I were pretty well spent after that and struggled to do a 4:40 on the third repeat. On the final 1200, I guess I knew mentally it was the last one and I ran it well, with confidence and control. I messed up my watch, so I’m not exactly sure what the time was, but it was just under 4:30. We’ll call it 4:28, which works out to just under a 6:00/mile pace, which is good for me I guess.
After the 1200s we were supposed to do five 200s for form, not speed. Gilbert shouldn’t have worried, because I have no speed and no form. In fact, these seemed even tougher than the 1200s, and on the fourth one my quads and hammies started tightening up so I quit after that. It was even a tough jog back to Barton Springs. I guess I spent a lot in the 1200s. And I should go to bed earlier than midnight. And I should eat better. And G says I need to get in the weight room. And and and…..
Today was the weekly Saturday “long” run, which I kept at the comfortable 7.25 miles with Andre and Noel (for awhile). I felt good and we kept about an 8:05 pace for most of the run. At the 6 mile mark (mile marker 4 as we were running the dam loop counter-clockwise) I told Andre I was going to pick it up and I ran that next half-mile in 3:20, and the last half in 3:05. In total, our splits: 1.18, 9.06, 8.26, 7.58, 8.05, 8.04, 8.03, 8.36 (1.25 miles) for a 59:40 total.
Wow, I forgot how slow that first mile was. I feel like I need to bump up the long run to 10 miles. I love the 7.25 loop, but I think it’s gotten too comfortable. Maybe starting in September I’ll grow some coj– you know.