Following a bad first week pulled from the wreckage by an excellent half-marathon run, week two stood waiting for me. Tuesday was a mile warm-up, then 4 x 800m at a 2:38 pace. Now, the 800 is my favorite race. In fact, Runner’s World agrees (and how dare you even think of disagreeing with Runner’s World). RW said, “[w]e actually think it's the most exciting, and probably the greatest test of an ‘all-around’ running talent. It's also the one with the widest range of strategies; don't count out the guy or gal who seems to be lingering at the back of the pack.”
800m is not quite an all out sprint, but it is a ‘give everything you have and then some’ race. I’ve seen spectacular comebacks (in the 3200m relay) and epic fades. No race is more exhilarating or more frustrating.
In my glory days (yes, high school) I could pop off a sub 2:00 800m. But I honestly thought I would have to run my legs off to hit a 2:38. And, like all FIRST workouts, the rest interval was short (2 minutes).
Surprisingly, my first two were both 2:39. Excellent. Then exhaustion combined with a headwind to equal a 3:03. I don’t really know what went wrong, just that I wasn’t moving fast at all despite every effort to. But I regrouped for a 2:42 last 800m.
I may run a 10K this 4th, I may not. If I do, I’ll report next week. Otherwise, I’ve got a 7M tempo run tonight and a 15M long run this weekend. If you are racing, or running, or whatever, enjoy the 4th and blow something up…but do it safely.
December / 2013 Recap and The End
10 years ago
2 comments:
You are one week ahead of me in the FIRST program (not too mention that your MP is 1 min faster than mine). Glad the second week track workout was better. I keep my eye on the Garmin when I do these intervals, and I still have to work hard not to run all over the place. Nice steady pace for you, though! Ana-Maria
Impressive set of 800's you have! The rust is shaking off nicely.
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