Day 37: Halloween Fast Workout on San Vicente

10:00 am: I felt particularly good on this morning run. I started off thinking I was only going to do 3 but felt pretty loose and there was no pain in my groin so I decided to extend it to 5. I was coming off of a crazy weekend with very little sleep. I think I slept for a total of 14 hours over 4 nights. So I thought that I would definitely be feeling that exhaustion during the afternoon workout. But the morning run was great and very happy to be back in 70 degree shirtless running weather.  Like always, I completed the morning run with Leg swings and Kenyans followed by 10 striders including high knees, karaoke, butt kicks, backwards, quick feet, leg gates, and leg extensions. Saw my cute neighbor but didn’t time it right to say hi to her.

12:30 pm: Egoscue clinic. Heavier menu day with focus on hips, pelvis, and groin strengthening.

4:30 pm: The afternoon workout was a little different but in a good way I guess. I biked to practice, like always, and didn’t see anyone at our meeting spot. I saw Prince jog by while I was locking my bike up and ran after him to ask him where everyone was. He said that practice had started at 4, not 4:30, and they were over doing hill repeats. So I jogged about a mile and a half and then ran the extra half mile with Moses over to the hill where the rest of the team was finishing up and moving on with the rest of the workout. Coach did not look happy and told everyone that I owed everyone a quarter for being late. I still didn’t have my voice back from shouting over the “Army Army Goat Goat” chants so I decided not to say anything and just smiled. I listened to what we were about to run and got ready to go. Coach told me to do this part of the workout and then go back and do my hill repeats afterward. So the workout was as follows:

all continuous

half mile easy (3:20 pace)

mile fresh (6:00)

half mile easy (3:20)

quarter mile fresh (1:18)

1.5 miles easy (10:00)

This is where is got interesting: mile hard. I had never heard him say hard before…always easy, fresh, and good. Never hard. But he said it and he said he wanted it fast. So I didn’t quite know what I would be hitting but I thought a 4:15 mile would be nice. Groin felt alright, stomach wasn’t cramped or full from eating late, mentally I was in the game…so we hit 26th and took off. I went out front first which was my first mistake. I should have built a little more into the pace then sped up then settled but I was pretty eager. Anyways, Tony, Prince, and Richard all caught up about 250 meters in and passed me. I felt much better now because I had someone to base the pace off of. About 900 meters in, I was feeling pretty good but then I saw Richard pull off to the side and stop. Prince and Tony were 7 meters in front of me. I decided to try and reel them in. I figured I was about 4:20 pace and had about 500 meters to go. I pushed it hard to try and close that gap and ended about 1.5 to 2 seconds behind those guys. I quickly glanced at my watch because I know if Coach saw that I was checking my watch he would have a hissy fit and want to take my watch away. So I glanced for a mere instant and couldn’t really believe what it said. 4:08.8. I knew I had gone fast but felt so smooth and comfortable that I didn’t think I was pushing myself that hard. But yeah, a 4:09 mile. I was pretty pumped. I picked the pace up and continued on with the workout.

mile easy (6:40)

and then I did my hill repeats

2 x 500 at a good speed

1 x 350 at a fresh speed

I probably could have pushed the pace a little harder but I was kind of tired and had no one there to catch or push me up the hills.

half mile easy

quarter mile hard: I was supposed to do this hard which I did but it was probably closer to good speed (74-75 pace)

I jogged a half mile for cool down and then 10 x 100 striders.

Coach didn’t say much but he did say that he didn’t want me to get hurt so I need to make sure that I’m conveying everything that my body is saying to me to him so he can adjust the workouts accordingly. That was good I guess.

Anyways, overall good day. And my legs and groin didn’t feel that bad.