On I went, out of the wood, passing the man leading without knowing I was going to do so. Flip-flap, flip-flap, jog-trot, jog-trot, curnchslap-crunchslap, across the middle of a broad field again, rhythmically running in my greyhound effortless fashion, knowing I had won the race though it wasn't half over, won it if I wanted it, could go on for ten or fifteen or twenty miles if I had to and drop dead at the finish of it, which would be the same, in the end, as living an honest life like the governor wanted me to. -Alan Sillitoe, "Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner"

Friday, August 20, 2010

Week in review: am I training for something?

I guess I am in training, but you wouldn't know it.  Here's how I spent my week:
  • Friday: rested, moped, called 15 doctors to find one that could see me in a reasonable time frame AND took my insurance.
  • Saturday: 4.37 easy miles with Mike along the river.  No pain.  I'll admit, I had a split second of, "Could I run the Bronx half tomorrow?" and then I said, "Not gonna do it."
  • Sunday: 6.3, sort of.  Lots and lots of walking while the friend I was "running" with tried to pretend like she didn't mind.
  • Monday: rest. 10 hours of sleep Sunday night, though.  10 hours.
  • Tuesday: rest, again.
  • Wednesday: 5m - Yassos at the track.
  • Thursday: Um, nothing.
I don't know how many miles that is. Both too many and not enough.

I set out to do Yassos* on Wednesday, but instead I ended up doing something in between Yassos and speedwork.  My goal was to do 4 Yassos this week and then work up.  I thought I'd aim for 5:00 for each.  Well, I kind of missed it, entirely.

My times for the 800: 4:50, 4:44, 4:40, 4:30 (okay, so I turned it up a little for the last one)

I'm not heartened by these results.  First off, they're erratic.  Granted keeping a set pace wasn't my goal - my goal was staying under 5, but these are too erratic, suggesting that I don't know what I'm doing.  (Ahem.  Accurate.)  It's been ages since I've done speedwork with regularity.  Something to work on.

And of course I also saw the doctor.  More on that later...

This weekend: super exciting double-race weekend!  5k on Saturday and 10m on Sunday.

*If you're not yet familiar with the Yasso, read this.  In short, Bart Yasso developed the theory that you can take your marathon goal time in hours and minutes (say, 4:45) and use it as your 800 time in minutes and seconds (again, 4:45).  Build up to doing 10 of these before your marathon, and you're in good shape.
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6 comments:

  1. Silly Girl RunningFri Aug 20, 08:35:00 AM EDT

    What did the doctor say? Is it OK for you to race this weekend?

    Haven't tried the Yasso yet; does it work?

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  2. TFri Aug 20, 11:08:00 AM EDT

    I'm being coy about the doctor. :) I'll tell you next week. In the meantime, I'm racing this weekend.

    I'm not sure about the Yassos. A lot of people swear they work, but I think ultimately they're just targeted speedwork, you know? The ratio (your marathon time converted to your 800 time) gives you an appropriate time for your 800s. I'll let you know! (Assuming I can get my consistency down...)

    ReplyDelete
  3. JLTFri Aug 20, 01:46:00 PM EDT

    i like yasso's i thnk them in theory and if they actually work here i come!!!

    i want to work on really getting them done but need to find 800s in CP... ideas?

    I dont think the consistency is as awful as you think. I mean 15-30 seconds over 1/2 a mile isnt THAT bad :) honest!!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. TFri Aug 20, 02:24:00 PM EDT

    The 800m thing is one way I'm spoiled - I live quite close to the track at 145th. A real track, with annoying runners and a field in the middle and bathrooms and everything. But there's got to be a way to do them in CP! I feel like maybe the 72nd St. Transverse might be near there?

    According to this map, the 102nd St. Trans. is .26...
    http://www.nywalkersclub.org/cntlpark.htm

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  5. MichaelSat Aug 21, 09:41:00 AM EDT

    Tracy! Good luck in your various runs!

    ReplyDelete
  6. UnknownSat Aug 21, 05:14:00 PM EDT

    Good luck this weekend and thanks for the doctor advice!!! Hope Percy Sutton went well - heard there were a lot of PRs and hey, you just had to roll out of bed to get to it, so...

    The 102nd Transverse is a false flat so I wouldn't think it would be great for intervals. What about the reservoir? It's marked and a soft surface, too.

    I should be doing Yassos. Maybe I'll throw some in this week and see what happens.

    ReplyDelete

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