Tempo: 5 x 1600m Cruise Intervals

The sprints nearly killed me. Well, the warm up probably set me up for death. I left the Presidio in a hurry as I was meeting a pair of friends at Kezar and (as always) running a couple of minutes behind. I took the most direct path, which includes a significant hill climb. Not a good way to warm up for a track workout.

The meat of the workout (the 5 x 1600m) was fine. Our first interval was slow since it was my first workout in the dark, where my pacing is always slower. But we adjusted and by the third interval had found a good, quality pace. The sprints were much harder. My first felt difficult and my third seemed impossibly hard. It's been ages since I've pushed that hard in a sprint, to the point where my entire body feels like it's shutting down. With about 60m to go, my speed felt slightly slower than an old man hobbling. However, the actual time (0:36) wasn't too slow, so it was primarily psychological.

Mileage Summary

This Week

14 miles

This Month (August)

196.5 miles

This Year (2008)

1,101.5 miles

Today's Run

Workout

Tempo pace, cruise intervals.
5 x 1600m at tempo pace (6:33, 6:29, 6:23, 6:19, 6:20) with 1 minute recovery in between. Finished with 2 x 200m at repetition pace (0:35, 0:36)

Start Time

7:40 pm

Total Distance

11 miles

Total Time

85:00 (approx)

Route

Moderately hilly warm up from the Presidio to Kezar.

Pre-run

Brown rice

Mid-run

After 3 mile warm up to track, a GU and moderate stretching (giving the GU time to digest). After the 5 x 1600m and 2 x 200m, another GU.

Post-run

2 glasses of Ovaltine with 1% milk and a glass of Cytomax