Tonight was speed work night. I went to my gym after work, changed into my Asics, shorts and a sleeveless shirt, hat, iPod nano queued up to Green Day’s American Idiot, and hit the treadmill.
Quarter-mile walking warmup, then another mile at a 10:00 pace, some stretches and I was off.
4:00 at 8:57 pace, then 2:00 active recovery, repeat four times total. This week I didn’t slow to walking speed at all, in fact my slowest pace during recovery was 10:35, and that was on the very last recovery period. It was a challenge but I just zoned out and tuned out the monkey chatter voice in my head that tries to talk me out of things. I finished this phase with about 2.55 miles but did not notice the elapsed time.
During my last recovery period I felt a chill sweep over me, like the temperature dropped in the gym. I immediately took notice, since normally I’m pretty over-heated even through my sweat. When I picked up the pace a little bit for my last mile of cooldown running (does it make sense to speed up for a cooldown run? I don’t know but I still have the “gotta go fast” hang-up) I warmed up a little but then when I walked my absolute final quarter-mile the chill came back.
Not sure what my goal for next week will be – longer fast intervals (5:00 at 9:00 pace)? Faster intervals (4:00 at ~8:30)? More intervals (5 cycles of fast/recovery)? Not sure… I’d like to work on my turnover, so maybe the faster intervals would be a good choice. I’ll decide… later.
Total miles this week: 9.28 so far (does not include the half-mile walking bookending my running tonight).
I’ve felt like a cold is coming on all day, maybe for more than a day, and I’ve been around sick people, so maybe I’m due for a cold. Bleah. I didn’t like the cold feeling after my workout at all and hope it’s not a fever. Maybe it was just cold in the gym. Maybe it was just because I was wearing shorts and the sleeveless shirt. Maybe… Damn, I hope so.
Did I mention the heat/ice therapy for my foot? Oh, right, yeah, I did. Well, I did two separate treatments last night. The guy I’d talked to on Sunday suggested a 3:1 ratio of time for warmth vs. ice, so I did 45 minutes with the heating pad, and 15 minutes with the ice, then an hour or so later, I did 30 minutes warm and 10 minutes ice. And my heel, though a bit tender during the day, did not feel bad at all after my run. Of course, it’s worse in the morning, so I’ll watch it tomorrow and see how it feels. I’m going to do at least one more treatment tonight before I go to bed.
Next run will be Friday, probably at least 4 miles, then a long run, 7.5 miles on Saturday. Aiming for a total of 20+. If I also work in a short run Thursday or Sunday, I could have 24 miles, which would be my longest week ever. I think. I’d have to go back and check but that seems correct to me now.