Today was the official start of marathon training, and to say it went well is an understatement.
The plan was for mile repeats on the track, at a 7:02 pace. I wasn't nearly as nervous as I was before last week's track workout, but I was a bit scared.
Warmed up, then dug in for the first repeat. Checked my Garmin frequently, and although I was bouncing around a bit between a sub-7 and a 7:08 or so, I felt like I was staying close enough to the target pace. At the halfway point, the Garmin read 3:30. Kept up the pace nicely, and finished the first repeat in 6:56.
I was happy, but a little concerned that I had gone too fast, and would crash and burn on the next two. Took my one-minute recovery jog, then got right back to it. Felt about the same - challenging, but not that "oh-my-god-I-want-to-die" feeling. It felt basically like a 5K pace. But it was decidedly faster than my most recent 5K pace - pulled off another 6:56!
Took my last 1-minute recovery jog, and set off for the final 4 laps. The first one felt pretty good. The second one felt a little harder. The third lap was the hardest one of the whole workout. But I was still able to pick it up for the final lap, and was elated to see 6:50 on the Garmin!
I am no longer scared of track workouts. I am also no longer the least bit doubtful that I will run a sub-22 5K sometime this year.
This is only the beginning of the hard work to come, but I love it. I love the challenge, and I am going to love the results even more : )
nice work. one of my goals (maybe this year), is to run my magic mile in under 7 minutes. More than one will just have to wait ;-)
Posted by: Wes | June 29, 2011 at 08:48 AM