The Dreaded Track

Every now and then, I just have to prove to myself that I can still run fast (well, fast for me). When I do, my body reminds me that it hurts to run fast. I had been doing some hard workouts, but I hadn't done a good VO2 workout since the first week of December. So, I figured it was due.

For Mountain Mist, I haven't been following any written plan. This has been my philosophy.

1. Recover from the marathon.
2. Run the trails on the course as much as possible.
3. Keep the weekly mileage as high as is tolerable.
4. Maybe the gym isn't that bad of a place.
5. Run, no matter how uncomfortable it is.

I remembered some VO2 workouts late in the marathon training. I also realized that I had in essence been doing two tempo (trail) workouts per week. That's probably not the smartest plan. So, I decided to do VO2 and tempo this week.

Matt and I did 6 x 800m with 300m recovery jogs, 10.1 miles total. There was no strong finish.

1. 2:54
2. 2:58
3. 2:56
4. 2:58
5. 2:58
6. 2:59

I like"done" those, but I don't like to do those. You know, the same way that anyone could like "ran", but not everyone likes to run.

Oh, and did I mention that today was one of the worst winds that I remember running in? It was brutal and made it feel much colder than it really was. I was prepared for a balmy 24 degrees but running into that 12 mph wind from the north made it feel much more like 15 degrees or so. Those 800s that finished into the wind were brutal.