Week 15 - Key Run Workout #1

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Thankfully there aren’t too many track workouts remaining in my marathon training plan I wouldn’t say I hate doing them, but they have been tough and I do find myself struggling to meet the required pace. Today’s workout looked to be another challenge:

10-20 minute warm up
5 x 1000m @ 5:21 per mile pace
10 minute cool down

The local High School track was being used so I drove to an empty car park where I could run a 1000m loop of sorts. My warm up was good, but I was surprised to still feel some soreness from Sunday’s half marathon. A few fast “striders” helped to loosen things up, but I didn’t feel on top form. The 20 minutes went too fast and before I was really ready, I was off on my first 1000m.

The wind was gusting and the temperature about 78°F - not ideal conditions, but it could have been a lot worse. At least I was well hydrated and not low in energy stores.

Repeat #1 wasn’t too bad at all - 3:19 - legs feeling good and breathing heavy, but under control. I was very happy with the time until I looked at the distance and realized I was about 50m short of 1000m. Oh well, too late to worry about that now. 90 seconds rest and then it was time to go again.

Repeat #2 was tougher, but still manageable. Time - 3:18.

Repeat #3 was more of a struggle. The wind seemed to pick up and I started feeling thirsty. Time - 3:21 and still within my accepted limit.

I took an extra 30 seconds or so after this repeat to drink some Gatorade and stretch my legs a little, but was soon on my way for repeat #4. Time - 3:19.

By now, I was breathing really hard and my legs were feeling heavy, but I kept telling myself “only 1000m to go”. With one huge effort I got my legs moving again and finished off repeat #5 in 3:21. Mission accomplished!

The 10 minute cool down was nothing more than a slow jog, but it did help to flush out some of the heaviness. I also walked around for a while to try to cool off and took the opportunity to drink more Gatorade.

All in all, I’m happy with this workout. Makes a change to be able to stay consistent and finish off each repeat within a certain zone. Friday’s workout is shorter than previous weeks and my Sunday “long run” is ONLY 8-10 miles, so I’m really looking forward to that. I just need to be careful how much I eat in the next week or so. It’s easy to get into the mentality of “I’m running a marathon, I can eat whatever I want”, but every ounce I can keep off between now and race day will help my cause for a fast time. I always have an ideal “race weight” which I’m right on at the moment. If I could lose a pound or two before the race without sacrificing any strength, that would be even better!

10 days and counting….