Week 7 of my marathon training plan began as it always does with a Tuesday night track workout. As usual, it turned into a tough Tuesday where I struggled to meet my goals and faded towards the end of the workout. With the crazy humidity we’re still experiencing, I should probably run by pace rather than time, but somehow I convince myself I’ll “be ok”.
Anyway, after a 10 minute warm up in my new Adistar Cushion shoes, I set off on the first of six 800m intervals. Goal time was 2:39 and I managed to get fairly close with a 2:45. Surprisingly it didn’t feel too bad.
The good feeling soon changed midway through the second 800m and I faded to a 2:50. From here on in it was just a question of survival in the heat. Repeats 3 and 4 were tough, but I battled on to record a 2:55 and a 2:57. #5 was one second slower, but it really took a lot out of me. In the hope of a slight recovery, I extended the 90 second rest interval time, but after only 300m of the final 800m repeat I decided enough was enough and allowed myself to back off the pace. I limped to the finish line in 3:07, but at least I was still conscious and still able to walk!
Today was undoubtedly the hottest and most humid day I’ve experienced during the whole summer. I really had a problem cooling off after the workout, so on reflection I’m really ok with how I performed. I am so looking forward to cooler temperatures and the chance to prove what I’m capable of. For now, I’ll just have to be satisfied with tonight’s workout.