So today was probably the hardest day of training to date. Not in the sense of distance and overall accumulated hours / mileage... but in intensity.
Holy crap.
Started off by going to the gym and lifted arms: biceps and triceps, for those of you that need me to break it down:)
After coming home, my brother and i went up to the track for Nathan's inaugural Speed Workout!! Oh joy!! I could barely contain my excitement. The prospect of running a 400m (one lap around the track) at roughly 75 - 80% and jogging a resting 100m ... THEN repeating that 12 times... i honestly didn't think it would be as tough as it was.
The total mileage ended up being approximately 4 miles.
I told Aron (my brother) that i was going to try to keep a constant steady 1:30 - 1:35 pace for my 400's since that is on pace for a 6:00 - 6:20 mile. I sort of miscalculated my ability... badly.
I came out of the first 400 in 1:24. Ok... 6 - 11 seconds faster than i had anticipated. But hey, I got faster. My splits were as follows:
400 - 1:24
800 - 1:20
1200 - 1:18
1600 - 1:17
2000 - 1:22
2400 - 1:23
2800 - 1:27
3200 - 1:25
3600 - 1:25
4000 - 1:21
4400 - 1:22
4800 - 1:12
Adding up the times... my mile splits were as follows:
Mile 1 - 5:29
Mile 2 - 5:37
Mile 3 - 5:20
The last 400 was torture. At the end i could barely breath, i had nothing in the tank and had left everything on the track that last lap. Aron told me to shoot for a 1:17 or so on my last lap and he was stunned at what i did... he also said that he's never seen me that out of breath either. I have never been that depleted physically and emotionally and i honestly felt like crying. It was very strange, yet although it was only 3 miles... it was the hardest three miles i've ever run in succession.
I highly recommend watching the movie "Without Limits." Its a movie based on the career of Steven Prefontaine... and it inspires me. Makes me want to go faster. Be better. Endure the pain. Go out harder each time out and muscle my way to the top. Watch it. Seriously. If you aren't a runner or that physically active now, this will light a fire under your ass.
Hard to believe that i ran all out with everything i had my last lap, and Prefontaine ran his last lap after 3 miles in more than 10 seconds faster. Unreal. I need to be like that. I need to be better.
I feel like now a sub - 5 minute mile is within reach for me... and a 5k time of less than 18 minutes even more so.
I won't sit here and say that i'm going to take a day off from running tomorrow, because i know good and well that it will be a complete lie. From here on out, i will be running EVERY DAY... even if it's only slow mile to get the distance in.
Friday will be a hill workout most likely and I hope to get a couple 10 milers in before next week.
I guess you could say that i'm "kicking it up a notch," as if my current level wasn't intense enough.
Yes. I'm a masochist, extremely motivated, and when I'm on top of the podium, the look of elation on my face will show you why i'm subjecting myself to what most consider "torture and suffering."
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