I noted in my January wrap-up that I wanted to bring speed work back into my routine. So, last week, I got in two speed workouts, one much faster than the other.
Normally, I’d only do one speed workout in a week, but my friend Taylor and I spontaneously decided to do a pyramid workout on Saturday, and it was a great workout. (I probably shouldn’t do that the day before a long run again, though.)
My first attempt at a speed workout was two one-mile intervals on Feb. 3. I did these at the City Park, where I didn’t have to stop for lights. I did do them alone, so I didn’t have the camaraderie or pacing of other people, and I also didn’t have the mindset of the track.
I ended up doing one mile in 8:48 and the other in 8:52. While these are faster than the pace I’d go on a leisurely run, these aren’t extremely fast interval times for me. I logged the times on my Excel sheet, and I hope to see improved times as I continue to do speed work.
For the pyramid workout on Feb. 6, Taylor and I ran two 200-meter distances, a 400, an 800, a 400 and two 200s at a track. It was tough, and having Taylor in front of me kept me going and kept me consistent.
My times were 0:49, 0:50, 1:44, 3:49, 1:51, 0:51 and 0:49.
My watch logged mostly speeds under 7-minute mile pace, although my watch was off on some distances.
Even though I wasn’t running a mile, I was happy to see those types of paces because it keeps my hope alive that I can be fast again. I have lost some speed during the past year or so, but I would love to be able to get a PR at the Shamrock Marathon on March 20.
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