Monday, May 27, 2013

Trexler Run and Butler Track Workout

This week worked out well for a recovery week.  I am on vacation at the Indy 500, so I don’t have a lot time to recover.  In the fall, I ran right after my half marathon and overdid it.  So far, so good this time around.

Before heading on vacation, I needed my weekly Trexler run.  I ran there after work on Wednesday (right before we left).  I was only running there to keep my streak alive.  

It was almost unbearable heat and humidity.  I’m not sure, but the temperature was close to the 90s.  At least there is now some shade on the trees there, but many sections never get shade though.

I started off at the Environmental Center.  I was really only thinking of running 3 easy miles.  In the heat, I knew even that could be a stretch.  I didn’t want to overwork myself.

I started off on the usual loop.  I got to the big hill in no time.  I ran up it semi easily.  Still, I wasn’t enjoying the climb or the heat.  Usually I break the hill into thirds.  This time, I actually made it into the final third and yet still turned around and ran back down.  I just wasn’t up for the hills on that day.  I ran about three quarters of the way up it before turning around.  

I then ran to the road to the zoo.  This is nice and downhill and shady.  Still, I was sweating like crazy.  At this point, I realized that I would likely only be running 2 miles.  As I got to the short cut back to the Environmental Center, I was near mile 1.

I ran down and headed onto the Covered Bridge Trail.  That is a nice flat stone path.  There was a school bus crossing the Ford.  I have never seen one drive over the water, so that was kind of interesting. 

I turned around at 1.5 miles and headed back.  It was a slow struggle through the heat.  I couldn’t wait to be done.  Now, I had some uphill running to do.  I got up that and had to briefly run up the trail.  That was steep and tough too.  I was done a short while later.  I still had some steep walking up the hill in the open sun though.  That wasn’t easy either. 

It wasn’t the most productive day, but it was still good to get some running in before the trip.  I was pressed for time, so I didn’t do as much as perhaps I would have.

When I arrived in Indianapolis, the original plan was to run a short set of fast repeats on Thursday after race practice.  It rained off and on all day, so that threw a wrench into my plans.  By the time practice was over, it was time to eat.  It was so windy and cold that I decided to postpone the workout.  I knew it wouldn’t be effective.

Instead, I went out Friday for the track workout.  I was going to run in the morning, but it was too cold.  I also would’ve been pressed for time.  I headed out just before dinner time.

I was unsure where to actually run.  There is a canal towpath that I know of, but I wasn’t really interested in running that fast, especially with plenty of road crossings.  I would’ve gone there if I had to.  

I first drove to Speedway High School, which is nearby.  There was a janitor there, but he was closing up and said I couldn’t run on the track because of that.  I moved on.  I went by another high school near there, but it was kind of a shady neighborhood.  I then decided to head to Butler University.  I thought they would have a track around their football/soccer stadium, but they didn’t.  I thought that was odd because I just read about someone that used to run at Butler on their track team.  I knew they must’ve had a track somewhere.

I then drove around some more.  I drove along the canal towpath.  I thought I would run there, but I needed to use the bathroom.  Then I stumbled into the Broad Ripple neighborhood.  It is a small bar area.  There is another trail there that meets up with the canal trail.  I was glad I found it because I want to run both trails for my long run on Saturday.

I opted to just head back to Butler, find a bathroom, and start from there.  I went in Hinkle Fieldhouse (where their basketball team plays) and used the bathroom.  That is one of the coolest arenas that I’ve ever been in.  

Before I went in there, I was looking for a bathroom at the football/soccer stadium.  I stumbled onto the track, which was tucked back in between all the athletic fields.  I decided I would run there.

Last time I ran repeats, I ran 8 of them.  It was a solid workout.  This time, I was looking to do much less since I was coming off a half marathon.  However, I wanted to run them faster.

They had gates up so that you don’t run the first 3 lanes of the track.  That meant that my laps would be a little over .25 miles long.  I just went by my GPS watch for each repeat.  The plan was a 1 mile warm up and cool down with .25 miles of active recovery in between each half mile repeat.

Tracks are a good way to save your legs, but they can also be awkward if you aren’t used to running them.  I like to do almost all of my running on roads these days, so it was very weird for me.

My legs didn’t feel very sharp in the warm up.  I could tell it wouldn’t be a great day.  My calf was sore and the legs just had no pop to them.  I went on though.

I really hate running longer workouts on a track.  Going around and around makes it seem like forever.  If it were half mile loops, that would be much better.  That first slow mile did feel like it went on and on.  It wasn’t that slow though.  I came in at 7:47.

I started off the first fast segment relatively hard.  I was breathing a little heavy.  Breathing was difficult because my nose was stuffed from my allergies bothering me.  Also, there was quite a bit of wind.  Most of it was in the turns, but the front stretch had a nice headwind too.  There was a tailwind on the back stretch.

Most of the first repeat hovered around 6:18.  That is faster than my usual 6:40 or slower repeats.  It was a nice pace, especially since I wasn’t feeling great.  As I got with the final tenth of a mile of this repeat, I picked it up and dropped the pace even more.  It was a 3:08 (6:15 pace).  I haven’t run a repeat that fast in a while.  That was a good start.

Ideally, I would’ve been more consistent throughout the repeat.  I didn’t want to start too fast though.  Two laps around the track seems like a long time.  I recovered well from the first segment.

It was a tough one again for segment two.  Again, I started off conservation.  Not surprisingly, this was going a little slower.  I still had pretty nice pace though.  I was happy whenever it was under 6:30 pace.  My lungs were what was giving me trouble.  My legs felt like they could go faster, but my lungs were causing me to slow down.  Maybe in better conditions (less wind and pollen), I could run much better.  Still, I came through the second repeat as a solid 3:09 (6:19 pace).  I was thrilled to have two repeats under 6:20.  I need to push myself out of my comfort zone.

I was definitely hurting at this point.  It caused me to start the third repeat much more conservatively.  For most of it, I was well over 6:40 pace.  I kicked it in gear on the last lap though.  Again, I should probably be more consistent throughout each repeat.  After really pushing in the final tenth, I got this repeat to 3:13 (6:26).  Although a few seconds slower than the first two, it was still faster than I usually run repeats.

I debated a lot about running a fourth repeat.  The recovery lap came up quickly and I had to make a decision.  Finally, at the last minute I opted to just begin the repeat.  Even though I knew I was dying it was worth at least seeing where I was at.  It didn’t take long to determine that I had nothing left.  At about 1/8th of the way into this repeat, I quit.  I was well over a 7 minute pace and wasn’t about to get any faster.  I finished up with a nice cool down.

I was quite sore afterward and hope I recover well enough for Saturday’s long run.  It wasn’t quite as many repeats as I was hoping for, but I was happy with the pace of my three fast repeats.  I need to get faster and faster and then extend that into more and more repeats.  That’s how I’m going to be able to get where I want to by the fall.

Saturday's run is a long run here in Indianapolis.  There isn’t anything going on on the track, so I have all day to run.  I’m not sure when I will do it.  I will be on the canal towpath though.  I might run with money and buy drinks along the way.  That way, I can run much farther out.  It shouldn’t be too hot.  I’m hoping to run 20 miles, but that might not be realistic.  I will have to see how my body feels.  I really want to get at least 15 miles in.  That would be a productive way to end the week.

Wednesday 2 miles – 19:04 (9:33 pace)
Friday 4 miles – 29:45 (7:27 pace)        

No comments:

Post a Comment