I wanted to get up and do some track repeats in the morning with some friends. However, I was awake until after 3 AM. At that point, I knew there was no way I was getting up just a few hours later.
I thought about skipping the fast running altogether. Then, Flo asked if anyone wanted to run. Tom said he was doing 4X400 repeats at noon. I was kind of unsure if I wanted to join the group and make it 3 people on the narrow trail. Then, Erin chimed in and said she'd run it too.
We met on the bike path near Easton (at Warrior Fit Performance). I was there early and no one had shown up yet. They all got the message that Tom would be a little late. We started off around 10 minutes after noon.
It was very hot and humid already. I went shirtless as usual. I was glad that is would be a short workout. I did need some fast running, but I didn't want to kill myself in the heat.
We went out a mile toward the Route 33 Boat Launch. There was a truck from the township on the trail. At least we were only warming up. I hung behind the other three and didn't say much.
After the warmup, we took off. I really took off and Erin wasn't far behind. I could hear Flo complain, cause she didn't expect the pace to be so fast. I guess she figured it was a conversation pace. Tom and her sort of ran together I guess.
I didn't know what to expect. I was just trying to run hard. I haven't run repeats this short in a long time. I didn't even pay much attention to my watch, other than to look at the distance. I was just running on feel and trying not to fall off.
The pace was a little bit of a challenge, but not too bad. I came through the first one at 1:14.92. That is a 4:55 pace! I can't remember the last time that I ran that fast for any distance, no matter how short.
Flo commented about how fast the pace was. She's recovering after doing the SDR. I commented that the repeats were short and we were only going to do 4 of them. We walked for a short while to recover.
Then, we took off again. Again, I led the way and was flying. It was awesome to look at my watch and see how quickly the distance was going by. I ran another consistent repeat at 1:15.15. Not bad considering that I haven't run this kind of pace in a long time.
I ended up walking and talking with Erin after this repeat. We were behind Tom and Flo. We walked past the truck. Tom and Flo then began the repeat and took off.
I was glad to have someone to set the pace this time. I went by Flo and then Tom. Getting by Tom was close because we were also passing two walkers. We ended up finishing this repeat up right about where we started. Again, I was consistent at 1:15.21.
I commented to Tom that I was feeling it now. My legs were certainly not used to running so fast. It was kind of like "woah, what are we doing here?"
For the last repeat, we had a road crossing up ahead. I suggested going to it and turning back. That would be around 400 meters. Instead, when I got to the road crossing, I kept going (because it was clear).
The rest of the group turned around. I ended up turning around before finishing too. I don't know if the change of direction cost me or what, but I slowed quite a bit on this last one. It was a 1:19.72. Still, pretty fast though. I was around 30 seconds faster with these than I had been last time I ran these. I think I ran about 1:09s in high school track, so this was quite fast.
We ran out half a mile and back. That was a cool down and another good chance to talk. Flo has a tri coming up as well as an ultra. Tom is doing a marathon and the same ultra. Erin is mostly trying to get and stay healthy.
Because everything I've been doing has been slow, for the most part, I haven't be sore lately. This hard running definitely stressed my legs more. My calves were very sore when I walked around afterward. I wore compression socks and recovered pretty well. This was an awesome workout and I want to do it again. I need to run fast and have others there to really push me.
That run wasn't much over 3 miles. Therefore, I wanted a second run. I thought about running before dinner, but I thought more rest and recovery would be a better idea. I went out after supper.
The plan was to run 7 miles. I headed to the Nor-Bath Trail. I wanted a softer surface for this recovery run. I also needed to be close, because thunderstorms were on the way.
I started at Savage Road. It was still hot and humid, even at 7 PM. Therefore, I went shirtless again. I began by heading toward Northampton. I don't run this way too often.
This made for a nice downhill start. It got me warmed up. It was paved, but that didn't bother me much. My legs weren't too bad. There was some minor soreness and the lunchtime run took a little out of them.
A few people were out biking on this day and some runners here and there, as well as walkers too. I got to the end of the trail, just before mile 1. I kept going on the roads and ran out to 1.25 miles. I'd get back to my car at 2.5 miles.
I nearly quit on the way back. After a decent first mile, I struggled with the gradual uphill. Much worse though, was that I had some bad chafing going on. The sweat was getting into the chafed area and it was burning. I remember this happening before though and it getting better as I ran.
I kept going past mile 2. It did start getting better. This mile slowed my pace down, although I wasn't very fast anyway. It was good to get back to my car at 2.5 miles.
I then headed out toward Bath. I figured that I'd go out pretty far and then run back. This seemed to take forever though. It was a long time until I got to Weaversville Road. I had no issue running over that road crossing.
After that, I headed toward Bicentennial Park. I tried to focus on making it to mile 4.25. That would get me back at 6 miles. Then, I could add on a little more.
When I got to 4.25, I decided to keep going to the Bicentennial Park entrance. I went some more after that. I ran to 4.5 miles. I turned around right in front of some bikers and then I ran in the grass and gave them room to pass.
I just tried to focus on getting to mile 5 and then mile 6. The heat was getting to me and the legs were tiring. I was battling on though, even with a slow pace. Eventually, I crossed over the few bridges on the trail.
There is another park that I came to at 5.98 miles. I decided to do a short out and back here. I needed an extra half mile. I ran out to 6.25 miles and turned around right before a family that was walking. There's a slight uphill on the way back. That was a little struggle.
I was glad to get back on the main trail and have less than half a mile to go. I continued along. A short while later, I was back to Savage Road. I hit mile 7 right before crossing the road. That was perfect. I was soaked but thrilled to be done.
It was a nice pair of runs today. I got a very good workout and a recovery run. I'm hoping to get my legs fresher over the next few weeks. I need to head into the marathon with fresh legs. That would be a huge help.
I don't know what's on the agenda for tomorrow. I need 35 more miles this week. I'm thinking I might run like 12 miles tomorrow. If I do, it likely be at Riverview Park. I hope my legs recover even better from today.
Noon Run 3.18 - 22:29 (7:04 pace)
Evening Run 7 miles - 56:24 (8:04 pace)
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