Track Thursday: happy feet

Last week's track workout was a failure, with foot tendonitis flaring up mid-run. Major bummer.

I took a week off from running, taking Aleve and icing like a crazy person. It's been markedly better, so I decided to lace up my running shoes after work and try again.

Since I didn't complete last week's plan, I decided to do the same one from No Meat Athlete's "3 Track Workouts Guaranteed to Kick Your A$$":

3 x 1 mile with 400 m rest intervals
Pace: Determine 5K mile-pace and subtract 10 seconds.

Just in case you aren't getting the notation, consider my example: My 5K pace is about a 6:12 mile, so I'm looking at 6:02 for this workout. After a warmup, I run one mile at 6:02, then jog slowly around the track one time, then repeat the whole thing two more times, for a total of three repeats. Too easy, tough guy? Try resting for only one minute instead of one lap.

My 5K PR is 9:01 (a lot slower than that guy!). So I planned for an 8:51 pace: Because it was sunny and dry, I took my camera with me to the track (which happens to be about 50 yards from the door of my classroom!)

No spectators... ATHLETES only!!!!! The whole track to myself: I worked out the last two days, spin Tuesday and stadiums Wednesday, so my legs were a bit tired. Still, I felt strong, completing my first mile (after a one-lap warmup) at an 8:48 average.

I walked a lap and then did another mile at an 8:40 average.

Walked a lap then did my final mile at an 8:32. Negative splits, baby!

I cooled down for a lap and ended up doing 4.05 miles in 39:16 - a 9:43 average overall. I'll take it! The first mile was easy. The second felt good. The third mile took a little more effort. I think I'll try the same workout again - maybe with just a half-lap recovery between each mile. My feet felt fine throughout the run - no pain at all. It flared a little right after, but I iced and that helped a lot. I don't think I took any Aleve before bed, but I did take some this morning ... I don't want to push it.:)