800 Repeats, Pain in my Knee, and Why so much food?

What kind of things do I need to remember about today?

Pain in my right knee for most of the workout and definitely after the workout.  Talked to Mike since he came from a cycling background.  I told him that the knee pain only started once I got back on my bike regularly.  He said that it is possible that my saddle may be too low.  He said that my knee should only be slightly bent.  Not straight and fully extended, either.  I will have to check on this and make an adjustment if necessary.

Cliche:  Pain is temporary.  Pride is forever.  Gotta remember this when my legs feel heavy, there's a sidesticker making it hard to breath, my head feels like it is going to pop, and my arms are tingling.  I gave up on my last repeat tonight.  I was hurting, but was there more?  There's always more.  Always.  Unless you're on the floor.

Don't let the King be the Winner!  I went to Burger King an hour post workout.  I ordered and devoured

a BK Double Stacker (I love the sauce they use),

small french fries,

small Coke,

and the clincher... a BK Fish sandwich.

Did I really need the fish sandwich, too?  The King made me do it.  I will be stronger next time.  Approximately 1900 calories.  BMI just went up 1pt.  I can feel it.  This is gonna need some extra laps on the next workout.

And the workout...

3 laps around the track on my own (.75 mile)
1 mile loop around the neighborhood
Stretching and then 4 x 100 striders

6 x 800 repeats @ 4-7 seconds faster than 5k goal pace (3:20-3:25)
I ran 3:19, 3:20, 3:19, 3:26 (missed by 1 second), 3:21, 3:44 (refer to 2nd paragraph above ^ beginning with Cliche.)

Did some breathing exercises and slow stretching at home a few hours after the workout.

Good Speed Session on the Track

I didn't break any world records or anything, but I did have a good night on the track.  We ran 6x800's and our coach was asking for mile pace or maybe 3-4 seconds slower.  My last mile for time was 6:15, so my 800 time is 3:08.

I'm thinking there is no way that I am running that many at that speed.   And of course, I didn't, but I had a good time trying and what I felt was a strong showing.

After running that 10 miler this Sunday, I felt stronger doing this workout.  My legs felt really good, too.  I took long, graceful strides (at least in my mind) instead of short, choppy ones (which is what I do when I'm in pain).

So 3:08's or 3-4 seconds slower.  I got 2 of those out of 8 tries.  The times:

3:13, 3:17, 3:12, 3:11, 3:14, 3:21

I dogged that last one.  I started strong like the others for the first 200 of it and went strong down the final stretch, but everything between was heavy tromping like Goofy.

The what-if guy in my head wants to know what I would have run without the 2 minute rests between reps and stretch it out to a full 5k... it's a 20:10.  I would be happy with that right now.

800's Tonight

Ran 2.5 miles for a warmup since it was chilly.  1.5 was on my own and then 1 mile with the group.  Did some stretching and skipped the usual striders while I took my time taking off my warmup shirt and pants.

The workout was supposed to be 4 sets of 2x800 @ 5k pace and slightly faster with 200 recovery between reps and 3 minutes rest between sets.  I decided not to kill myself by trying to run everyone else's 5k speed.  I didn't have a stop watch on me, so I don't know how fast I was running.  I just kept reminding myself that I am running a 5k and pushing it.  With each half mile rep, I lost ground on the pack.  By the time I started my 3rd set, I was only 100 meters from getting lapped by the leaders.  Coach Nathan was running with us tonight.  When he passed me on my jog between 800's, he told me to stop at 3 sets.

Fine by me.  My lungs were starting to seize up from the air.  Not cold by many standards, but it was cold for my Floridian blood.  It ended up taking about an hour and a half before my breathing came back to normal.

The entire workout, I tried to lift my left leg to get a little more drive and pushed off a little more to get better extension.  My main goal was to stop that hamstring from hurting and it worked fairly well.  It's hard to run when you are either in pain or if you are trying to tweak your form.  I hope this works out and in the future, I can have smoother form and then I can concentrate more on my pace.  I have to do something, though.  Otherwise, my left hamstring is tight and sore for 2 days after each workout.

I finished off my workout with 4 more laps around the track.

Total mileage:  7 miles

Down Ladder Workout - Tuesday

Ladder Workout - Interval workout with a systematic progression.  This is more easily understand with examples.  Any distances can be used such as 400, 600, 800, 1000, 800, 600, 400.  You would run the 400's at mile pace, the 600's slightly slower, the 800's at 5k pace, and the 1000 at 10k pace or slightly faster.  I used to run a lot of these in high school on the track team.  We would specifically call these Up and Down Ladders.  We broke our ladder defitions down to also include an Up Ladder workout and a Down Ladder workout.  The Up Ladder workout would be short distances at faster speeds increasing in distance and slowing in speed as the workout progresses.  An example would be something like 200, 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1200.  My group's workout on Tuesday was a Down Ladder.  This is the opposite of the Up Ladder.  You start at longer distances and increase speed with shorter distances as the workout progresses.

Since I didn't run this weekend, I decided to start warming up early.  I jogged 1.5 miles before the group warmup.  I jogged another mile and then the usual 4 x 100 striders to loosen up.

Here was our Down Ladder workout.

2 x 1000 (@ 10k goal pace)
4 x 800 (@ 5k goal pace)
4 x 400 (@ 1 mile goal pace)

between each repetition, 200 jog recovery
between each set, 3 minute rest

I ran the first set of 1000's a little fast.  I don't remember my splits though.  I know I was about 10 seconds faster than my goal and the second was 1 second faster or slower than the first rep.

The 800's were much faster than my goal pace.  I think my goal was 3:45 before we started.  The first was 3:15 and I could tell that was too fast.  I hit the rest in 3:21, 3:24, and 3:20.  I posted the times on DailyMile.com and the first one was wrong.  I remembered now that I ran that first one just behind Jonny and he did a 3:14.  That's a virtual 2 mile time of 13:20.

The 400's were brutal as they should be.  They are fast and I was supposed to start jogging immediately after finishing each one, but I had to stop for a few seconds after each one to catch my breath.  I was obviously overachieving.  I ran them in 1:21, 1:26, 1:21, 1:35.  I started cramping and couldn't control my breathing on the last one, but it was only a 400, so I pushed through it.  I don't think I could have kept going if it was an 800 or more.  Then again, I wouldn't have run that fast if it was an 800.  That's a virtual mile time of 5:43.  I can't believe that I used to run those pretty easily in high school.  I ran a 6:07 at the time trial a couple months ago.  I would think that I would be getting close to 5:43 without rest or recoveries, but I guess that I am not taking into account that this was at the end of the workout.  At least, that's what I am hoping is the case.

My times are coming down along with the temperatures.  This was a great workout!

800m Modified Repeats

I'm not sure why, but I felt like a space cadet today.  I had a hard time holding a simple phone conversation after my workout and I missed almost every word coming out of my coach's mouth when he was going over the workout routine.  I knew we were running 800's.  It was a little foggy after that.  By the end of the workout, I had it all figured out, though.

It was 3 sets (for me, everyone else ran 4 sets) of 2x800m with a 200m recovery jog.  Do not stop running, but go from recovery jog straight into the next 800.  The first 800 of each set will be run at 5k race pace.  The second 800 will be run at 4-8 seconds faster than the first.

My goal 5k time of 22:30 has an average pace of 7:14.5 per mile and an 800 meter pace of 3:36.  It went a little something like this.

3:21 - 3:24
3:22 - 3:18
3:21 - 3:17

The first set was the slowest overall and I ran it backwards.  The other two sets were perfect.  Maybe I could have run them a couple seconds faster, but I was hurting by the last one.  Either way, I beat my goal pace on all of them.

If I could put all of the 800's together into a 5k, I would run a 20:45 at an average mile pace of 6:41.

My First Day with the Training Group

My lesson for today is simple.  Don't go out too fast at the beginning of your workout.  You will pay the price.  I know I did.  Our coach told us we would run 4 x 800 at 5k pace with 1:15 rest.  I have been running around 8 minute pace lately, but I wanted to shoot for my 6 month goal pace, which breaking 20 minutes.  His chart had me pegged at running 3:12 for the 800.  Keep in mind, this is still too fast for me.

I go out with the leaders of our group through a lap and a half and finish up my first 800 in 2:52.  That's faster than my mile pace versus my 5k pace.  That is 20 seconds faster than my goal for 6 months from now.  I should really be aiming for 7 minute pace / 22 minute 5k.

My arms started tingling.  Welcome oxygen debt!  I haven't seen you around these parts in years.  We were supposed to take a 1:15 rest, but I decided to go out with the middle pack and get an extra 15-20 seconds of rest.  That didn't make a difference.  As soon as I started the second 800, my feet felt like cement.  I went out with the pack and still made my 3:10 goal.

The third lap started well.  I went with the pack through the first lap and fell back dramatically on the back straight.  I don't remember my time, but I do know that it wasn't even close to my 3:10.

Just before toeing the line for the last 800, the coach asked me if I was OK to run it.  I responded with, "I have to, don't I?"

I pushed, but only mustered a what seemed like a jog.  I finished up in 4:02.

We then did 4 x 200's with the same 1:15 rest.  I ran those consistently at least.  I didn't overdo it.  I ran 41, 39, 39, and 35.  The coach made everyone, but a few of us do another 200.  I was gassed and welcomed the break.

We finished up with a sidewalk lap of Lake Eola following the street, so that was another 1.25 miles.  Warmup was 1.75 which included 4x100 striders..

If I didn't get all excited about running with a group, I am pretty sure I could have managed my 3:10's.  I will try to control myself on the next speed workout.

I also tried to go to sleep a couple of hours ago, but my legs and feet won't stop cramping and it's driving me crazy.  I don't know what the deal is.  I have replenished my fluids.  I had a banana today which is a good source of potassium.  I have easily taken enough sodium from different sources.  If anyone has any suggestions, I sure what appreciate it.  Maybe it will help me after my future workouts.  Over and out for this evening.