Burnt Rubber

Don't be blinded by my pasty-whiteness,
but do take note of the red specks
which are actually pieces of the track
that I kicked up!

Through a mild (and refreshing) morning rain, yesterday I completed a grueling track workout.  It had been awhile since I had been on a track in (lately I've had more hill work than straight speed intervals) and I forgot how fun it is to circle the oval (over and over and over).

The workout consisted of a warmup followed by an interval of 1200m, 1000m, 800m, 600m, 400m, & 200m, each followed by a 200m recovery.  Coach worked up a detailed time target chart for each interval which had us aiming to increase the pace for each subsequent distance.  By now I've completed a variety of speed and hill workouts and this was by far one of the toughest yet. 

At about 35 minutes long the workout was one of my shortest runs in a long time, but maintaining the prescribed speeds over those distances was super challenging.  I definitely began to tire throughout the workout but I was still able to increase my speed and finish strong. 

I think that what I enjoy most about the track is that it makes me think of how hard it was for me to even run a mile growing up (think presidential fitness test).  I was always reasonable fast, but in very short bursts.  Through my triathlon training I've been able to build my endurance but also cultivate my ability to run fast. I can't wait to see what's planned for next week!