Building confidence

Tuesday, January 8th

7:00 PM - Workout @ Reggie
21 min warm up
4 x 1200 @ 67-68 pace, 3.5 min rest
3:23.1, 3:23.7, 3:23.2, 3:22.9
23 min cool down
Total = 10 Miles, 69 min

After Friday's workout, I proved that I was healthy and able to get back on the track without aggravating anything. Today, I needed to find out where my fitness was at. Coming into practice, I thought about suggesting to Kevin that I do something a little more substantial than he might have planned. After seeing the workout plan, I didn't think I needed to say anything. I worked out with Roland, which was helpful. I knew I would struggle with this one if I were by myself. While doing strides, I felt like crap. My legs were extremely heavy and were not turning over at all. I was pretty nervous going into the workout, but was also determined to hit the times. My legs kept the feeling of being pretty heavy throughout the intervals but didn't really get any worse. As each interval started, I thought to myself that this would be the one where I'd fall off... but it never happened. I showed that my fitness is good and that I can hit those times even when my legs aren't turning over very well. It was certainly a good test to see where I'm at and I would say I passed that test rather well. I then had a quality cool down followed by a quality get together in Cambridge with some old friends.


Wednesday, January 9th

10:00 AM - 12 Miles, 75 min (hard)
Winchester Figure 8 loop

This run consists of two 6 mile loops that are adjoined in the center, hence the "figure 8". It is also one of the hillier loops that I do in this area and can be rather challenging. I wasn't planning on running as hard as I did, but it happened anyway. It was by far the fastest I've ever run that loop. This may not have been the smartest thing to do after a workout or after coming off an injury, but again, it just happened that way. After the run, I had a nice long ice bath followed by a huge rewarding lunch. Now, I definitely think it's time for a nap. So I'll have to put my to-do list off for a little longer and hopefully be more productive after getting some shut eye.

As I said before, I won't be running Dartmouth this weekend so I'll take tomorrow pretty easy and focus on having another solid strength workout on Friday. I definitely need to get in the strength work first but I hope I'll be able to get in some speedier stuff next week in preparation for my season opener, which will be the Mile @ GBTC on Jan 20th. I have no idea what kind of mile shape I'm in right now since I haven't done anything faster than 64 pace but I think 4:10 should be a reasonable reach for me based on my strength. My confidence is building as each day passes and I'm getting anxious to fly around that oval a few times - 15 to be exact!

Quote of the day:
"Don't ever let someone tell you... you can't do something. You got a dream... you gotta protect it. People can't do something themselves, they wanna tell you you can't do it. If you want something, go get it. Period."
-The Pursuit of Happyness