Testing 1...2...3K

Monday, May 11: 2:30 PM - 9.5 Miles, 66 min w/ Mario
11:00 AM - Chiro w/ Dr. V
Tuesday, May 12: 6:00 PM - Track WO w/ Mario, Ari, & Tony
25 min w/u
3 x 1600m w/ 2.5 minR - 4:57, 4:56, 4:51
(4 minR)
6 x 300m w/ 60 secR - 47.3, 48.2, 48.0, 47.6, 47.8, 46.8
25 min c/d
Wednesday, May 13: 0 Miles
Thursday, May 14: 5:30 PM - 10.5 Miles, 77 min w/ Brett
9:00 AM - Massage w/ Carly
Friday, May 15: 8:30 AM - 38 min w/ strides on the track after (in spikes)
Saturday, May 16: 9:00 AM - Time Trial @ Bentley
25 min w/u, 3000M - 8:33.6, 12 min c/d
68, 2:16 (68), 3:24 (68), 4:32 (68), 5:40 (68), 6:47 (67), 7:58 (71), 8:33 (35)
Sunday, May 17: 8:00 PM - 13.5 Miles, 91 min

Week Total = 59 Miles, 6 Sessions

This week started off pretty well as I tested out a new run in Framingham with Mario and then had a solid workout on Tuesday. The mile repeats felt easy and wasn't a problem to crank down the third one a bit. The 300s felt a little quick for me, but it's probably good to work on that speed a little. After missing my Wednesday run due to work, I had a nice run at Lincoln on Thursday. I was a little late getting there to meet Schmeck and Matt so they took off without me. Being frustrated about getting stuck in traffic and missing the opportunity to run with someone made me start the run pretty quick. I caught up with Brett Ely about 30 min in and ran easy with her for the rest of the run.

Over the last couple weeks, Kevin and I have been discussing the idea of doing a time trial on the track since I didn't have any races planned between James Joyce and the Twilight meets. The idea being to hopefully give me an idea of where my fitness is and also prepare me for the feeling of running all out on the track again. Kevin decided on 3000m for the distance and figured this week was good timing (3 weeks after JJ and 3 weeks before NBB Twilight). Since this was a race simulation, I busted out the spikes, as opposed to the flats that I normally wear in workouts. The last time I wore my track spikes was at Hayward Field over a year ago, so I pulled them from the closet a day early and did a few strides in them to shake off the dust.

I wasn't feeling great in the days leading up to Saturdays effort and was feeling pretty run down that morning when I woke up. I was getting nervous about the possibility of blowing up in the middle of this 3k and destroying the little confidence that I had left over from the 10K. After a couple hours of focus, I was able to mentally prepare myself for running hard and running close to my current fitness level, regardless of how I felt.

I really had no idea what my 3K fitness was leading up to this, but based on the strength work I've been doing and the ease of running 70-72 pace in workouts, I figured I should definitely be sub 8:40. I was also hoping that I could handle it just based off memory. So the plan was to shoot for 68s (8:30 pace) and adjust if necessary. My training partners of Ari, Tony, and JP were doing their own workout, but Tony was kind enough to lead me through the first 800m and get me on pace. I feel I did a pretty good job at staying right there and keeping it in control as I passed through 1600 in 4:32 feeling pretty good. I don't recall when I last ran a 4:32 on the track, so I was happy the legs weren't screaming at me. I think that actually made me a little greedy as I started leaning on the pace shortly after that, running 2:15 for the next 800. At 2K, I really thought I was gonna break 8:30, but with about 600m to go, it started to unravel. By the time I got to 300m to go, both the wheels had fallen off and there was no chance of having a fast finish. I was happy with the 8:33, but definitely knew that I could have run sub 8:30 in a race situation.

I now have 3 weeks until I run a real 3K at the 2nd NBB Twilight meet and if training goes as planned between now and then, I think something in the 8:22-8:25 won't be impossible. Immediately following that, I'm planning on a 5K at the 3rd NBB Twilight meet, and might even be eyeing a PR in that race. I don't want to get too far ahead of myself, but there should be enough able bodies in the race to do it, so I'm hoping I can take advantage of the opportunity and actually run a good race. We're still a month away from that and I still have a lot of work to do before then, so if I can get some more consistency in my training, maybe I can make something happen. Thus far, my workouts have been decent, but the volume throughout the week just isn't where it needs to be. Somehow, I need to find a way to improve that without getting sick or hurt. I'm hoping the nice weather and help of my teammates will be enough to get me there.