I'm really enjoying getting back to the track with the Harrell Track Club (slogan, "Was that a backfire?")*. But I'm noticing something that I also notice at races now: people expect me to be way faster than I am. Today we were doing some 800's at 2-mile pace, and my friend said, "So that's like 5:55 pace for you?" Er. No. Not ever, actually, but certainly not now! I'm just not so fast now!
Even though I have clearly struggled since being injured and having hip surgeries, my running friends still think I'm my old speed (or faster). It's getting embarrassing to have to keep correcting them!
Another friend thought I would go under 1:30 in Sunday's half, and I had to explain that I was more likely going to struggle to run under 1:40 - to which he replied, "Why? Are you injured?" No, dude, just old and slow!
Today's workout was 4x800 at 2 mile pace with nice, long, 2 minute rests, followed by a 400 jog and straight into 4x800 at 10k pace with 45 seconds rest. I liked the workout - the long rests made the first half easy, and the slower pace made the second half easy!
But I had to be honest to myself and my running partners - I was running 6:15 pace for the 2 mile pace portion and 6:45 pace for the 10k pace portion. And that was probably already stretching it!
Despite the endless explaining and excuses, track is benefitting me. I haven't moved fast in a long time, and just feeling those paces again is pushing me.
*Implication: Or a gunshot?
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I hope I didn't make you uncomfortable with my last blog comment about chasing you! Even though you aren't as fast as you were a couple of years ago, you're still pretty speedy to me. And I do think you sell yourself short. I ran a 1:35 at Big Easy, and your training paces (looking at your Daily Mile Widget to the left) are a lot faster than mine. I bet you'll do better than you think on Saturday, and if you continue to stay healthy, I suspect that you will be able to get back to your pre-injury fitness levels within a couple of years. You are NOT old and slow!
ReplyDeleteOh, no, not at all! I just recognize that I don't have the speed and endurance I used to have, and my old running buddies don't :)
DeleteOld and slow? I think you mean easing your way back from some significant injuries.
ReplyDeleteBeen there, done that. Mine wasn't injury. It was overtraining syndrome brought on by sub-clinical levels of testosterone. The number of comments that I continually got was incredible. The number of times I had to explain why I couldn't run as fast was a little annoying. But eventually the squad accepted that I was slower and they moved on. Your group will get there too.
ReplyDeleteSo nice to hear that you are making it out to the track for workouts. 800's are never fun. But, I like the two stages of pace and recovery change-ups.
ReplyDeleteI challenge your use of 'old and slow'. You have to stop thinking of yourself like that! You've been through a lot and while you may not be as fast as you once were, you are still really fast given all that your body has been through!!
ReplyDeleteAgree, I'm starting to dig workouts like that with different distances/effort levels rather than just x repeats of y distance with z recovery. It breaks things up which I appreciate.
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