Back on the track

I'll admit it- I'm a total hypocrite. How can I possibly complain about other bloggers not providing a regular update if I don't do so myself? Not that it's a valid excuse, but the past two weeks have been pretty rough in the school department. I haven't slept nearly as much as I've wanted to, and I feel like my body is paying the price now. Regardless, it's time for another running update- sorry about the delay. 

My last post alluded to my pitiful lack of speed and confidence on the track at the time of writing. Since that post, I've done three workouts on the track. The first was one was simply vicious given the lack of any prior speed training: 800m tempo followed by 2x400 w/ 100 jog b/w, 3 minutes rest, 3x300 w/ 100 jog b/w, 3 min rest, 3x300 w/ 100 jog b/w. The 300s and 400s were all significantly under current race pace, and hurt a fair bit. This preluded my summer debut on the track, a 3000 in London last Sunday.

I was asked about my race goals and expectations by a few people prior to the gun that evening, and given my total lack of confidence, said under 9:20 would be an okay day, and 9:05 would be a pretty good one. I've always found it tough to predict a performance with little to no track work- I'm never sure how my body will respond to any pace. 

As we lined up, we were told Matt Suda would be pacing for 8:50 (the cut-off between the slower heat and the fast guys toeing the line later). Off the start, I got out slow and was spiked twice in the first hundred metres as I made the snap decision to move up and follow the group going with Suda. My racing instincts rewarded me this time- the gap opened in that first lap wouldn't close for the rest of the race. 

Settling in behind the rest of the group, I passed through the first kilometre in around 2:57. It didn't feel terrible, but I also couldn't go any faster, and so was content to sit on message board legend and Master extraordinaire Steve Boyd. His pace remained steady past 1500m, where I began to drop back into no-man's land and had to grit it out for the second half of the race. 

Coming into the final 200 metres I heard the split and knew I needed to run under 35 seconds to break nine. For most decent track runners I'd say this is not overly difficult to do the worst of times, but my best effort towards the finish still only snuck me under the barrier by 25 one-hundredths of a second. Regardless, it was a positive result given my expectations, and I was moderately happy about it until I realized I was faster at the start of indoor track season in January. 

Track workouts on Tuesday and Thursday this past week were run on remarkably little sleep; Tuesday took the title for the week though with only 1 hour, non-consecutive. 

Despite less than ideal recovery, I banged out some decent enough 600s with the boys in the wind on Tuesday. Thursday Liam and I decided to do some 1Ks and averaged 3:05 for five of the last six after opening up in 3 flat (2 minutes recovery) on a day where the conditions at Resurrection were actually ideal for a change. I was pleased with the effort, and am hoping it translates to a decent 5K tomorrow at the Waterloo Classic. 

I'm hoping mileage creeps up again soon. It seems school or injuries are happening on alternating schedules to make sure I can't run as much as I desire. I'm hoping issues with my IT band stay quiet as school calms down for a couple weeks.