Running in Circles

I remember in law school when Thursday nights meant Bar Review (read: copious consumption of alcohol). Before that, I remember college where Thursdays meant Thirsty Thursday (read: copious consumption of alcohol). These days, however, Thursdays mean track time (read: a brutal workout followed by a more moderate consumption of alcohol). Any of these three can leave you feeling a little beat-up the next day.

After last week's mile repeats I didn't figure it could get much more difficult, but I was wrong. Last night we had a ladder workout. That means the we started with shorter repeats but worked our way up to longer repeats and then worked our way back down again. Just based on that premise it doesn't sound too bad, huh? I forgot a couple of details though.

I think my paint skills are really progressing.

The repeats were 2x800, 2x1600, 1x3200, 2x800, 2x400--for the first seven sets (everything before the 400s) we only got a 200m rest in between. These repeats were to be done at half-marathon pace. For the final two repeats, the 400s, we got 400m of rest in between but they were to be done at 5k pace.

When it was time to divide up into pace groups there was a 6 minute group, a 6:30 group, a 7 minute group, etc. I knew I wouldn't make it if I went with the 6 minute group so I opted for the 6:30 group, even though that's a little slower than my half pace (by saying that I have probably jinxed myself for next week's half-marathon).

We started off a little fast with the first 800 in 3:04. The next one we did in 3:09. That was fine by me because that meant they were a little closer to my true HM pace. However, going into the first 1600 I began thinking about how truly short a 200m recovery is.

We did the first 1600 in 6:28--pretty much spot on. For the second one we somehow picked up the pace (I say we, but I was leading most of the time so I guess I mean me) to run 6:17. I was dreading the 3200 since I've never run that far on a track before but it wasn't too bad. We did it in 12:46 (or 6:23 pace).

Now, I forgot to mention earlier that the final set of 800s was optional. At this point most of the other guys running my pace decided to stop. Thankfully, one other runner, Ren, is as much of a glutton for punishment as I am. Of course, after doing the optional 800s (3:08, 3:07) we had to the optional 400s. I really felt myself pushing on these--1:24 and 1:25--and was thrilled to be done. At that point, however, one of the other guys who'd been running with the 7:00 minute group had one more 400 to go. Ren and I both decided to join him (what's one more 400?). I had wrongly assumed that it would be a slower lap; it wasn't. We did the final 400 in 1:23.

It was a punishing workout but that's what I was looking for when I joined the group--new challenges. I never would have made it through that workout on my own (I'm pretty sure I would have quite after the second 1600) but having other folks there to push me helped. Sadly, I was too tired afterword for beer. Next week?

Tempo by Twilight

My posts have been a little sporadic this week because I'm getting ready to be sworn in as an attorney. Becoming a lawyer is like going through puberty: it seems to take forever, it's filled with uncomfortable moments, and just when you think it's almost over, there's another step. Anyway--barring any last minute surprises--I will be sworn in next Monday. 

Now back to running-related content.

On Tuesday night (boy does that seem like ages ago!) I met fellow Whippets in Central Park for our Tuesday speed workout. This week we had a tempo run on schedule. Out of all the different kinds of speed work, I find long tempo runs to be the hardest to do by yourself so I was only too happy to have other folks to run with.

The term "tempo run" gets thrown around a lot these days and folks seem to have very different ideas what it means. In my book (and by that I mean my copy of Daniels' Running Formula), a tempo run is a run done at a "comfortably hard" pace, something you could sustain for about an hour.

We didn't quite fit the Daniels definition on Tuesday, though we weren't far off. After an easy mile warm-up our goal was to do 6 to 8 miles at 15 to 30 seconds slower than half-marathon pace. The idea was that the pace wouldn't feel too difficult for the first several miles, but in the later miles it would be more difficult to maintain. It may be helpful here to throw in an alternate name for tempo runs: steady state runs. You're trying to maintain a consistent pace throughout the run even as fatigue sets in. [Note: Someone reading this blog might blow a gasket because some folks, like Greg McMillan, do not use these terms interchangeably.]

So, how did we do? I ran with three other guys and only one of us had a GPS watch. Since we were doing a four mile loop with no intermediate markers, we only had two chances to check our pace. That meant the run mostly went by feel. For the whole run we average around 6:45 pace. Our second loop was about 2 minutes faster than the first loop which probably isn't ideal, but it did serve as a confidence booster. Had I been running on my own one of two things would have happened: (1) I would have slowed down during the second loop, or (2) I would have called it quits by mile 6. All in all in was a great workout. Better still, it didn't start raining until after we had finished.

Previewing the Brooklyn Half

I'm a firm believer in the benefits of knowing a course before you race it. There are tons of variables on race day--the weather, how you're feeling, etc.--so anything you can do to make things more certain is a plus. By checking out the course before race day you can get a better sense of the terrain and adjust your pacing accordingly. You can also get a sense of what the tangents are (more on this in a late post). Obviously, when a race is in another city you may only be able to look at maps of the course before race day. When it's in your own backyard, however, it's worth doing a little pre-race recon.

This weekend I had the chance to run the Brooklyn Half course with some fellow Whippets. Since the race is only two weeks away, this seemed like a good weekend to check it out. I've run this race before, back in 2009, but they've changed the course since then and even if they hadn't, three years is a long time.

After a late night in Queens on Saturday, I hauled my butt out of bed on Sunday morning to catch the train to Grand Army Plaza to meet fellow runners. We had a great turn out--probably around 20 people--so we were able to split up into pace groups. It was a little warm but nothing too bad. If it's warmer on race day I'll definitely pack some beach gear for after the race.

I'm not going to summarize the course since you'll get that as part of my race report when I run the darn thing in two weeks. Instead, I'm just going to offer a couple of observations that might be helpful to any of you running:

• The only "big" hill is inside Propsect Park around mile 5. Don't waste you energy here because you'll have plenty of downhill later to make up any lost time.
• Ocean Parkway goes on forever! Don't let that discourage you, just remember that it's actually a net downhill. 
• There's little to no shade in the second half of the course so sunscreen is a must.
• The stretch on the boardwalk is extremely short so don't fret if you've never run on that kind of surface before.
• It takes a long time to get back to Harlem from Coney Island so you might as well enjoy some hot dogs, ice cream, or pizza before heading back.