Track Tuesdays

After a long absence, I got my butt out of bed and hit the track this morning. I haven't shown up in at least a month so I had some butterflies in my stomach, not knowing how my body was going to perform. It was lightly raining when I left the house and it was coming down harder by the time I got there. Coach George adapted the scheduled workout based on the half I have coming up this weekend and the fact that I haven't been out there in quite a while. After a half mile warm up and some drills, I did 400, 800, 800, 400, 400, 400. The first 400 was kind of crap, around 1:49. The 800s were not much better and I'm glad that I can't recall the times right now. However, the subsequent 400s were much better, with the last one coming in at 1:42. I was pleased that I got faster as they went on and I actually thought I had one or two more in me but George told me to pack it in.

I really needed that workout today. I needed to have a good run under my belt before the half. I know that repeats on a track and 13 miles on the road are vastly different, but knowing that my body isn't as banged up as it seems calms me down a bit. I still won't be able to race the half the way I'd originally planned and a PW is still a real possibility. But if I can remember that I am a capable runner, and that this race is a tune up for several others that are on the horizon, I just might be ok. Bottom line, I want to have fun. And I haven't felt like fun was a possibility in the longest time.

I'm still damp and cold, despite a hot shower and warm clothes, but knowing I hammered it out in bad conditions just makes this morning a little sweeter. It did rain on the half last year, so I need to be prepared for that to be the case again this year.  My sister will be on the course with me this time, and I'm really excited for her because this is her first road half and I think she can really kill it if she wants to. My brother in law is going to smoke both of us but having family out there with me, even if we aren't running together, means a lot.


I have to head back up to NYC this afternoon through tomorrow night for work, and I leave Friday for home so I don't see myself getting out for another run before race morning. CAR does have a tempo run scheduled for Friday morning but I'm not sure that is the wisest thing for me to do. I know how sore I can be after tempo runs and I don't want to be worried about that going into Sunday morning. This is going to be my 5th half, so I shouldn't be a ball of nerves. But...I am. A little bit. At any rate, this morning was what I needed. I'm actually smiling today. Good times.