Track Club Suicide
By Dan • Jul 29th, 2008 • Category: Dan's Training LogThe Tuesday track club met up at high noon. It was 90 degrees and the heat index was easily 100+. Attendance was low, most likely due to the heat.
Billy Owen’s plan was set. Do 4×1mile at a 6:00 pace with a 1/4 mile recovery . Ouch! This was a suicide work out if I have ever heard of one.
The first lap started. Hey this isn’t so bad… By the end of the first set. I was praying for forgiveness. What had I done to deserve this?
I was pretty sceptical about this next set.
By the end of the first lap, I had fallen off pace. I think I ended up running with my Nemesis Andy the rest of the set.
The heat was killing me. Not to mention the Stoneman, just two days ago. Andy seemed to be handling it quite well.
The third set started and I started from the rear, and planned on just trying to finish it no matter what the pace. Each lap I was loosing ground on the pack. By the last lap the group finish a good 300 ahead of me. I drug myself to the finish and walked over to the shade, downing my Gatorade.
The last set, we had lost a few people already. I though I would try my best. The group started and I lasted 1 lap. I had called it quits. I climbed over the fence and headed to the car.
I had survive, but DNF’d
Dan, don’t be too hard on yourself. You’ve got the better end of the deal if you keep stomping me in actual races while I’m ahead on the occasional practice run
Also, I think GB is to blame for inflicting the torture this time. See ya later - training ride Thursday?
That practice was too ambitious for you anyway Dan. 4×1 at 6:00 is faster than your 5k pace and about 30 seconds slower than your mile PR. If the purpose of the workout was as a threshold workout, as I’m sure 6:00 pace is for Bill, you should have run your miles in 6:26 based on your mile PR.
Yes training race on thursday. At least on the way out.
Aaron u should be my coach. I think Eric did mention the work out should be at a 5 or 10 k pace. I guess i thought i would try to stay w/ the big boys. Its good training.
It isn’t good training if you get hurt or sick. Goot training is when you feel stressed but not completely wiped-out. You should feel wiped-out after a race, not a practice.
You train to race. Not the other way around. I doubt Bill or Eric would run mile repeats with Dathan Ritzenhein, Bernard Lagat or Ryan Hall and try to do the same thing they’re doing.
Aaron, you are right. I have no formal running or track training. Hell, I just took it up about 5 years ago. I guess it must be my cycling mentality. When I go out with a group, or even by myself, on a hard day, I will lay everything I have on the line.
I do think you should train harder than you race and on race day, race harder than you train.
Dan, You are being way too hard on yourself. The heat/ humidity was murder on the track yesterday at noon. Between sets, it felt like I had wool coat on.
I think part of the problem with those track workouts is that the purpose of each workout is not explained to everyone. Aaron is right that the workout was simply a longer controlled workout at lactate threshold pace (which happened to be 6:00 for some of those guys). Typically, it’s 30 seconds per mile slower than your 5k pace. I’m sure if you had known that (and followed that) that the workout would have been “uncomfortable, but tolerable”, (which was the goal, and a good indication that you are hovering around LT pace).
Next week we’re going to do something very short and somewhat comfortable in preparation for the 2-mile parade run on Thursday night.
Two days after racing so well….your body finally yelled “Uncle” already!…. I should have explained better what the plan was. Greg and Eric came up with the plan for Tuesday so I will blame them. I’m trying to recover from a calf injury. With the track you do want to tax yourself but at the same time try to recognize when it stops feeling beneficial and adjust accordingly. So often with any of the track stuff we are just trying to build up confidence and justification for when we have to face a similar situation in a race. When you are racing at Canton this weekend you are going to be tougher because of the workouts you have endured. You are having a great summer…keep up the good work!
Dan, Eric is right on - some of us needed that workout as part of our training, but didn’t explain it well. You are right, it was miserable! Kelsey and I pushed the first two mile repeats a little too fast - we were toast after the 3rd mile, but managed to “cool down” the fourth one.
Definitely a no shirt day!
Looking forward to those “very short and somewhat comfortable” repeats for next week!
My running bible is “Daniel’s Training Formula” from my Wild Hares guest spot. I base my training around that even though I don’t follow it to a “T”. I agree that you should train hard but I think it is more important to train smart. When I do a track work-out with longer reps, like miles, I do them slower than 5K pace and with short recovery (around 60 seconds). I also like to do 2 x 1.5 at the same pace with 2:00 between bouts. 1200s, 1000s, and 800s are done increasingly faster than 5K pace but not drastically faster.
The faster you run the more lactic acid you produce and the more fatigued your muscles get. Daniels makes an analogy that slow, aerobic running is money in the bank and hard, anaerobic running is withdrawing money from the bank. If you don’t have a sufficient aerobic base you’re going to end up overdrawing your account and hurting yourself or getting sick. When you overdraw your account your times plateau, if you’re lucky, or you end up taking a long break with injuries, if you’re not lucky.
Train smart, race hard.
Sorry, the book is actually “Daniels’ Running Formula”. My guest blog has the link to it on Amazon.
Is this at the spfld high track?
Yes, the Springfield High School track - as Billy calls it, the “Lunch Bunch.” 12:00 pm every Tuesday.