I'm enjoying my training right now, feeling like I'm in a groove, feeling like a real runner again.
Where do real runners go to do intervals? The track, of course! So when Darren assigned me some speed work last Tuesday, I headed over to the nearby high school track to get them done. They weren't anything that sounded hard on paper: six 2.5-minute intervals at a heart rate between 168 and 172. But mid-way through I had that dead-legged feeling, that sluggish "ugh" feeling, and only the idea that Darren felt I could handle them got me through them without quitting.
I went home to get ready for the day feeling triumphant, and happily reported back to Darren with the details.
That evening, I got the following email:
Hi Terzah
Just looked at your workout summary from today and this
is your first SCOLDING...if I put track on your schedule then go on the
track...but if it's a fartlek or something measured but not the
track...please stay off the track. I am a firm believer that tracks
injure athletes and I certainly don't want that happening to you.
Looked like you were running strong though...nice.
Regards
Darren
I was so excited to be SCOLDED (and then told that I appeared to have been running strong) that I went and got Dan so he could read it too. I knew Dan would get it.
"Wow," he said. "That's awesome! He cares!"
Later I told Dr. Hansen about it, too. He laughed and said it won't be my last scolding. I wrote Darren back and promised no more tracks unless specifically told to go to the track. If I need a flat, soft surface, my ponds are a much prettier (and less creepy at 5:30 a.m.) place anyway.
It's been a crazy week since then. On Friday I had brunch in Denver with Kathy, and then went home, packed, got the kids from school and drove them up to Rocky Mountain National Park for a late summer camping weekend with their former classmates from preschool. It was wonderful: fresh air, chilly temperatures, shooting stars, grubby five-year-olds...But I'm glad the next few weeks will be strictly on the routine. We'll see if I can avoid another scolding!
What do you think about the idea that tracks injure runners? It must have been in the back of my mind even before Darren said something, because I ran the first three intervals in one direction and then turned around to do the other three in the opposite direction.
