track workout

well today was my first ever track workout. My schedule called for “VO2 max 10 mi w/ 5 x 1,000 m @ 5K race pace (7:04); jog 2 min between”. I plugged those times into a pace calculator, and it spit out the following:
1000m = 4:23
400m = 1:45
200m = .53

I also decided to try to keep my ‘slower’ pace at about 400m = 2:14, or roughly a 9 min mile. I planned:

20 laps @ 2:14
5x (2.5 laps @ 1:45, 1 lap @ 2:14 recovery)
4 laps cooldown

And it went pretty well! I actually found I was going out too hard on the intervals, but I managed to pull back. I did stop for some gatorade after the 3rd interval, but overall I felt good. I distinctly remember thinking “my 5K time is soft”. 🙂

Because my watch only keeps 30 splits, I only did splits every 2nd lap for the ‘slow’ times. the first two were off b/c I ran down the street in addition to a lap, so they don’t count 🙂

laps	split time	(lap avg)
2 – slow	4:15	2:12
2 – slow	4:22	2:11
2 – slow	4:16	2:13
2 – slow	4:16	2:13
2 – slow	4:16	2:13
2 – slow	4:14	2:12
2 – slow	4:16	2:13
2 – slow	4:11	2:06
2.5 – fast	4:20	1:44
1 – slow	2:13	2:13
2.5 – fast*	4:25	1:46
1 – slow	2:13	2:13
2.5 – fast	4:14	1:42
1 – slow	2:20	2:20
2.5 – fast	4:21	1:44
1 – slow	2:24	2:24
2.5 – fast	4:22	1:45
2 – slow	4:24	2:12
2 – slow	4:19	2:10

*messed this one up, stopped partway through, walked to next marker and restarted
Cumulative time: 1:24
Ok, so I don’t know how I managed to come up with 10.75 right there.

20 laps warm-up = 5miles
5x(2.5 laps fast) = 12.5 laps = ~3.1 miles
4x(1 lap slow) = 4 laps = 1 mile
4 laps cooldown = 1 mile
should be an even 10 miles. Oh well. I blame it on metrics.

Overall, I hit my 4:23 on my intervals every time, without too much trouble. I went easy on my ‘slow’ laps, but other than between intervals, stayed below 2:13 per lap. I feel pretty good, too, and surprisingly spending nearly an hour and a half circling a track wasn’t too monotonous! And if I put any stock in Yasso 800s,I’m all ready for that 3:30 in Steamtown!