Countdown to summer--7 class days and honeysuckle on the way

This week, I got back on the track for the first time since well before Gettysburg.  The goal was 4 x 1200 at 5:00 (6:40 mile pace) with a 200 jog.  I did the first one in 4:46, and decided rather than getting slower, to cut the workout shorter if I could do 3 at that pace or faster.  The next two were 4:42 and 4:45.  One thing I really did learn from my college coach is knowing when to say when.  We almost always had workouts that were over-planned and then cut shorter depending on how we did.  Sometimes a shorter, high quality workout is better than dragging through endless repeats that are too slow.  Endurance certainly has its place, but for me, I get plenty of longer efforts when I am not on the track.  The other good thing about this 1200’s workout was that Alyson ran with me and did the first and last 400 of each 1200 (for a total workout of 6 x 400’s), so that we were able to run together despite being at different paces and different stages in our training. 

My great track workout wasn’t great for swimming.  That same night at swimming we did 20 x 100’s on 1:25.  I made about 12 of them, then started to fall off the pace, then just swam continuously as fast as I could for the rest of the set.  By the end, I was about 15 seconds behind.  Even though the set was a failure in a sense, it is probably the fastest 2000 I ever swam, under 29 minutes. 

Saturday morning I rode from my house to the art museum, along the Schuylkill River Trail out to Conshohocken, and cut across Joshua road back toward my house.  One thing that I have seen people do but was always afraid of is riding over a curb.  This time I did, just for the convenience of getting from the bike path to the open road on West River Drive.  Toward the end of the ride, while going up a short but very steep hill, I noticed the first honeysuckle of this season—a sure sign that summer will be here soon enough.

I bought some new gear from Jenkintown Running Company, mainly new shoes—Asics Gel-Cumulus.  I realized that I have trained for 2 marathons primarily in the same shoes.  I always alternate between my new shoes, old shoes for shorter runs, and trail shoes for trail runs.  That’s my method for making shoes last longer by spreading the mileage around.  I don’t know if it really makes a difference.  I was also tempted to get a minimalist shoe by Asics, but I have tried a New Balance minimalist shoe, and while I have worn them for a few races and shorter quicker runs, they definitely make my calves a lot more sore.  I also have a habit that the first run in a new pair of shoes has to be a messy one.  Sometimes, I’ll do a trail race in brand new shoes, but this time, the mud and puddles on forbidden drive Sunday were enough to end the “new shoe” appearance.