JD: Phase 2 - Quality Workout #1

Well boys,

I decided to start this little blog to keep you updated as to my progress (or lack therof) and to hopefully provide a little motivation as we are all training separately, yet still trying to be accountable for the hard workouts!

Yesterday I headed down to my new 1/4 mile track on Isle de Neilly and under nearly ideal conditions I did the following (exact paces to follow - they are not handy right now):

2 mile warmup: 7:25 min/mile
5x (800m 'hard' + 3 min recovery)
1. 2:51
2. 2:49
3. 2:46
4. 2:44
5. 2:47
2 mile cooldown: 7:25 min/mile

TOTAL mileage = 8 miles

(ps - I did 8 easy miles (avg. pace ~7:25 min/mile) on Tuesday to make this week's total 16 miles so far).

Now, JD I know that your schedule called for 5x1200m at I pace. Given that this was my first speed session, I was very reluctant to do anything stupid since speed has been directly related to all of my pains so far this year. I know that it is not like me to actually think that way, but the decision was easy once I hit 800m!

I pace (VDOT=58) for 800m works out to be 2:46 splits. So, I did work on my V02 today by hitting the pace, but as Jack has mentioned in his talks, I guess I only hit V02 for ~1 minute each interval. Anyhow, next week the schedule calls for the same workout and my goal is to do the 1200m repeats then. I feel more comfortable with this now after I have seen my body's reaction to this first bout of speed!

Surprisingly, I feel really good today. My legs do not feel heavy and my usual tender bits are not causing me any pain. During the workout I was not surprised by how out of breath I was after 800m but a little bothered by how out of shape I feel when doing speed. My breathing started to whistle like yours does sometimes JD!

Ok boys, back to work for me. When I have time I am actually going to get this blog thing presentable, but for the time being I thought it would be a great way to smack talk and to keep each other informed as to our training!

Have a good one!