The first day of track practice my high school coach always wanted to make sure that everyone who showed up to be on the distance team really meant it. The runners who had been through a track season with my coach already knew the workout that we were about to do, and I felt that was the reason why half of us put in some off-season mileage during the winter to stay fit.
After some casual introductions he would tell us to do a series of warm up exercises and a few laps to warm up the legs. During the stretching portion of our warm-up is when he would go over the details of the interval work we were about to do.
"So for today you will be doing 24-400 meter intervals with 2 minutes rest inbetween each one. I would suggest to lightly jog or walk around inbetween each interval to keep loose, as this workout takes awhile."
I always felt bad for the new kids coming out for distance for the first time--they must have thought we were nuts and did this everyday! But my sympathy for them would always go away after lap 8 or 9 because I knew that I was going through the same thing that they were. If a runner wanted to quit early my coach would never stop them--most of the new people would give in around lap 14 or 16, but the guys and gals who were upper classmen knew that 24 was the benchmark for the rest of the season. Even if it wasn't pretty, finishing the workout was a must.
At 4:30pm we suddenly found ourselves alone on an empty track. The jumpers, sprinters, and throwers had finished up their respective workouts before us and were now in the locker rooms changing to go home. I think those left on the track finishing up the workout wouldn't have had it any other way. Completing the workout by ourselves is what distance running was all about.
"58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63", yelled my coach for the final lap splits. "Now that's what I'm talking about--try to get a mile in for your warm down and I'll see you all tomorrow for an easy day. Good job."
Most of us lay there sprawled out on the track breathing heavily and seeing stars above us mixed in with a now spinning blue sky. Welcome to track.
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most of us threw up - collasped - and then made fun of the shot putters for their "work out"
ReplyDeleteThis is a great opportunity for our loyal Fit Right NW customers and the Portland running community to experience a very personal night with two of the fastest American distance runners right now," says Fit Right's Andrew Buswell. "With the space that we have at our new store location on NW Raleigh it should be a great night.
ReplyDeleteHealthy Receipes
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Oliver