Miler Method #4: 800m Time Trial

MM#4: 800m Time Trial

Scheduled: 

• 15-20min WU
• 4x70m pickup strides (faster than MP), catch breath
• 2x200m @ goal 800m pace (0:40s with 2:30min recovery)
• 5-10min rest, then 800m (2:40=1:20/400m = 0:40/200m = 0:20/100m)
• 10min CD
• 2-3x Strength

Did: mostly as scheduled, 4.48mi @ 9:13/mi avg, plus 2x Strength

I had a very fitful night of sleep, waking up a handful of times in the night, anxious about the trial. Blergh.

The last time, when I saw 3:45am on my clock, I figured it was close enough to my 4:05 alarm that I might as well get up. My legs were not awake, but my glutes felt much better than they have the past few days. Hooray, yoga/stretching. 

Warm-up

It was chillier than usual today (53), so I actually had to look at my "what to wear" spreadsheet to figure out what would be comfortable. I opted for shorts, calf sleeves/socks, and a singlet, with a light long sleeve for the warm-up/cool-down, and an earband. This was a good call. 

I could tell when I drove up that the lights were already on at the track. This was NOT a good sign. The track is usually pitch black. Now we had to worry about being kicked off by the school. :/ 

My training partner and I opted to warm-up on the roads instead today. If there was a chance we'd only have 5min of time on the track, we wanted that to be used for our 800m time trials, not for warm-up. 

The warm-up was hilly, but nice. My legs still didn't feel totally warmed up as we headed to the track for the workout, but I reassured myself by remembering I never feel completely warmed up. 

Strides

I hate being on the track when the lights are on. I feel so... exposed, like a fish in bowl. Plus, there's always the fear that football practice is going to start, people will show up, and we'll be asked to leave. 

Seriously, why are the lights on at 4:45am?!?!

I did my strides, trying to let my legs remember how to turn over, thinking about "greasing the wheels" instead of "using up fuel". I don't know what pace I did them at, or exactly how far I went, but attempted to do about 3/4 between the track's 100m marks, slowly making my way around the oval, with little recoveries in-between. 

2x200m

I knew these were supposed to be at 0:40, and I also knew I could do that. I did the first in 39, and it felt HARD. That's okay, though, it's supposed to hurt. 

I was supposed to take 2:30 recovery, but didn't remember that and only took 90s. 

The second one was exactly 40s. OK, cool. Now, just do that four times.

After the 200s, I was supposed to take 5-10min rest. Between worries of getting kicked off the track and neither my training partner nor I remembering this step (we recalled the "catch your breath" instruction, which was supposed to separate the strides from the 200s, instead), I only ended up taking three minutes to recover before the time trial. 

800m

My coaches advised me to try to hit the first lap in 85s, aiming for 2:48 (much more comfortable of a stretch goal than the original, rough estimate of "800m @ MP, subtract 20s").

When I started off, though, I had the original 2:40 "goal" in my head. I didn't think it was a realistic goal for me, but I also wanted something to strive for that would make me push as hard as I could. 

Let's start with the positives:

• No injuries.
• I ended up running the fastest 800m I've ever run. (wooo, PR)
• My splits were consistent/I was able to hone in on a pace and keep it
• I had a little left in the tank to kick.
• We did NOT get asked to leave the track.
• I learned what NOT to do. 

So, what went wrong? In a word, self-sabotage. In addition to not letting myself recover enough from the strides/200s, I did a really silly thing that I'm so embarrassed to admit:

I thought it was a good idea to lap my watch every 100m so that, "after the trial", I could see how my pace changed over the 800m.

My husband's reaction, when I told him after the fact, was a facial expression I cannot even begin to describe, and an incredulous: "YOU LAPPED YOUR WATCH EVERY 20 SECONDS?!?!?"

Erm... uh... yes. 

When you put it that way, it sounds just as ludicrous as it was/is. That meant every 20s, I was thinking about reaching across my body, then interrupting my stride/form to find and push a button, before returning to form. While it's not like I stopped to press the button, I'm certain this impacted my time by at least 2-3s because I was thinking about lapping my watch and going through those motions for a good portion of the very short time I was running... instead of, y'know, just running fast.

...but I have data?

(totally NOT worth it)

I could have had my partner record my splits, or only lapped at the 400m... or just realized there was no actual reason I needed this data whatsoever and NOT WASTED ANYTIME. :P

The run itself was tough. It hurt a bit at times, but I think I was more concerned about:

1) trying to listen for noises of people coming to use the track/tell us to leave

2) when my next stupid lap button press had to happen

3) "saving some" for the next lap, next 200m, whatever

than running as fast as I could. 

It was far more challenging mentally than physically for me, which I think is true every time I run a hard mile. I felt the same sort of "concrete block" feeling that I had during the West End Mile in 2017, where I knew I could go faster, but my body wasn't doing it.  My legs also felt like jell-o at times. Lots of feelings, and lots of mental distractions. 

That said, I still had something "in the tank" to kick a bit on my last 100m, which was a nice feeling. 

Actual Time: 2:51.3 (i.e. I totally could've/should've hit 2:48...)

Reflections

Despite PR-ing today, I'm not nearly as satisfied as I should be. I had a lot of distractions and poor choices that contributed to not running my best. Still, I think I've learned a lot from today's exercise that'll help me on the mile in two weeks. 

Oh, and I got my strength circuits done post-run, too. (sidenote: the planks were much harder than usual)