Track and Field Blogs - RunDMC

I still don’t feel good, but better than warmed over dog poo anyway. Tuesday I went to my first Sierra Striders workout. They were doing repeats in Shady Rest Park. I ran from home (about 10min) and got there a few minutes late. It isn’t the first time I’ve been late and I am guessing it won’t be the last. I saw the group running away and cut across the park to catch up.

I have a good excuse for being late though. I taped the OT 5k races the night before and had to watch them before going to practice. As expected, Lagat and Tegencamp made the team. There was some buzz at practice that Ian Dobson nabbed the 3^rd spot because he trains here in Mammoth. The men’s 800m was awesome too. You gotta love a dive for the finish to make the Olympic team. In the women’s 5k, Fanning of Virginia Tech hung onto the pros and got a spot in the final. Gutsy race ending in a PR. She is coached by another VT alum who roomed with us for a summer back in the college days. I was thrilled for them.

I am not used to this 7:00am stuff, but caught up to the leaders on the warm up and did not say anything. After a while some people introduced themselves to me. I told them I was here for the summer to become a better runner. Somebody asked me if I was trying to get and OT Marathon qualifier. I laughed out loud. I must look faster than I am, but I set them straight. Anyway, they were all very friendly and Andrew (club leader) suggested that I keep my workout short and conservative. We did some stretching, group drills, and strides, then got started with 2x800, 2x400.? Most people were going to run the Freedom Mile on July 4 so this was just a tune up workout.

I started off in what I thought was conservative, but found I misjudged and was gasping for air after 400m. A 52 year old woman (I found out later) who is clearly a good runner came blasting by me and there was nothing I could do. The first one was overall uphill and the second was the other way so I ran about 10sec faster. The 400s did not take as much of a toll on me because they were not long enough to really get me deep into oxygen debt. Andrew and a couple of Tri guys, Andy and Mike, were quite a bit quicker than me. Something to shoot for.

Andrew talked to me a bit about the local routes and club runs. There were bagels after the run which was good because I did not eat breakfast before the run and I was feeling pretty drained. I still had that extra 12 min run home - it is uphill on the way back! They suggested I run the July 4 Freedom Mile and told me racing a mile here is like shoving a blow torch down your throat. I can’t think of more persuasive advertising, so I signed up yesterday. However I am not backing off for this one so I ran 65 min on Wed. My legs felt like wood.

So tomorrow I will burn my lungs. Then I’ll have an “all you can eat” pancake breakfast and watch the local parade. Hopefully that will carbo load me up for my long run this weekend.