Week 8 - Day 5

Laura and I went to Cardozo track today. I did a full plyo workout on Thursday (essentially my first good long one of the season) and still feel the effects today...in a good way. Here's the workout:

Rest: 5 minutes
Format: rep - distance - target time (s) - actual time (s)

1 - 200m - 28 - 28.7
2 - 200m - 28 - 27.2
3 - 200m - 28 - 28.3
4 - 200m - 28 - 28.2
5 - 200m - 28 - 28.8
6 - 200m - 28 - 28
7 - 200m - 28 - 28
8 - 200m - 28 - 29.0
9 - 200m - 28 - 28.3
10 - 200m - 28 - 28.7
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I didn't get good times for reps 6 and 7 but they were probably high 28s. After the first rep, Laura went out 10 seconds before me and we pushed each other as we crossed the finish line. Her best today was a 38, and that was on a bad stomach and no training. Not a bad start!

I felt okay about the workout today. On the one hand I was consistent with my times and the season hasn't really kicked in yet. On the other hand, though, I feel like I should be running faster for these. 5 minutes rest should be enough for me to run a second or two faster, I feel, so maybe that form will come soon as I get into better shape. I also ran in running shoes today. I've decided that one of my mistakes last year was that I ran in my spikes too often. Alison set my time goals assuming I'd wear spikes only for the full speed reps. So, running in spikes for this kind of workout, like I did last year, makes it easier. My times last year for this exact workout were a little faster...high 27s on average, but my effort was probably not as hard. So, one of my changes this year, in addition to working harder on my conditioning runs, is to run in spikes only when I'm running my fastest. It'll be easier on my calves and will make me that much faster when I do strap them on if I hit my goal times with slower footwear.

I've also been reading about joint stiffness (actually a good thing...it's not what it sounds like) and how it increases speed and some of the exercises I've read about are done barefoot. I think this type of training will be really helpful, so I'm looking forward to folding in some new things this season.