Notes
I attempted to recreate some of my only other good workouts in August, mainly a cool morning on the ISU XC course. 2 mile warm-up (this time I didn't have to carry my shoes as Naomi met me there with my spikes and her friend's dog). 1 mile tempo, an optimistic 5:53.
My plan today was faster-than-xc-race-pace intervals. Maybe 600m or 800m. I settled on a loop then just stopped my first interval at a landmark which ended up being about 2min (and later determined to be about 650m). My goal pace was 5:10 or so and my first rep would be about 5:05 pace. This is another instance of me refusing to go slower with each rep, which is perhaps dumb, maybe stepping back to 5:10 pace would have felt great and I would have done more reps. On the other hand, 5:10 had little scientific backing other than it seemed reasonably fast.
In any case, I stuck to getting faster with each rep and managed an impressive 2:04, 2:03, 2:02, 2:01, 2:00 (ok fine, the last one was 1:59.9 but STILL!). So I knew my 6th rep had to be sub2 and I did manage a 1:58 (4:50pace).
I felt strong, though it was difficult. I started on a slight downhill to give my legs a cheating start and that led to me slowing down throughout each rep. Oddly, even with the similar paces, it seemed like my stride changed a lot. The 2nd rep I focused on a fast cadence and short stride, the 4th rep was more about getting power from each back kick, and the 6th rep was just throwing my legs forward to get every bit of speed I could.
The rest was more than necessary, over 2min. Then I tied my shoes before the 3rd rep and took a bathroom break after the 3rd to give me a bit of an intermission halfway through the workout.
This sums up a pitiful week and an equally pitiful month. Granted, I told myself after the marathon that August had no goals other than to run and recover. It's just funny how your body seems to react to what you expect out of it. I need to make a fall running schedule to get myself motivated again. I think my main focus will be a XC time trial, probably 4mile and then see how that goes. I'm also signed up for the Army 10 Miler virtual event, though I'm not sure if that will interest me. And then there are some races to do, mainly smaller off-road. But even those I'm not sure how enticing they are; possibly because I'm not sure what shape I am in, or I'm not sure if racing is still smart, or what satisfaction I'll have from racing if there is little competition.