Yep, I’m back, didn’t expect it to be so soon in the season, but I’m back. Those of you who read me last summer know of my love for these magical little white pills made by Hammer Nutrition.  Kara was not feeling great tonight – she works in a public school, and around here, they usually don’t have air conditioning. (People just suffer in June and in September.) She said her office gets a lot of sun during the day and she was in meetings all day so she couldn’t make her way to the water cooler as much as usual. So, she was pretty dehydrated to start off.

Did I forget to mention that today we were forecasted to have 93 degree temps?  Anyway, I think the highest it got was 89, and then it started to get super windy during track practice tonight. It felt awesome, except when you were on the side of the track where the wind smacked you in the face and almost stopped you dead in your tracks.

Oh yeah, where was I with the Endurolytes?  Ok, so last week, I gave Kara some Sports Beans, and she liked how they kicked in – ZOOM!  So tonight, when she mentioned how little she’d had to eat/drink today, and with the heat, I figured she could use a few. She had 1, and was starting to feel better, but not completely, so I slipped her another one. I told her, she’d know when they really kicked in.  At first she felt like she was going to skip the end of our workout, and then she ended up doing 6 of the 200s at  the end.  She also just looked better in the face, hard to describe, but she just had more color, I could tell.

Anyway, the people tonight were friendlier, but it was pretty much just Kara and me most of the night, except for when Diane joined us for the last set of repeats. I really like running with Diane – she’s good at keeping us on track with times. Which is a good thing, because I really feel like I need to move up at least one letter group.

Workout:

  • 10 x 200 at 54-55 seconds. Rest 60 secs in between each 200.
  • Run 12 minutes EASY off track. Kara was not feeling well – we ended up walking – gotta be honest, it was super windy at that time and I was afraid of all the dust blowing up into my contacts, so it was fine with me!
  • 6-8 200s at 51-52 with 60-90 sec rests.

This is where my confusion comes in – if I am still in Group G, why are these workouts easier than what he gave Group G before? We’re getting slower times, and longer rests in between than what we used to get.

I wrote him today and asked if I could move up, but probably waited too long. I was a bit afraid of the heat after Sunday’s debacle. But next week, I need to move up, because I’m getting frustrated, with myself. I could not keep that first group of 200s to that pace of 55 seconds. I felt like I was holding back, except for when the wind really gusted, honestly.

One of my colleagues is attending the first track practice tomorrow night with MVS. I am going to see what he thinks of it. Supposedly, everyone is supposed to get some personal attention with that new coaching group. With our coach, if you want extra personal attention other than when we are on-site on Tuesdays, you have to pay extra. I am not trying to take anything away from our coach, he is good, as shown by some of his athletes’ performances. But I feel like where I am concerned, I might be part of the background. Does that make sense? 

I’m not the type to be constantly badgering a coach with questions, but I feel like a lot of my coaching that I’ve had lately has been from the people I’ve been running with, like Diane, who’s been running for 11 years. Have any of you out there done track workouts like this before and had similar experiences?

Oh, and by the way, here are some pics from Mexico – and NO, I don’t have the Swine Flu! (We got this very comical, I think, email from work – saying that they have not restricted travel yet to Mexico, and I’m sure it was meant in the way of  “official travel”, but my reaction was “oh please, do we really think we are this precious, that you could KEEP me from going someplace warm after this winter!? GIVE ME A BREAK!”

Oh, and by the way, anyone recognize this guy with me below, in the Boston Common? :-)   It is none other than the Gibtown Runner, Chris, himself!!  We finally met in person last night because he’s in town on business, and we are going to go running together tomorrow night. He’s worried I’m going to kick his ass, and I’m worried he’s going to kick mine – LOL! (I am so not photogenic, sigh.)

More pics to come soon – we took a lot – I’m just trying to pick out the best!

Oh, and this Twitter thing – it’s interesting – I’m trying to learn to be concise – obviously I need a lot of work!

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