2 x 3 Makes the New Normal?

Kind of a long title, but I wanted to get a few thoughts across with it.  After a universally acknowledged BIG workout on Tuesday (universally acknowledged = poll of teammates) and uncertain what I had left, I wondered could I keep the back-to-back strong tempo sessions going.  The August weather front from Wednesday was pushed out by a series of thunderstorms that started as I was 1 mile into my warm up last night and heading to the CPTC meet up spot in CP.  When I heard the crack of thunder followed immediately by lightning I hesitated and thought of turning around, but I saw a teammate 30 meters ahead so I kept going.  Like idiots we all gathered under a tree.  Even after someone questioned our sanity, we didn’t budge until we started the workout.  35+ dummies.  Luckily the storm passed quickly and left us with moderate sprinkles and cooling breeze.  It was actually a money weather night for running.

The planned workout was straightforward and VERY favorable: 2 mile pick up at 10k pace, 1 mile recovery, 1 mile pick up at 10k pace, 1 mile recovery, 1 mile pick up at 5k pace.  It was favorable in the sense that we had long recoveries which went over the only uphill portions of the route.  My guess is that it was our coach’s way of acknowledging that he beat our asses on the track Tuesday.  The results:

Arguably the recoveries were on the slow side, but I wasn’t trying to be a hero either.  I was in the lead group among the turtles for the initial 2-miler, but I guess I was lollygagging on the recovery because nearly everyone passed me.  Oh well.  I passed them back on the final pick up!  Ha!  I found a nice rhythm on the 2 mile pick up and maintained that 7:00 pace throughout … no slow start and rush to make up for it at the end.  The 2^nd pick up was easy as it was largely flat to downhill.  I was probably moving faster than 6:50 (not the goal) because I stupidly forgot to hit the reset button after the recovery.  Bah.  The 3^rd pick up was solid (also downhill).  I avoided sprinting and just let the terrain drive the effort.  Based on my 4-miler, 6:39, 6:40 is where I ”should” be with a 5k.  Therefore, I was cool with that pace.  Including warm up and cool down, ~9 miles of goodness.

So, back-to-back-to-back solid tempos.  I won’t declare victory until Coach throws a 2×4 miler at us, I do it and live to tell about it, but I think I’m out of the woods.  CPTC Tempo Thursday’s are becoming normal.  God knows I thought I’d grow horns out of my head before I ever said that.

I scheduled a Friday morning run with a teammate … 6:30 am start.   He’s older and faster than me (hell, who isn’t faster than me among this crew?).  He also ran last night, but is a much more experienced runner.  My plan was to tell him that I intended this morning to be a recovery run since it was a quick turnaround and I’ve had a big week.  It didn’t happen that way.  I was first to the spot and he jogged by and picked me up.  He casually said “Is this pace good for you?”  I looked at the watch and we were at 8:15 already.  I said, “Sure, let’s roll.”  Now 8:15 isn’t terribly fast … it’s becoming the normal, regular run pace.  I’ve done long runs at that pace … albeit, an angry long run.  The only rub was when I’m hitting that pace, I’m alone and not talking … save for the occasional curse.  Another teammate who knew I was running with this guy smartly suggested that I start asking questions immediately and let him do the talking.  Great advice.  It worked.  Enjoyable 5+ mile run and conversation under perfect weather conditions.

So there is the 2^nd of the 2 x 3 … in this case, it’s the third time I’ve done the quick turnaround … night run followed by early morning run.  For many of my teammates, this is normal.  It’s starting to become normal for me too.  Going forward, I will probably introduce that sixth running day to the week … probably Friday mornings too.  However, it will be a true recovery pace high 8s or low 9s for short miles 5-6.