July 7 - 13

Monday (workout - 11km)
This was a nice tuning workout, but I had a lot of trouble getting my legs to find the right pace. I was aiming for 2x400 in 66, but I hit the first 200 in 34 and had to pick it up to get to 67. On the second, I went through 200 in just over 31, and slowed to hit 66. We had a good long recovery before running a 400 at 95%. I ran it in 58, which I was quite happy about - I believe it was my fastest 400 in three years. Finished up with 6x50m all-out. That was satisfying. On the first four, I felt as though I could have been a sprinter, but I was not as quick on the final two. I did not bother to time these.

Tuesday (cross training)
I had two ultimate frisbee games scheduled for tonight, so my only dedicated 'run' was the jog over from my office to the fields (call it a kilometre) Partway through the first game, we were delayed because of lightning, and it was ultimately postponed because of heavy rain. I had not got a lot of exercise today, but it felt like a fine light workout. My hamstrings felt especially sore after yesterday's hard 400. I rested up for the race tomorrow.

Wednesday (1500m race; 12km total)
Such a great race! I was reminded why I love the track so much. I had been having a lousy day, so I left school twenty minutes early to rest and fuel up before my race at 8:30. I had an oatmeal bar at 5:30, Gatorade to wash it down, and a can of Ensure half an hour later. I jogged over to the track at 7:40, then added on a bit to get to about 6k of warmup. On my run over, a guy approached me orthogonally and looked like he was going to mock me. Just before he had a chance to do anything I turned to him, stopped, and firmly asked "What are you doing?" He flinched and said "Running." "Sure..." I replied, and started to run again. When I was 30m off, they called some derogatory things after me. What douches. The incident made me feel tough, though, which was a good thing heading into a race.
I was in the second-slowest section, seeded at 4:10. I had not done a 1500m race since 2004; in fact, I do not think I had competed in an individual track race at any distance since 2004. I thought any time between 4:10 and 4:20 today would be acceptable. When the gun went off, I let myself settle into the middle of a pack. The leaders hit 200 in 31-high, with me about a second back, in fifth place. The leaders hit 400 in 64 seconds, which was faster than any of them thought they could run for the whole race (I was the fastest seed). I was two seconds back, in 66. I let them lead us through the next lap. At 700, someone made a move to take the lead, which allowed me to tuck behind someone on the rail for the curve. The leaders hit 2:12 for 800, representing a big slowdown for them, and I was 2:13, which was fairly even. I was no longer comfortable sitting and waiting, so I moved up on the outside, unsure of where I wanted to settle in: second for the curve (in which case I would have to slow down from my surge), or to take the lead (in which case I would have to speed up just a bit more). I decided to take the lead. I felt awesome being in the lead on the main straightaway, and hit 1200 in 3:18 (a slight increase in pace). I felt myself slow a bit on the backstretch as I ran into the wind, but I still felt strong, and I sensed I was clear of the field. I needed to motivate myself to hit a good time. In the final 200, I picked up the pace again and hit the line in 4:08.95. It was exhilarating to run away from the field like that. I know I had more in my legs, and could even challenge my 4:06.11 PB, but I am happy I had a race like this with people I felt I could run with so that I could work on my race tactics. This is exactly how I like to run a 1500. I was delighted.

Thursday (13km)
56 minutes with Chris. My stomach was giving me trouble again, so I was pretty slow in the last fifteen minutes. My legs were tired today. It was not that fun a run.

Friday (OFF)
A scheduled day off. I took it.

Saturday (workout; 12km total)
A pretty good track workout. Much of it was at my 1500 goal pace, but I also had some work faster than goal pace. Did 3x200m in 30-32, followed by 500 in about 77; which was half of what Rob Watson did; I was trying to pace him to a 2:33 kilometre. That felt good; I felt strong throughout. Then did 3 sets of 300/200, with a 30 second rest between the 300 and the 200, with the 300 at goal pace, the 200 faster than that. I felt quite tired after that, but still did 6x150m accels. My last two were rough - I was wheezing. It was nice to start the workout later than usual for a Saturday (10am versus 8:30), but it was quite humid by the end. I went through all my water by the time I had finished.

Sunday (16km)
An easy 70 minutes on my own. I went up Wonderland to the Brescia trails, then came back along Western Road, adding on in my neighbourhood to get to 70. My legs felt quite tired from yesterday. I was sleepy tired all day because I had not gotten enough sleep - I was up early to watch Chris's run and help Steve time.

Total - 65km. A low mileage week. I meant to get more in on Tuesday, but it did not happen. My race was the big highlight and left me feeling optimistic for the race next Friday (5k downtown) and for the 1500 the following Wednesday to finish up the track season.