Week 2 Training: Speedwork

It's been a tough week for me mainly because of my impaired vision. In the office, I had to read slower in order not to strain my eyes too much, and it hurt looking at the computer screen for long periods of time. So I was actually forced to complete tasks at a much slower pace.

And speaking of slow paces, last Thursday's running program involved speedwork--which I sorely lacked. If I had a running coach present with me last Thursday, he'd probably shout "Your grade? FAIL!"

Haha. Okay, I'm sure coaches aren't that mean, but yeah, I did fail in the speedwork thing.

I was supposed to do a 1.6K warm-up, three sets of 800-meter runs at a 5:54 pace per set, with 400-meter jogs in between sets, and then a final 1.6K cool-down run. Making it a total of 8K.

ARGH. If I was made to do long, slow distance running for 8 kilometers, I'd certainly be able to hack it. But I'm not a fast runner, so 3x800 @ 5:54 presented a challenge.

I had a happy 1.6K warm-up and when that was done, I ran in place while I reset my watch's activity time and distance log back to zero. I was nervous about completing 800 meters at a pace I knew was not realistic for me, considering my current running capability. But because I aim to try everything at least once, I started to run. When my watch indicated I had reached 800 meters, I was gasping heavily, and I checked the total time: 6:02. All that torture and I was still late by 8 seconds.

By the time I started the second 800-meter set, my knees were shaking in dread. God, I can be such a wuss at times.

I clocked in at 6:15. I was pooped, my shins hurt, and it seemed like my heart was about to burst out from my chest, so I didn't bother to do the third and final 800-meter run. I just wanted to complete the rest of the 8K doing LSD running. Right after the 2nd 800-meter set, I slowed down to a more relaxing pace and let my watch continue logging the distance. The speedwork tired me out so when I reached the 1.6K cool-down, I had a faltering gait and I could feel a bad soreness in both ankles and in my right shin.

Finally, my watch registered 8K. I slowed down to a limp and stretched my legs in one of the benches in Legaspi Park. I was so, so very tired, but the nice thing about running is that my eyes feel brighter and less sore. It must be an endorphins thing.

Later that night, I lay in bed with aching muscles, mentally going over the program I had just did. The speed running was exhausting, and I didn't do the third 800-meter set, but still, I kept asking myself why I was so tired after running 8K. Eight kilometers in total should not be too much of a problem for me these days. As I was computing my overall pace, a sudden thought entered my head that actually made me sit up: I didn't run a total of 8K. I ran 9.6K instead!

After my 1.6K warm-up, I had reset my watch distance and time log to zero. And then without stopping, I proceeded to run the next 8 kilometers. I totally forgot to include the 1.6K as part of the 8K. No friggin' wonder I was more tired than the usual.

Not only am I terrible in speedwork but in basic arithmetic as well. FAIL!