The Start of Something

I did my second interval workout in three days this morning. It was what Jon has dubbed a ¨Benchmark Workout.¨ That is, it´s a workout that will be repeated after another 4-6 weeks of good hard training.

The workout consisted of 5x800 meters at 2:36 or better, with 90 seconds jogging in between each. Basically, it´s 800s at VO2 max pace with very little rest between each. The workout would not only let us know how my body has been reacting to the intervals that I´ve been running for the past 5 weeks but also it would give me a better estimate for what I can run for my time trial this coming weekend.

I was still a bit stiff starting off, so I was almost pessemistic. Nonetheless, I got into my normal routine: 2 miles easy to warm up, full foot drills and dynamic stretching and two sets of striders. By the time I was ready to start, it had warmed up considerably, so I was glad to have worn layers.

The workout ended up going a lot better than I expected. I ended up averaging about 2:33 per rep, which I was pretty happy with, with the last at 2:29.

Looking over my intervals, I´m really happy with the progress I´ve made. This week, the 5x800 workout was a bit less volume than usual, and I felt it. However, looking back even a few weeks shows that I was doing shorter workouts, with more rest, and at slower paces. With that in mind, I´m feeling relatively confident.

In other news, I´m making some progress on my plans for next year, though a lot is still up in the air and seems as if it´ll stay that way for a while. The one thing that I´m feeling quite strong about is that I don´t want to spend the whole six months in one place. This presents a bit of a problem with finding a job, especially with the state of the current economy, but I´m confident that I can find some work.

My thoughts right now are some sort of permutation of the following: Spend December and part of January in Concord living at home. Here I can see my friends, get some work, and run in some indoor track races.

In January, I´m hoping to drive west somewhere for several reasons: First, to avoid (part of) the super cold and icy New England winter. Second, the two cities I´m thinking about living in right now are Tucson, AZ and Boulder, CO (slightly less warm...) which are both at relatively high altitudes, Tucson not as much. Being here in Quito has shown that my body reacts really well to altitude training, so this would give me another few months of that. It would also give me a nice change of scenery, which I´ve found is really important to me. Hopefully I´d be able to find a job in either place, and since both of them are high tourist season (Boulder, skiiers, Tucson, snowbirds) I´m relatively confident I could find some sort of work.

I would head back East in early March to see Phish in Hampton, VA. And then drive back up to Concord. The next few months depend a bit on my monetary state at the time. I have the possibility of living at home, living in Hanover with my brother, and living in Western Mass somewhere. I would try and get a job here as well and continue training and be able to race some outdoor track in the Spring.

It´s an ambitious and complicated plan, I know, but I´m hoping it works out.

Anyways, I´m headed to the coast on Friday early morning. I´ll try and update before then, but I may be busy with work and getting ready. I´m running my time trial Sunday morning, so send me fast vibes if you´re up between 7:00 and 8:00am!