Today is a special day,
because I did something that I would never have imagined I would be able to do a year before:
1 K by 13 sets interval training at 4 minutes for each lap.
It was a beautiful sunny Sunday.
The park was crowded with families having a picnic, playing sports, and just relaxing.
It was pleasantly warm, so I went out in my no-sleeved top and thin running shorts.
And the shoes were MUTEKI, the minimalist sock-like shoes with little cushioning.
I started off for my first lap at a brisk pace and finished at 3:53.51.
My legs were a bit heavy, but the next four laps were finished
under 4 minutes.
Lap 6 through 10 were so so.
I wasn't able to finish under 4 minutes in any of them.
Also, I could feel that lactic acid was slowly building up in my legs,
making it gradually difficult to sustain a decent pace.
Lap 11 and 12 were disastrous.
As I ran Lap 11 I found myself regretting
that I didn't insert another 1 K by 10 sets session
prior to putting myself to this challenge
to allow for a more gradual development of endurance.
I was talking to myself as I ran:
"Oh, man. This sucks. Should I quiet? Or should I go on and finish miserably?"
Los Angeles Olympics bronze medalist Charlie Spedding once said that it's bad for self confidence to be forced to slow down after starting too fast...
I remembered that, and almost quit to avoid the negative influence of my pathetically slow lap on my self confidence.
But then another side of me said something else.
It said I should go on, because I am not training for a medal.
I am training to become a stronger version of myself.
And my definition of strength includes your ability to accept your present weakness.
So I decided to continue.
Final lap came surprisingly earlier than I imagined.
I was tired.
And a two-minute active rest wasn't long enough to re-set my motivation.
Before I knew I was on the road again.
I grit my teeth and bore the misery of both of my legs no longer capable of responding to orders from my will.
I was gasping for air to allow my systems to keep on functioning.
I felt sleepy from a shortage of energy.
My form was more haphazard than carefully controlled.
And my right sole hurt because of a blister developed in Lap 11.
I felt like an ancient locomotive about to retire...
But then I heard my inner voice say, "Do what you can no matter how small it may be."
So I changed the gear and took shorter strides to minimize energy loss from halfway point on,
and in the last 200 M mustered up all the energy that was left in me,
and surged to the goal.
My watch said: 4:00.68.
It's not under 4 minutes, but I thought I did a pretty good job for the final lap of the entire 13 sets!
Today's result is as follows:
1st lap: 3.53.51
Active rest: 2:00.35
2nd lap: 3:54.06
Active rest: 2:00.18
3rd lap: 3:52.23
Active rest: 2:00.57
4th lap: 3.57.31
Active rest: 2:00.25
5th lap:3:54.78
Active rest: 2:00.01
6th lap: 4.04.92
Active rest: 2:00.11
7th lap: 4:00.02
Active rest: 2:00.30
8th lap: 4:05.97
Active rest: 2:00.14
9th lap: 4:07.37
Active rest: 2:00.16
10th lap: 4:04.50
Active rest: 2:00.06
11th lap: 4:11.14
Active rest: 2:00.12
12th lap: 4:13.04
Active rest: 2:00.23
13th lap: 4:00.68
Total 13 K: 1:16:22
Next training is this coming Thursday.
I'm going to do exactly the same training again.
It marks the end of my 5 interval training sessions.
Once it's done, a 10 K time trail is scheduled next Sunday.
I will probably run at midnight when traffic is little.
I am thrilled to see how I will do there.
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