12x400 Tracks (Tough!)

It was that day of the week when you go out on the tracks and you know you will be working hard. Actually, I was doing really good on the first 9 400m laps. My splits were 93, 93, 93, 93, 95, 95, 95, 97, 97. In the 9th lap, I felt tightness in my left hamstring. And in the 10th lap, right around the 300m mark, I just felt a cramp in that same hamstring come over me. I just had to get on to the grass and stop instantly. That was terrible -- I tried restarting, but could barely jog back to finish the last 100m. Talked to Tony, who said that I should go slow but still do the laps. Thanks to him, I did do so while taking much shorter steps. So, the 11th lap was done at a crawling speed of 115 seconds. I guess because this was so slow, I was feeling really good in the last lap, but my stupid hamstring was not letting me go fast. I finished the last lap in 105 seconds; while I should have done that in 95 seconds.

Dear readers, make no mistake. I am not a speed buff. The numbers above are not meant to take the enjoyment out of running. In fact, the track workout is my favorite workout. It allows me to push hard. I just hope now that the hamstring gets back to normal soon!

May 27, 7 mile long run, Los Gatos Creek Trail

This was the first run of the year that I can call "long". I am glad that it went quite well for me. I did the right pacing, found Chakri to run along with me, and recovered remarkably easily (did not even feel like sleeping that afternoon -- a PR for me :-).

Clearly, the trick was to do the right level of pacing. Because when Chakri and I decided to let it loose in the last half a mile, I did feel the fatigue upon me. So, clearly the fatigue was there, it was just kept in control by pacing.

These were my mile splits: 11:25, 11:22, 11:12, 9:51, 9:50, 8:57, 8:10

I did feel side stitches after my first (and only) water break just before the end of mile#3. They were not that severe, and the fact that I was running slow helped me get over them. But, something for me to watch out for in the future long runs.