Marathon Training - My 1st Track Workout

I was nervous before yesterday's workout. I have NEVER done a real track workout before. But my running coaches (Sarah and Joanna - yes a 1 month old is keeping me in check) had set up a plan for me and I needed to stick with it. What was even better was that there is a track right across the street from Sarah's house so I could have my coaches right in front of me - helping me along the way!

How can I not give it 100% with this lady cheering me on!

So we hit the track and it was go time - Sarah had her stopwatch and everything! ;)

We started off with 2 laps (800m) warmup jog and followed it up with a 100m sprint.

Once we finished that we headed to the shade and did some good stretching.

Then it was GO time.

Thankfully Sarah actually ran on our college track team so I knew to listen to all of her advice. The goal of the 5x800 workout was to stick with a certain pace the whole time. So after chatting with Sarah, the goal was to finish each 800m in about 4 minutes.

And of course I started out too fast. Oops! I finished the first 400 in 1:33 where I was really looking for a 1:52-ish time. So I slowed down the second lap and posted an overall 3:40ish for the first 800, which was pretty decent.

Following the first 800m, I was instructed to walk around the track once (400m) pushing the sweet lil baby Joanna to keep the muscles loose. I love doing what I am told.

PLUS let me tell you that adds some weight and difficulty to the walk ... which I welcomed. :)

As I continued the 800m intervals, I got more in tune with my pace and what a 1:50ish 400m felt like, which really made me feel good. I felt like I was becoming a stronger person and runner.

I was able to average between 3:40-3:50 for the remaining 4 800m loops and it felt awesome ... even with the pounding heat!

After the final 400m walk with Joanna, we did one final cool down 400m jog and hit the shade for some stretching.

The running coach seemed to approve my performance during my first track workout - PHEW! She is a tough coach that I don't want to let down. ;)

I owed her for coming up with a great workout so we had some chill time after ... with food of course!

But overall, I loved the change in my routine. It mixed up my normal long runs and I felt like I got a lot out of the time on the track. NOW I know what all those elite fancy runners are talking about when they go on and on about their track workouts. Granted I have only been through one so far ... but I survived ... I thrived ... and I will go back for more! :)