iTrack

One day I will break 19:00 in a 5k, but clearly I wasn't gonna do it yesterday. At lunch, I went for an iTrack session, with my mp3 player as the timer*. For those new to iTrack, here's a guided tour: You start a song when you start an interval, and then when you cross the finish, you look down at the mp3 player to see what time your song is at. If your interval takes longer than one song, you may have to check the mp3 player when the first song ends too and add the time to the finish time. (Unless you like math, don't attempt the iTempo.)

So, back to my workout, I planned on 5 x 800s at 6 minute mile pace, which is just a tad faster than a 19 minute 5K pace. It was 90 degrees out, so I thought the short intervals make more sense than mile repeats. I ran the first 800 at 2:55. My face was flushed and on fire, my legs stiff, my lungs couldn't find air, and one minute rest was not enough. I tried to slow down for the second one, but after one lap in which I came in 1:30, I stopped. From then on, it was 400s at 1:30 with 30 second rest. I was still burning out there, but managed to do 8 x400s under 1:30. Then, an 800 at 3:20 that was meant to be a warm-down. When I was done, sweat was running off by body with every step. I felt accomplished, but I had to ask myself, "what was the point of all that?" Great, I just proved that I couldn't run a mile at my desired 5K pace.

Tonight, I am going for a real run in the Wissahickon, and it will be a run to enjoy.