Back to the Track

Ran some speedwork last Saturday morning on the Ashley High School track. Arrived earlier in the day, a little after eight a.m.in order to perhaps beat some of the heat. Was pretty hot though even at that hour, but I wasnt going to let that or much else deter me from the work-out I had planned. I have done some intervals/ speed sessions at the Carolina Beach Lake, but running on the hard asphalt path that encircles the lake as well as periodically dodging people, dogs, and ducks is not the most conducive environment for such activity.



So I tossed my backpack over the chain linked fence, climbed on up and hopped over it, and felt like I was returning to a paradise lost from a previous lifetime. I have run a few laps on the UNCW track in the middle of some random runs, but hadn't done any kind of speedwork. There's just something magical to me about the sight and smell of 400 meters of the hard rubbery all-weather surface laid out in a perfect oval... with a smooth bed of green grass in the middle... and metal bleachers on the sides of each straight-away. The scoreboard down at one end of the infield with the Coca- Cola sign, the lane markings, the start lines for different distances/ races painted on the track.



The 'ol yellow summer-time sun beat down from above as I started the work-out by doing about a mile and a half warm-up/ easy jog (6 laps) around the track...to loosen the muscles, as well as wake up the mind and spirt... acclimate my entire self to the stately surroundings. Afterwhich some light stretching, more water, take the t-shirt off and hang it on the fence in front of the bleachers... and a slow reverential walk to a triangular marking near the approach to turn 1 that I will use as my start and finish point each successive repitition.



A deep breath and a calm thought and I'm off. It feels good to be off and moving at a more rapid speed on the track, to feel the bounce of my feet/ shoes on the hard rubbery surface... but I exercise purdent caution on the first rep. and glide thru the finish in 1:33 not that winded at all, and ease down into the one lap jog I will do in between each fast 400m rep. I then stop for a few moments back at the start/ finish point to allow my pulse rate to lower closer to a normal resting beat... reset the stopwatch... and then I'm off again.



The next rep. I knock out in @ 1:26, then bring the third one down to 1:18 as I start to get accustomed again to the pacing I want to run and the effort or exertion needed to hit or run certain times per lap or per 400 meters. I want most of them to be hard, say 85- 90% effort... but not all-out... as the reps and the work load increases, it will take more effort to run the same distance in the same time... or if I choose, slightly faster then the previous lap.



By now I am getting it dialed in... and on the next few laps I let it fly a little more each time. As I run the back strecth I can feel the lactic acid in the legs increase... feel the cool burn... I must concentrate a little more on holding my form... especially as I run turns three and four and then on down the final front stretch.



Seven reps down and I want to finish the last, the eighth one on a high and really open it up... say 95% effort or so. There's an art to running 400 meters... as a distance its close to an extended sprint, but not all-out.. at least not in the first say 150-250 meters. One must save some "gas in the tank" for that last 50- 75 meters or so of maddening straight away.



I'm off and into turns one and two running strong, posied, confident...controlling the pace and holding back just a bit... then onto the back stretch... by now the long straight-away has increased I would swear by another 20 or 30 meters... pounding, striding... holding my form... ignoring or pushing through the discomforts of the body... ignoring the flash bulb thoughts-- slow down, stop, ease up... finally into turn three... drink Coca Cola yes yes... turn 4- where are you turn 4? ... quick, rapid breaths, starting to lose some feeling in the legs... then off turn 4 to the front stretch... mentally ticking off the numbers painted on the lanes of the track one two three... can't see don't look up at the other lanes for the rest of 'em...glance up look straight ahead dig in hold form breathe...like led zeppelin sang 'where is that confounded bridge?'... 25 20 15 10 5 meters my precious lovely little traingle I see it!... and its over I'm done look at the watch... 1:10- whew, not bad...as I gasp for breath, barely able to move... shuffling forward hands on my hips upper body nearly doubled over.. til I can regain a semblance of normal movement and slowly ease into a jog like trot on the back stretch.



Cool down with another mile and a half slow jog on the track and call it a day, pleased with the results... and if perchance you saw me walking back out to my car you would have caught a sly little grin on my face, like a grown kid rediscovering the feeling of Christmas mornings long since past... but certainly not forgotten.