Speed Work #3

I wasn’t confident when I arrived at the gym about completing the speed session. I was feeling tired, and the thought of having to do a total of eight miles, four of which with speed, was intimidating. I wasn’t sure if I would be able to handle it, but I’m happy to say I did … well … sort of. The treadmill has a maximum time allowance of one hour, so I had to cut my last recovery jog and cool down distance by half each.


I knew I was going for it less than one minute into the first speed set. I saw that my heart rate was only at 83% and climbing slowly, and I didn’t feel as fatigued as I thought I would. Not to mention, the speed work was only one mile at a time, so thinking that I had less than four laps around a track remaining basically immediately after I started each set was a huge help. The mental wall showed up between a half and a third of a mile remaining per set, but it would slowly crumble after closing in on the quarter mile mark.

I didn’t feel sick or anything, but that hole in my mid section came back. This time, it felt like there was a thin layer of Elmer’s glue trying to cover up the missing chunk. So needless to say ... I didn't exactly show up for Power after the speed session - I went straight to the locker room before heading home.