Legs writing a check that lungs won't cash

Today's Cowtown Marathon schedule (OK, Cowtown doesn't officially have a schedule, so I'm making one up) called for a 10-mile run at my easy pace. But I was feeling kinda frisky (not in that way!), and wanted something a little more livelier this morning.

 

This means 1,000-meter intervals. Jack Daniels (the book, not the drink) says a person with my 5k speed (19:15) should do 1,000-meter intervals in 3:50 to 3:52. I put on my Sugoi tights, gloves, and my new Brooks Adrenalines (GTS9) and headed out the door in the 31-degree morning.

 

I drove from my apartment near the Fort Worth Zoo to the Panera Bread/Hoffbrau restaurant on University and did a 2.5-mile warm up, taking it easy as I ran around Colonial Country Club through the Tanglewood neighborhood to Overton Park, which is across the street from Tanglewood Elementary. (Mommies dropping off their kids for school must have wondered, "Why is there a strange black man running up and down the street?) 

I figured out how to make my Garmin reset itself for intervals, so when I was ready, I just hit the "Lap" button and took off. I had planned to only take 2-minute jogging breaks between each interval (The last time I did these, wayyyyyyy back in October, I took 3:00 jogging breaks)

 

1st 1,000m interval: 3:53 (Legs didnt feel like they had completely warmed up)

2nd: 3:52

3rd: 3:50

4th: 3:50

 

Glad I was able to recover quickly enough in the two-minute cool downs to be able to do each interval at pretty much the same speed. At the end of the fourth interval, I was pretty much ready to get back in my car and drive home. My lungs were burning. Alas, my car was parked 2.5 miles from the start of my intervals, so I slogged it back and got ready for work.

 

I looked at my Garmin readout after the workout and noticed that I only spent about 9 minutes with my heart rate above 88 percent max. And my heart rate never got above 95 percent max, which is what you want for these workouts. Its tooooo hard make my heart beat that fast unless I'm at the end of a race. But maybe, maybe, if the intervals lasted a little longer, say, like 1,200 meters, I'd achieve my goal of having my heart rate in that optimal zone for at least 12 minutes.

 

Anyway, I'm chalking this up to a good workout and I didnt get injured.