RUNNING AS FAST AS I CAN

I haven't been running fast. In perfect conditions last week I did a 5 mile race in 36:22. Not terrible but, alas, not particularly good...about 90 seconds off my best. Recent workouts, speed and otherwise, seem also to indicate that this is about where I am.

Am I just slow to recover my aerobic capacity after the loss of 2 training weeks to that awful injury in June? Or is it something else, something I can't overcome?

I bought a new sports watch recently that claims to measure aerobic capacity. It computes VO2 Max (a measurement of the amount of oxygen the body can take in and process) by examining resting heart rate and how it fluctuates over several minutes of inactivity. My score was 53...elite level in my age group and for several age groups below mine. I'm in the good category even among 20 to 25 year olds, people 35 years my junior. Pretty impressive, right?

So why do my running times suck???

So this morning I went out to run as fast as I could. Mile intervals on a flat course. Three of them with 4 minute recoveries in between. It's a workout I've done many times over the years...most recently just 18 days ago. The distance is a good one, I think, to measure endurance as well as speed. More so, say, than the shorter interval workouts of 400 and 800 meters.

Oh, by the way, the weather was bad...warmish and quite humid. I'm setting up my excuses...I know, not very promising forshadowing!! Please read on anyway.

After a 2 mile warmup and some stretching, off I went! I wanted to be agressive, definitely faster than tempo pace, without so burning myself out on the first mile that I'd suffer through the rest of the workout at ever decreasing speed...or even not be able to finish all 3 intervals, which has happened before. On the other hand, I didn't want to be too slow...say anything at 7 minutes per mile or above. Plagued by these tardy fears, I went out hard...harder than I should have, I thought, as I passed the half mile mark around Canal Street. My breathing was increasingly uncomfortable as I pushed on and I wondered if I could maintain the pace. Then I wondered if I even wanted to...this was getting just too uncomfortable and there was still 2 more hard miles after this one. Up ahead I saw the batting cage which was the tenth of a mile to go point. I told myself to just stay fast to there. And when I got there, instead of coasting in, I pushed myself to the end.

Never mind my VO2 Max, I could not take in enough oxygen as I walked to recover. However, my time was 6:32 for the mile and I was delighted. I hadn't seen a time like that in 16 months!! This was great! It is SO wonderful to see numbers like that on MY watch!!!

And yet, it is not enough. The workout is Mile X 3. There were still 2 more to be run. While it's very important to know that I can still do even a single mile at this pace, my ability to maintain it (or relatively close to it) would indicate my endurance. And that's what leads to good race times.

Two years ago, on a flat New Jersey course with perfect weather conditions, I ran my best 5K ever...perhaps my best race. The first mile was 6:24, 8 seconds faster than today. I slowed over the remaining 2.1 miles of the race, but not too badly (15 seconds on mile 2 and 18 more for the third mile) and so my endurance was good enough to get me home in first place (by alot!) in my age group and in a time far better than anything I'd run before.

So what would today bring?

After a 4 minute walking recovery I set off again. It was not pretty! I was drenched with sweat and feeling kind of loopy. I'd speed up, become extremely uncomfortable and then slow to regain my breath. I wondered if I would even complete this second mile. Maybe I should stop at the half mile mark? I'd do a couple of half mile intervals and that would make for a good workout. I got to the half mile mark and pushed on. When I passed .6 miles I figured I'd finish. But I felt myself slowing and that couldn't be good. Then my legs, without direction from my brain, seemed to pick it up by themselves and get me to the end.

6:44. Twelve seconds slower. Too many seconds slower. It showed that I'd run the first mile too fast. But I ALWAYS do that, frankly, and 12 seconds slower was, actually, better than I thought I'd do. OK, not bad.

As I walked slowly to recover, I felt BEAT!!! So tired, so weary, so fatigued and so not wanting to deal with another mile of increasing discomfort and pain. Truly, I didn't see how I could push myself to run another full mile. But I wanted it to be a good workout. Certainly that would mean completing the distance. I told myself that's all I had to do...just run that final mile no matter what the time. Okay, fine, time pressure's off. But then I thought about what I would consider a good average time for the workout. Averaging under 7:00 of course was minimum acceptable. Under 6:50 would be good. But what would get me in under 6:50? My oxygen depleted brain had already forgotten my first mile time. I thought it was about the same as mile 2, 6:45. Hmmm, not much breathing room to get an under 6:50 average finish. I'd need about 7:00 or better. I didn't think I could do that.

I began the third and final interval telling myself to just run a decent pace...and by that I meant don't slow to a jog! Don't let the other runners there who were not doing speed work fly by me...or get by me at all!! No one was passing me but still it felt like I was slogging along. I wanted to stay below my pain threshold, at least for a good part of the mile, but that wasn't working out too well. At .3 mile I told myself that was respectable...a mile, another mile and then 3 tenths of one. Stop here and go home. But I was playing tricks with myself. By the time I'd finished that thought I was already approaching the tennis courts which would take me to .4 mile. And then to the half way point at Canal Street. And then .6 at Watts Street. And then....

Tricks could only help so much. There was not enough oxygen in the humidity filled air (see, I made it back to my opening excuse). I was slowing badly. There were 2 women joggers ahead of me and I couldn't gain on them. And then I went passed them...oh, I did? Well, my brain is addled. But I was definitely slowing. This was toooo uncomfortable. But there was the batting cage again and there were my legs picking up the pace. What were they even thinking??

And then it was over. 7:03. Nothing to brag about. And on top of that my new sports watch was sending off weird heart rate numbers. Up at 188, about 15% beyond my maximum. But then, when I stopped at the water fountain or at a red light as I was about to cross the highway to leave Henry Hudson Park my heart rate dropped to where it should be, just over 120. Damn this new transmitter! They short out so quickly because it's impossible (at least I find it so) to get them dry after I've washed them off following a run. Damn!!!

At home I was pleasantly surprised to rediscover how quick I'd been on mile 1 and to find that I'd averaged 6:46. This is a respectable place for me. Off my fastest but not bad. Ten seconds per mile faster than just 2 weeks ago, though that took place on a hilly course. If I stay healthy and consistant with my training and if the weather improves there's no doubt that I will be faster. Actually, there's always doubt. Maybe I won't be faster. Maybe today was the absolute best I could do (doubtful, if only because I'm SURE that at least the weather will be better at some point). Still, today I ran as fast as I could and these miles make me hopeful.

I'll just have to find out about the future...later!