Cruisin'

So, according to McMillan what I have started to do the past few Wednesday mornings are called "cruise intervals" (the definition is about halfway down the page if you follow the link). Not as fast as true speed intervals, but definitely out of the old comfort zone. I feel this is a good start for me because it reduces my risk of injury while allowing me to train my body to handle a bit faster pace.

This morning was a good cruise interval session, and perhaps it got a bit faster than it should have. Everything started off nicely and then just kept getting faster as I went along despite very humid conditions. I added an extra 800m to this session from the one I did last week and here is how things went down:

400m 1:45 (4:26/km)
400m recovery 2:42
800m 3:24 (4:15/km)
400m recovery 2:40
800m 3:20 (4:09/km)
400m recovery 2:37
800m 3:17 (4:05/km)
400m recovery 2:45
800m 3:10 (3:58/km)
400m recovery 2:51
400m 1:34 (3:55/km)

It is clear that I am still not taking enough time between sets (but I am OK with that as long as I can complete the last rep at the same pace as the first one, or faster) and that I am enjoying pushing the pace a little bit as the workout comes closer to the end. Working out at the track really appeals to me since it speaks to my swimmer's brain, which has been programmed to keep track of precise measurements and intervals or splits for many many years. Sure it hurts a bit, but I like that kind of pain. Sure I get hot and sweaty, but that it the only way one can improve. I will keep doing these cruise intervals every week until a couple of weeks before the marathon and see if I can get up to a real Yasso 800 session of ten 800s. I'm up to four right now, so things are going well!

Today's total run was 12km. That is all.