All work and no run makes me a slow, slow boy!
Work has been hectic. I like my work, but I don’t like dropping runs and not getting enough sleep. I do have to admit, though, that my legs did need a rest. My V02 max workouts were not going well – I’m pretty sure that’s an early sign of overtraining. Actually, I was chatting with the condo’s property manager – a good guy who used to be a national coach with Canoe-Kayak Canada and who has coached many athletes to medals at the World Championships and Olympics – and we had a great exchange over email about training. I told him my legs were tired from all the miles, and he emailed back a nugget of wisdom: “An undertrained athlete can always perform, an overtrained one, not so much.” Solid wisdom – it made it easier to miss a few runs.
So... the race season begins! The 2011 Credit Union Atlantic Lung Run goes down this Saturday. To be perfectly honest, I don’t think it’s going to go all that well for me. Not only have I been slow in training, but it’s always windy for this race – I mean, it’s April in Nova Scotia and the course is right next to the harbour, so wind is just part of it. There’s no deity I can burn sacrifices to that will calm a windy ocean. No biggie. The times will be a bit slow, but the point of this race, in the end, is to raise money for the Lung Association. And I’m very happy to report that my super generous friends and family have donated a total of $450 to the cause. Thank you so much everybody!!
Last night’s track workout was a mixed session: 2x1k @ threshold (3:35/k); 4 x 200m relaxed but quick (34-36s); 2x1mile crescendo runs. A crescendo run starts easy and then gets progressively quicker until the last lap, which is at 5k pace – so our laps looked like this on the second one: 90-85-80-78. 80s per lap is my (hugely) optimistic goal. The session was fairly light, and it felt good. Now, to get ready for the race, it was 35min recovery today – just a warm up, some strides, and a cool down tomorrow – then Sat is the race. I just need to wrap my head around doing a race and see how it goes.
