Tuesday, December 16, 2008

800 Meter Repeats

Yup, you read that right.

Actually, I was supposed to already have a couple workouts under my belt, but due to a number of circumstances, read avoiding it, they hadn't happened yet. Today, was the day.

I avoided the track, so they didn't feel too real. Instead, I went to the bike path, which has markers every quarter mile. Well, almost. The 1.25 and 1.75 markers are worn away. And, I only spotted the 1.5 marker because I remembered that it was near a particularly white birch tree. Anywho, plan was 2-mile warm up, 4x800 with a quarter mile in between, 2-mile warm down. I based my pace off the of the McMillian Running Calculator. (Incidentally, I think McMillian might be full of crap based on some of my recent results...really, I can run a 3:13 marathon, right now? But, anyway, it's a guideline.)

Felt good, so I added another repeat. (Scary, huh?)
3:05, 3:11 (This one was long...missing 1.75 marker), 3:05, 3:00, 2:51 (ouch)

So, like I said, I planned on running a two-mile warm down, but I'm an idiot. My last repeat finished at the .5 marker, and I couldn't figure out the math to run two miles from there and finish back at zero. (The answer is run to the 1.25 marker and turn around.) So, I ended up running 3 miles. I'm an idiot. Math while oxygen deprived is not my strong suit.

2 comments:

middle.professor said...

The key is to do 800M repeats at back cove, pass Ian running the opposite way, convince yourself that three is enough, turn around, and run at a relaxed pace with Ian. McMillan is the man; if I had a dollar for every hour I've spent looking at those tables! -Jeff

sn0m8n said...

The only other people I saw during my repeats were walkers. Two had dogs. Both of those dogs tried to eat me.

I knew the McMillan comment would get a rise out of you! I guarantee that he's much smarter than I am, but he and I just aren't seeing eye to eye right now. Based on my MDI marathon time, I should run 37:55 for 5 miles. Based on my recent 5-mile time, the marathon would be 3:13. So, I'm way off. We'll see how he does in February.