55.97
Disappointing compared to last year's PR on this track. Again the difference I think was more in execution than fitness.
400m race
I had inside lane which meant I ran behind three evenly matched 51-52 guys. I found it a bit hard to maintain my race plan with the 3 guys in a pack 10-15m ahead on the back stretch at the 250m mark. As a result, I rigged a bit at the end. I was nervous before the race, thinking I might perform badly. Not feeling real confident. But my time was still the the fastest M55 indoor 400m in the World almost 2 yrs, it was my 5th fastest indoor 400m. 55.97 is psychologically better than 56+. Felt pretty drained afterward.
One thing I haven't done enough of are 300m event runs. I can only do about 3 of them in a workout at race pace and they are hard on my foot if I do them in spikes. Before the World meet, I had my pace down so I knew exactly how to hit that 300m mark at target ~ 40 sec.
I hung out with Greg a bit after our race, a freshman walk-on from MTSU - he ran a season best 51.64.
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| With Greg after our race - go MTSU |
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| Lagging behind the pack at the 230m mark |
Anyway, I have 3 weeks before Nationals, Millrose next Saturday, and then 2 weeks to get ready. No major injuries or physical issues. This week looks bad for weather on Monday so I'll probably do weights and suffer through some rowing. In some ways, hard rowing is as hard as track intervals if done with strong effort. It gets the glutes. There might be a break in the rain to train Tues, but I could just train Wed and Friday. Normally don't train the day before a meet but for a relay (that we have no chance to win), I think I'll just look at it as an event run. We will definitely get our splits timed. If I had to do it over, I would not go to Millrose, but like Penn Relays, good to do once.
It doesn't matter the (major) aerobic sport - cycling, running, rowing, XC skiing, swimming, when taking to the maximum, they are all equally demanding and provide similar system response. The difference is in specificity...obviously, if you stopped running for a year and only rowed you would be significantly slower in a 400 meter, but could actually be fitter as the more distributed load should allow a higher training volume. So the key is to incorporate it the right way as a cross training vehicle.
ReplyDeleteI wish I could run, but several years ago when I just jogged two and a half miles I got such a terrible cramp in my side that I figured perhaps running wasn't for me. Walking and sitting is more for me, although I do like speed walking.
ReplyDeleteI'm a Buddhist. If you'd like to visit my blog as well, just click my name on this comment of mine and it will take you there. Maybe I'll see you there.