Training on Track

Track Meet at Free State High

It has been a grand week for running. I haven't logged crazy miles, but everything I have done has been quality.  I got in about 10 miles on the levee on Sunday. I hadn't done a decent length flat run since my hamstring injury on the rails to trails ultra-marathon course last year. Honestly, it felt good. The levee is a test of will for me (as well as many other runners I know). It stretches for miles and you can see far enough into the distance that you feel as if you aren't going anywhere. Couple that perception with the very real constant winds that blow across the route, and you have a recipe for despair.

For me though, over the years I've come to embrace the experience. I only run the levee when the river trails are too muddy or icy to tackle. But on the rare occasions that I find myself with fields on one side and the forest on the other, I try to enjoy the challenges the run presents. Sometimes I'll try to crush the distance between the markers every half mile.  Other times I'll see how much of the run I can spend in the zone - spacing off the run and my surroundings. I usually have a combination of these experiences. And Sunday was no different. I only had a couple of relatively unpleasant miles fighting wind gusts of up to 30 mph. For that short period, I stopped thinking about speed and just popped small steps at the same rate I'd been doing my longer strides.  I let my mind go, and thought about a book I'd been reading, and then Season 1 of American Horror Story (for some reason).  The process worked well, and soon enough I was perpendicular to the wind again.  I finished feeling good. 

The other 2 runs so far this week have been road runs (as I wait for trails to dry). 2 x 10Ks. Both have been fantastic for speed and form. The weather has played a large role with temps in the 50s in the a.m.

The picture above is from a track meet yesterday at Free State High (in case you didn't read the exact same caption above;-). I saw some great races.  In the 4x100, both boys and girls teams from Shawnee Mission West (I believe) were crushing the competition until baton drops peed on their parade. It's too bad. But that is why the races are run. It isn't the fastest team, but the team that is able to move the baton around the track in the quickest manner. It is interesting how different those events are from other races - where the fastest runner is the winner.  The 4 x whatever distance races really reward teamwork and efficiency as much as speed.

I stayed for the triple jump as well as a couple of the longer races. All events were relatively competitive except for the boys 1600 m, where a runner from East led from start to finish. The gutsiest run of the evening also occurred in that race, when a runner in sixth or seventh position absolutely went all out to pass another competitor at the end and then stumbled and crashed out just past the finish line after gaining the position. I was really impressed with the effort and heart he showed.

Tomorrow and Friday I will have short runs in the morning because I plan to go long on the weekend. Thursday afternoon will also have a trail ride on the Rock Hopper. It's not only running that I have to skip when the trails are muddy.

Hast a pronto.