I wonder if that was worth it

That was a terrible run. Tonight was my first long interval workout – 2 x 1600m with 400m recovery intervals. I had been really looking forward to it but when I got home tonight the combination of work stress, darkness and laziness completely sapped my motivation.

Along with that my back was feeling tight, my legs tired, and I was (and still am) worried about some moderately serious joint pain in my right shoulder. Combine all this with the fact that I had no idea (or more likely a very distorted and ego-driven idea) of what pace to run for an interval that long and it was really a recipe for disaster.

Evidence of disaster:

That’s right: my two 1600m intervals combined were SLOWER than my diagnostic PT test. I felt miserable for most of the run and didn’t settle into a groove until I was into the second work interval.

And then after I stretched I forgot to knock out my sit-ups while I was in the fitness center and couldn’t motivate myself enough to go back down and do them right. Instead I just hooked my feet under the couch and 3/4-assed them.

Lessons learned:

  1. When my body – especially my lower back or legs – feels tight I need to do a longer warm up, probably one that includes some strides.
  2. I need to practice “getting my mind right” before I get out the door. When I was just exercising, getting out the door and sweating for 30-minutes was enough; it didn’t matter whether it was a “good” session or not. Now I’m training for a specific goal and I have to make every workout count.
  3. I need to prioritize my CPFT training more heavily and redesign and reschedule my other workout sessions to ensure that neither they nor their after effects impact my CPFT training.

I’ll be thinking on these topics over the next few days and I’ll share what solutions and ideas I come up with. If anyone has suggestions feel free.