200m-February

[Sandy]

Anyone?

[Jon]

I was actually wondering about this.  Did anyone do the 100m in January?  It doesn't seem right doing them on the TM, but I didn't make it to the track in January.  I will do both 100 & 200 in Feb though.  I thinks its a tough crowd to get doing sprints...I get the feeling most people on the board would rather run long and easy than do a sprint.  100m hardly seems "worth it", but the truth is, sprints hurt, and at least for me, it will probably greatly expose a lack of speed  and make me want to 

Cheers.

[Sandy]

True enough but it's time for those who like to run long to step out of their box.....it's ONE repeat and can be done as part of a longer run.   

[Kate]

Hummm ... my daughter's specialty yet here I am trying to transform her into a long distance runner (which she is accomplishing quite well).

On the short and fast note though, maybe if the MA Sills track is clear, she'd be keen to race me!

[Janet]

Wow, the coach has spoken (or should I say demanded  ) 100m and 200m coming up! Out of my way box!

[Sandy]

Remember it's not about the speed, it's about the experience.

[Kate]

Hmmmmm ... Wonder how my daughter would feel if I beat her in the 100m.  She juggles 1st/2nd place for her age group in regionals.
Now THERE's a challenge .. for me!!

[steph r]

I stepped out of my box today and completed the Jan & Feb challenge at MAS track!! Fun...NO but successful...YES!! My head knows the benefits of speed work and those extra pounds that keep creeping back on should be motivation enough but track work is hard stuff. I might need someone to chase me for the March & April challenge!!

IF I figured out the track markings properly these are my results:

100m 24:45sec
200m 54:12sec

Hopefully this will motivate me to keep challenging myself.

Steph

[The Moose1]

Well, no 100 in January, no 200 in Feb., but I did do a 300 in March.  49:45.  What an odd distance.  I should have taken my 100 and 200m splits from this run, after 100 I was sure my shoes would catch fire, and at the 200m mark I thought "lightning bolt, just try and catch me."  But then things started to change, at the 250m mark my vision started to blur.  I thought it was because of the speed, but it was the tears.  It seems the Mary Anne Sills track is capable of tilting itself so that you can run hills on it.  As I rounded the last corner I could have sworn I was running straight up a wall.  The colors in front of my eyes were dazzling, and when I regained conciousness I saw the sun had nearly set.

Hope the 400 is easier.

Mike

[The Moose1]

So, I thought I'd try something new during track night, and we did 5 sets of 5, 100m repeats.  Not full tilt, but quick.  Idea is to start at 5k race pace and speed up from set to set.  A Garmin is not ideal for this kind of timekeeping (no fractions of a second.)

Before I tell you the quickest time, a little background.

3 weeks before Boston, I thought I'd give this challenge a little thought.  Surely I could throw a 100 or 200 on the end of an 8 or 10k easy run, and not hurt myself too badly....So, I did all the Garmin magic, and set my Auto Lap to 100m, leaned forward and...gradually accelerated to sprinting speed.  Now everyone knows I'm too old to qualify for the Olympics at this distance, and that I'm too short, and I didn't have my gold spikes, and there was a terrible headwind that you could nearly feel, even when standing still.  So when the buzzer went off at 100m, I stopped the watch.  I did a few quick calculations, and determined that if Usain Bolt, rounded his Olympic time up to the nearest whole second, and he gave me a 50m head start, I might be less than 5m behind when he crossed the line.  Disappointing, but not unexpected (especially considering the long list of excuses I alluded to earlier.)

Back to last night.  This was the 4 time since Boston that I've practiced short distance running on track night, and I'm pleased to present (drum roll please) my 15 second 100m time (rounded to the nearest second, by the watch, so I have no idea weather its a 14.51 or a 15.49, but I'm gonna argue that its the former.)   Oh, and that was on the grass, so you could probably take about 5 seconds off that for the increased drag etc. 

Mike

[Kate]

I have been doing some reading regarding marathon training and it keeps mentioning "track night". 
I wasn't sure I liked the idea and that was BEFORE I read your note Mike!

[The Moose1]

Nah, it's fun...no, really.  I mean, sure, there's a certain amount of suffering in the last few repeats, but it's not as bad as a 32k long run in an ice storm.

Mike

[Sandy]

I disagree.  I's rather run 32k in an ice storm then suffer going around and around the track. 

[The Moose1]

If you wanna go fast...you have to practice going fast.

Mike

[Sandy]

But you don't have to practice going fast around and around in a circle.  That's what TM were invented for.  Nothing keeps you honest like a belt driven speed!