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I am not this fast … yet.
Way back in 1995 in the one year I ran outdoor track, I learned that every workout that I did was designed to make me a better runner. “Better” also meant faster even if it was slow by track standards. I learned then to focus on me and how I was getting better.
My best mile time then was 5:45, good enough for next to last place at one track meet and to get enough points in whatever system we had to earn a letter for an awesome letterman’s jacket. I was so happy with that time though, getting there with a couple of months of training. I even dug up an old high school memory book today to remember the moment …
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Several years ago I was part of a speed and endurance group that helped me re-learn some of the things I did in the mid-1990s. I dug up an old post from 2007 to remind myself of the things I can do. (400 meter times in the range of 1:30 and 800s in the 3:30 range …)
Once again I’m back to that state of re-learning what I need to do to be a better runner and get faster.
In the first half of my blogging-about-running life, I wrote a lot about my times and my progress. Somewhere along the way I stopped doing that — perhaps it’s because I got a little bored with detailing every move I made. I realize now, though, that documenting things that no one else really cared about was all a part of me being a better runner.
I’m not promising that I’ll blog about every run, but I have a feeling that I will soon post more about certain workouts more than I have in the past couple of years. Today is the start of that as I continue my week of making a pledge to myself every day. And if you couldn’t tell, my pledge today is doing more speed workouts.
Doing speedwork at least once a week shouldn’t be a problem, but after about 6 months of running mostly one pace, my approach feels completely new. Digging up my memories reminds me that I’ve lost a tremendous amount of focus and passion for running in recent years.
Today I kept my speed workout as simple as possible: a handful of quarter-mile intervals (1:50, 1:53, 1:54, 1:54) and a handful of untimed mailbox-to-mailbox fartleks. I kept thinking that it didn’t feel all that long ago that I was doing intervals like that at least 5 seconds faster, but that will come in due time.
There are so many speed workouts to choose from, and many that can help measure my success. Starting this in the fall is exactly what I need to do to hone in on that goal of sub 1:40 at the Shamrock Half in March.
Focus, focus, focus. I have a long way to get there, but the right amount of time to do it right.
If you missed what this is all about, click here!
Real David H. 
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