May Deets/An Actual Race?

264 miles this month with around 18,000 ft. of gain.

That’s my second biggest month in the last five years. I’ve run some strong workouts, but I’m doing mostly threshold sessions and easy days, with a tiny bit of speed, so it’s hard to read too much into what I’m doing right now. I can do 10 800s in 2:55 on 1-minute rest and I tend to touch at lactate threshold right at the end of that workout. Toss in a few 100s or 200s at the end, and that’s my go-to training right now. The other standard workout is 7 x 1 mile on 1’ rest at subtempo, so around 6:10 pace, if I’m on the track. Most of the time I do the latter workout off the track, so I do it be HR or just by feel. 

I’ve built up to 65 mpw, and assuming I have the time and don’t get hurt, I’m going to park it there other than race weeks.  

Speaking of which, I just signed up for the Vail Hill Climb. 7.7 miles, 2200 ft of vert. Seems like a low-pressure way to revisit the racing scene. Have really no idea what to expect in terms of time or competition. I mean, it should take an hour or so, so hopefully I won’t blow up like I did at Pikes a couple of years back. 

The track season ended well. Our top boy went 4:32 in the 1600 and 9:46 in the 3200 at state. He’s a sophomore, so he’ll have chances to improve on those times the next two years. Our top girl went 4:59 for 1600 and 11:08 for 3200, good enough for 3rd and 2nd, respectively, in our classification. She now owns the school records for both distances.

I’ve only been involved in high school track for the last four years, but the improvement in times and performances is stunning. I’m pretty sure only two girls broke 5 in the 1600 in the 90s in Colorado (Melody Fairchild and Rebekah McDowell), and those girls were all-time legends. This year alone I think 15 girls ran under 5. In 5A, the time that would place you dead last at state now would have been good enough to win state many years in the 90s and early 2000s. On the guys’ side, sub-4:20 used to be reserved for Adam Goucher and a handful of others when I was in high school. Rich Martinez held the 1600 record at 4:10.98 for 40 years. Now, two dozen boys run sub-4:20 every year at state. It’s just a different universe of competition.