I have to commend the Fleet Feet training program for not only getting me running, but for pulling me out of bed at 6 a.m. on Sundays. Trust me, it's no small feat.
But I would take a long run anyday over the Wednesday night speed workouts. They really tinge on evil. A speed workout is essentially training your body to run faster. You repeatedly push your body for short increments and after awhile, that speed is supposed to feel more natural or something.
Every week the speed workout varies. At the beginning, there were shorter total distances. Perhaps it would be four miles consisting of a mile warm-up and a mile cool-down, sandwiching two miles of two minutes running above threshold and two minutes running below threshold. Basically, that means spending two minutes pushing it, two minutes pulling back, over and over for two miles.
Last night we did seven miles, five of which where the actual speed workout. I ran in a column of five people. Talk about not being able to slack, you had to keep up or be eaten by a coyote likely stalking us from somewhere along the American River Parkway.
The leader would sprint for a minute, then slow to somewhere between a jog and a run for a minute, then fall to the back of the line. Over and over. It was sort of like eating over-cooked brussel sprouts. It doesn't taste so good but is still supposedly good for you.
By the way, I look nothing like either woman in the photo above.
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