So, after Nationals I returned to a week of Camp Gladiator Functional training (carrying odd shaped items; duck walks; etc) followed by the two toughest weeks of the four week Camp Gladiator "camp". Five days of High Intensity Interval training then five of Metabolic Conditioning. The MetCon week was a killer. One day consisted of a fitness test It began with a lap around part of the parking lot, maybe 300m? (you would think I might be ready for this, but no, huff and puffed around.) Then, right into four different exercises such as 50 squats, 50 pushups, 50 this and 50 that. Then, back around the parking lot loop. Next, right into 40 each of four different exercises, and again the lap around the lot. I think the killer was the ending 50 lunges and final lap around the lot. Wow! Legs giving out, breathing rasping. I did not feel fit!
At the end of HIIT week, I began my mile training with a running pal, in prep for the May Rocket Mile in Rocky Mount, N.C. We run eight repeats of one-minute sprints, one minute walks. We tried to keep a moderate pace. I think 8:30 pace was the goal but I have a problem maintaining consistency so she had to keep telling me what pace we were at. The subsequent week, we tried again, with the last run being all out. I went out too fast, came to a worn out walk just after she passed me. My run was maybe 40 seconds! (This was the same day as the morning MetCon Fit test.)
At the end of the week, the local county senior games track events were held. I had done MetCon on Friday. Mistake. Do not do CG the day before any event! Only three women showed up for track. The other two are both USATF Masters National medalists (one a Champ) and all of us were in separate age groups. The first event was the 200m. An air horn was being used as the start signal. Well, it went bust with a puff, puff sound. Jane Barnes and I took off and Becky Simers started and stopped. The timers (hand timed at local events) thought it was a false start and stopped timing; the starter told Becky to go! and Jane and I were oblivious. I have no idea what my time was (my timer had stopped timing and someone gave her a watch that had been started at some point;) Becky's time was messed up and I don't know if Jane ever got a time. Poor Becky -- this was her first "race" since her microfracture knee surgery last July. Since we all ran without an AG competitor, we were all "winners". None of us quite felt like a winner! The subsequent 400m was a struggle for me. Becky came zooming by me in the final 100m and Jane, doing her first 400m event, in regular running shoes, encountered a toe issue and had to stop. Our 100m went better. Jane and Becky raced way ahead of me and looked neck and neck from my rearward perspective.
This week is CG recovery week, so I indeed decided to "recover" and only went to Monday's BOLD session (six women pushed a 6000lb truck back and forth for a football field length 3x according to our trainer. You can bet I was not contributing as much as the other five!) This week's eight repeats of one-minute sprint, one minute walk mile training went a little better. (no CG before!) We kept it at around an eight minute pace, sometimes faster, for the first six iterations. The last two we ran faster with the last one being just about all out. It certainly was all out for the last 10 seconds of the final one for me.
So, okay, now it is time to try to actually run (jog?) a mile without walking and see what happens. On this dreary, rainy, misty, cool day I tried. Well, I failed! Not only that, my times were dreadful. 09:55 and 09:45. And Rocket Mile is two weeks and three days away. I did not eat or drink beforehand -- only walked the dog.) There are some social runs in the evenings, a 4-mile outing with the dog in Umstead Park up and down Reedy Creek Trail in the Umstead Coalition Run/Walk/Bike event; a 5k next weekend and then the Rocket Mile. Hopefully all the good eats served up at the Rocket Mile will still be there when I come straggling in.
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