Thank you all for your kind words on yesterday’s post! I am so glad to hear that I am not alone! I look forward to being more careful and making sure I take this recovery slow. No small amount of extra cross training will be worth another 2-3 weeks of extended recovery. You all are awesome!
Our first day officially in North Carolina started off awesome.
One of the things we love about being at my in-laws in Wes gets to see his cats.
He grew up with almost all of them and still holds them very close to his heart.
I know he is styling in his miss-matched socks there.
One of his kitties is 17 and really starting to show her age. We always give her lots of attention when we are there.
How can you say no to that precious face?!
We got up bright and early in the morning to head to Wes’ old high school for him to do some track work.
I played runner’s wife and took him his speed work shoes to change into while he ran to the track.
It was an absolutely beautiful day and I spent the time while he was doing speed work walking around the track. I was able to stay on the grassy part which made it less impact on my leg.
Obviously I am out of commission for the time being, but here is the track workout he did:
If you are new to track work (or speed work) don’t start with 12 x 400 meters. I would start lower and see what you can handle. For example, start with 6 if that feels easy then work yourself back up.
The key to speed work is listening to your body. It is going to be hard but make sure you listen to your body and no when enough is enough. A lot of injuries happen during speed workouts – in fact it was after a speed workout when I first noticed something was wrong 7 weeks ago.
I hung out at the track, walked around, and then soaked up some sun until he was done. Even though I couldn’t do much in terms of working out it felt so nice to get outside in the beautiful air.
There is just something about fall air on a perfectly sunny day.
A Few Tips for Speed Work Days:
1. Stick to a simple diet the night before. I find that when I do speed work I am more prone to stomach problems so I try to avoid foods high in fiber or anything out of the ordinary the night before.
2. Try out the track instead of the treadmill. If you have access to a track nearby give it a shot! Sometimes it is nice to be outside and not doing all your speed work on the treadmill. It is also often easier on your legs.
3. Try warm up and cook downs on the grass. I have learned my lesson on hard surfaces, so when you are using a track if they have a grassy field in the middle try doing the cool downs or in between mileage on the soft grassy surface.
4. Stick to no more than 2 speed type workouts a week. Speed workouts are hard on your body and your legs. Try not to do more than 2 of these per week and this will help to avoid injury.
5. Start out slow. You need to start out slow with speed work. Don’t jump into it too fast and remember to listen to your body.
We left my in-laws around noon and headed to our next stop along the interview tour. Our night included a residency dinner and getting things ready for his next interview.
This is our quickest turn around time. We leave right after the interview today to head 2 hours west to be there in time for another dinner prior to his interview. THEN we get a two day break with some family before they start again. I am already looking forward to it!
Do you do speed work as part of your routine?
Do you prefer the track or treadmill?
“The key to speed work is listening to your body.”
Who IS this person writing this blog entry?!?! haha
Love the picture with the cats … our oldest one is getting into his mid-teens, and has burned through at least 15 of his 9 lives by our estimates 🙂
Also love the mis-matched socks. My younger son, who is very particular about his appearance between his Tommy Hilfiker clothes, p-coat, jackets and blazers, scarves and so on … also mismatches his socks … he claims it ‘is a thing’ – I would say he was being lazy if he wasn’t so meticulous otherwise.
Haha yes Michael I do actually learn things every once in a while! If nothing else comes form this injury I will sure as heck have learned a couple VERY valuable lessons!
I love that little kitty! She is so sad she just stares at walls and doesn’t do much. I am not even sure if she can see or hear well but she is the sweetest little girl!
I think in my husband’s case this would be laziness lol. He probably didn’t want to look through his suit case to find the matching one so just grabbed whatever he could find! 🙂
All very good advice for speed workouts! I love to incorporate track work into my routine but I usually just end up doing my speed work for time on the roads! Most of the high schools near me have their tracks fenced off… I used to jump the fence at the school nearest me but during my third workout there I was caught (and kicked off) by the football coach! Such a sad day!
Awww that is sad 🙁 I Never understand why they won’t allow others on the tracks! Roads work just as well though if you can find a good flat straight away!
I doubt the track workout and your injury had anything to do with each other. Your injury was likely building up over days, weeks, or even months. As they say, correlation does not equal causation.
Treadmills should be avoided for fast running, as they stress your legs unlike a slower TM run or outdoor running and the biomechanics of running fast on a treadmill is different than outdoors.
I just did an aerobic power run yesterday actually, but decided to do it on the road instead. It consisted of 8k at 90% of my 5k pace as well as 5x400m at 105% of my 5k pace. Ended up being 11 miles at a 7:13 pace overall.
Great workout!!
Yes, I don’t believe that workout caused it but every time I have gotten injured the final push and when it came on was after a quick workout. I mean more than speed workouts are hard on your body so if you don’t do them correctly or do them to often they can eventually cause injury.
I try to use tracks when I can. The only time I can’t is during the winter when we have 10 feet of snow. Sometimes treadmills for me are a necessary evil.
I usually migrate from the track to quite paved roads, during the winter. Maybe even snowshoes this year!
Thanks so much for the tips! I love training at the track and used to weekly. Since moving I haven’t been in awhile and am looking to get back at it.
Good luck! Hope you are able to get back into it! I love the workout that track workouts provide!
We don’t have a track close by so all of my speed workout’s are done on the treadmill along with my hill workouts (we have little to no hills here). I find the treadmill workouts go by rather fast because I turn it into a game in my head. 🙂