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Tuesday, August 19, 2025

Last Friday I did a tempo run along the river trail. I went out about 3:00 p.m.  It was really hot and humid. The plan was to run 1 K, rest 2 minutes, run another, for a total of 4-6. When I set up this custom run on my Apple Watch, I forgot to set it to kilometers, so I ended up running miles, which always confuses me a bit--it makes it seem I am running slower than I actually am. Anyway, this was a tough workout, due to the heat and humidity, as well as to the fact that my aerobic strength (that I need to build to compete in the 800 meters) isn't great (yet). According to my Strava record, I ran a total of 8.54 km (this includes my slow warmup jog to the trail, maybe a kilometer and a half-ish?) with an average pace of 6:23 (so I met my goal of 6:40 or better per km). It was a total of 4 separate miles at tempo pace. After, I ran a cool-down jog back home of 2 km at 8 minutes each. 

Sunday I made it to track practice with my team. It was great to workout on the track in a group of dedicated track stars. They are a wonderful group of people and friends. Alison brought the workout--a tough ladder, of a 400, 600, 800, 600, 400, with only 2 minutes between (but I think maybe we stretched that to 3 minutes after we reached the "top" of the ladder). It was really hot and humid. I did pretty well for the first three intervals . . . but that last 600 and 400 I could not keep up with Alison (she is the best "place marker" for my abilities in the 800--she ran 2:25 at Nationals; I follow the workouts she gives me, and honestly she performs better in these more challenging middle distance/distance workouts than I). Here is how I did:

1:31, 2:14, 2:52, 2:16, 1:25.  Even though the last 600 and 400 were close or better than my first two (and my 800 was good!--but VERY challenging), Alison crossed the line for both intervals at least 5 seconds ahead of me. She's amazing. 

Yesterday I went to the gym and did my Pilates mat routine and then leg exercises. Today I am going to run over to the Pilates studio for my one-on-one lesson with Megan on the reformer. Then I will head back to the gym and do chest strengthing exercises. Tomorrow I cannot meet Alison and Lorraine at Ursinus to train, but I will attempt whatever workout they do at Penn as soon as my dishwasher is repaired (ah, the mundane tasks of life). 

Here is a photo of our Greater Philadelphia team after Sunday's practice:


Just a moment to say how much gratitude I have for my team and this journey back to the track. Having the time of my life!! Thanks for reading my blog, all. 



 

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