Tuesdays at the 'track'
I love summer track sessions. Instead of tediously, and laborously, running around in circles at Balboa Stadium's outdoor track, the San Diego Track Club meets at 5:30 come rain (yeah, right) or shine on a grassy knoll in Balboa Park. If you're familiar with the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon, it's where we all wait to line up along Sixth Avenue. There's a core group of up to 100 of us that meet weekly to run up and down long, grassy stretches to try and better ourselves. For me, it's the only opportunity during the week to meet up with fellow runners. And my husband knows how much I enjoy it, which is why he let me go despite this being our 19th wedding anniversary. We'll celebrate it later in the week.
Usually, regardless of the workout, the group naturally divides after the first one or two loops into the A Group and the B Group (or, as my friend Christina prefers, the A- Group). The A's are fast. Some super fast. The B's...well, the B's aren't exactly slow, but they can't compete with the fleet of feet. They're maybe just not genetically inclined to run super fast. Or maybe they had a rough day at work. Or maybe they ate too much at lunch. Or maybe they are getting up there in years. For some reason, I decided not to give in to temptation (and make a b-line for the bathroom soon as things started heating up) and to stick it out at the back of the A group as long as I could. I lasted six of the eight sessions and, for the first time, kept up with a younger and swifter group that usually swoops past me.
We did 8 X 400s with calisthetics in between. For non-runners, this means we ran as fast as we could for a quarter-mile and did 25 sit-ups, push-ups or jumping jacks as soon as we finished. And we did this rapidly 8 times. I consistently ran my 400s in 2:02 to 2:06, which is an improvement for me and put me in faster company much of the session. I remember doing my last set of sit-ups and staring up an an enormous palm tree still outlined in sunshine and thinking what a great life I have here. But the best part came at the conclusion, when a young woman came up behind me to thank me for being her rabbit (pacer). She complimented my pace and said I kept her going.
For someone getting up there in years and who isn't genetically inclined to run super fast, had a rough day at work and ate too much at lunch, it was the perfect ending to the day.
Usually, regardless of the workout, the group naturally divides after the first one or two loops into the A Group and the B Group (or, as my friend Christina prefers, the A- Group). The A's are fast. Some super fast. The B's...well, the B's aren't exactly slow, but they can't compete with the fleet of feet. They're maybe just not genetically inclined to run super fast. Or maybe they had a rough day at work. Or maybe they ate too much at lunch. Or maybe they are getting up there in years. For some reason, I decided not to give in to temptation (and make a b-line for the bathroom soon as things started heating up) and to stick it out at the back of the A group as long as I could. I lasted six of the eight sessions and, for the first time, kept up with a younger and swifter group that usually swoops past me.
We did 8 X 400s with calisthetics in between. For non-runners, this means we ran as fast as we could for a quarter-mile and did 25 sit-ups, push-ups or jumping jacks as soon as we finished. And we did this rapidly 8 times. I consistently ran my 400s in 2:02 to 2:06, which is an improvement for me and put me in faster company much of the session. I remember doing my last set of sit-ups and staring up an an enormous palm tree still outlined in sunshine and thinking what a great life I have here. But the best part came at the conclusion, when a young woman came up behind me to thank me for being her rabbit (pacer). She complimented my pace and said I kept her going.
For someone getting up there in years and who isn't genetically inclined to run super fast, had a rough day at work and ate too much at lunch, it was the perfect ending to the day.
