First Track Workout in AGES!

Last week, I headed to a track in south Minneapolis to workout with the YWCA Endurance Sports group. It was to be my first track workout in about a year and a half. The workout normally takes place when I have class, but it was Spring Break last week. On my "exotic" Spring Break last week, I went to the park 3 times, to the library, watched Henry bike around the block, and got my oil changed with my boys:

First time outside on his Christmas bike (showing off his sweet tats).


90 minutes at the car dealership. (We picked up the toys and magazines before we left.)

Anyway, back to the track... when I got there, Laurie was warming up as a friendly goose (usually an oxymoron) was hanging out in the infield:

Goose, meet Laurie. Laurie, goose.

I found some motivation for the workout in the form of some graffiti on the ticket booth:

Instructions unclear. I'll just run fast.

The workout was a ladder: 400, 800, 1200, 1600, 1200, 800, and 400 with 2 minutes rest between each interval. There was about a dozen of us on the track, which was about a perfect amount of runners. Two did their own workout and started early, 1 was doing 300s, and 1 or 2 were going to do our workout but skip the 1600 in the middle (for 3 miles of hard running instead of 4). There were 3 other guys that looked "fast," and one named Eric started chatting with me. He was hoping for around a 5:40 mile, and I was too, so we paired up for the workout which was GREAT.

We ran the first 3 intervals pretty similarly - I'd take the lead about half a lap in, and then he'd stay right on my tail. It was a good push/pull situation for both of us. I pulled a bit farther ahead in the 1600 and 1200, but still, it was a good pairing. Here were my splits for my ladder:

400: 1:18
800: 2:42
1200: 4:06
1600: 5:28 (my 800s were 2:44 and 2:44)
1200: 4:05
800: 2:38
400: 1:11

I thought I was running the shorter intervals much faster, but when you look at my average lap pace for each interval, they're pretty similar except for the 400s:

1:18.0
1:21.0
1:22.0
1:22.0
1:21.6
1:19.0
1:11.0

I learned that BFF Devon is usually at this workout, so Nicole and I took a sad-face selfie to send to him post-workout:

Devon's comment: "I'm on the floor sobbing. Would leave a longer comment about how upset I am to miss a chance to be with you but I have to get back to the sobbing. TTYL."

And then Nicole snapped a photo of me on my 3-lap cool down:

Awkward. That's pretty standard.

My hip/sacrum was a bit achy that evening and the next day, but I made sure to take it easy over the weekend. I need to be doing more track sessions, but they're pretty hard to fit in with the 2 boys. My hopes are to workout with this group a few times in the early summer once class is done by bringing the boys and a sitter to the track to play with them as I run. (If you're interested in being that person, LET ME KNOW!)