Reflection

Good conversations are going on amongst the group. Some thoughts to reinforce what we are doing.

• Stress. It came up that the first day of practice is very stressful. Showing up and running 4-6 miles fast. Stress is great! When we stress ourselves, then relax to recover we grow. Next time the original stress is not such a big deal. Over time you will find that you can handle more and more stress. Stress comes in a variety of forms. Physical and mental. Embrace stress!
• Progression runs vs. Intervals. Why aren't we on the track running intervals at race pace or faster? Won't we lose speed? Not necessarily. For the 800 to the 3200 the biggest factor that will determine your success is how big your "aerobic engine" is. The larger your aerobic engine is the faster you can run at a given pace before your body begins to create energy anaerobically (without oxygen). Running on the roads at a medium to fast pace will develop your aerobic system. This system can be developed a great deal. The higher this threshold the faster you will be able to run over any distance from the 800 and up. Even fast progression runs tap into using your fast twitch muscle fibers.
• Some reasons runners lack speed. 1. They run slow "junk" mileage every day. 2. They don't vary their training from day to day. 3. They are over trained. 4. They do too much intervals "speed work" at race pace or faster.