Meta Goal Met

I came...
I saw...
I ran...

I did my usual 10 minutes dump in the local neighborhood. My back and hip felt better than yesterday. That was a good sign. Then I drove over to Foothill College. The track was strewn with benches and debris from Saturday football game. I moved the benches around to help free up the inside two lanes. Then jogging around the track and lower campus. Dimitri showed up and began his warm up. I went on for a time and finally realized that if I didn't stop I would be out there for 30 minutes before doing any hard work. I stopped at around 28 minutes.

The hard work was supposed to be centered around a meta goal of running 1 x 500 meters at 1:40 or goal pace for the half.

I did some quick strides and noticed that while I could still feel my hip, it didn't seem too tight. The sun was out and eventually I just stood over by the fence surrounding the track and relaxed. Dimitri finished his warm up and came over to discuss the workout. We agreed to do a 200 meter at pace (40) and then go run the 500. What we did after that was up to how we felt after the big one.

We took off on the 200 and right away I realized how good I felt. We cruised a 38 with no strain at all.

We then took a complete rest and lined up for the 500. The plan was to go 81-82 and then begin to accelerate on the last 100. The way a runner would accelerate during an 800 meter race. So hard but not all out. We went out at 21 for the first 100 meters and cruised the 200 in 41. The 400 was 81 and Dimitri began pushing. I had dropped back a bit and he wondered if I was still there.

"You Okay?" he asked.

"Yeah,'" I said. "I am right here," as I moved up and closed the gap.

We crossed the line in 1:40.

Meta goal met.

We walked and cooled down. I told him that I had gotten lazy between the 300 and 400 and that he had gaped me by about 5 yards but that I was closing the gap when he had ask me if I was alright.

We decided to do one more rep. Another 200. I was recovering pretty quickly.

This time we took off and hit the first 100 in 18. It felt effortless. We closed under total control in just a hair over 37.I was actually throttling back down the last 100 or else it would have been a low 36.

We then  jogged down for 20 minutes.

Then to Starbucks for coffee.