Tuesday morning’s speedwork session was a killer. I tried to keep my mind on only the interval that I was on rather than how many I had left to do. My results were good. Each interval was near, if not within, Coach Jeff‘s pace range.
I ran circles around the girl’s field hockey team who was practicing in the center field. I watched their faces as I passed. They were watching mine.
The girl’s tennis team joined me on the track. Their coach timed them as they ran a mile. Each of my 400 meter interval took me past the entire team. Generally, after I passed their fastest teammate I would end my interval and walk for about 100 yards. Then I would jog the balance of my 200 meter recovery and begin again.
By the time I was starting up my seventh 400 the last teammate was finishing. Her teammates cheered her in. The team gathered by the goal for sprints as I continued on and I heard someone murmur, “dang.”
At the other side of the track the field hockey coach could be heard asking for “150%” from her players. She did her best to motivate the girls to keep up the effort. Often, I took her comments for myself. When their coach said, “Good job,” I said, “Thank you.” I watched the team work when I was in my recovery phase, and visa versa. They finished up just as I began my final 400. Then I ran home for my cool down.