Archive for the ‘Zilker Park’ Category

Speedy Zilker Park miles

Tuesday, November 27th, 2007

This morning we had one of the workouts that I usually dread.  It’s got another one of those big downhill sections.  I’ve been improving at that, but I’m still not yet where I want to be.

After we did the warm-up run over to Zilker Park and made it through the drills, we merged in with a handful of people that had started the workout early.  So, we had a pretty large group heading out for those mile-long laps.  I always count the first lap as still part of the warm-up, so I didn’t really push the pace there.  I was happy with how light my legs felt, though, in general.  I set my usual goal of increasing my speed on each lap and just got to it.  I typically ran out ahead of the group, and then a couple people would catch up to me at the end of the lap, especially when we went counter-clockwise and I slowed down on the steep downhill part.   The main thing I kept noticing today was that my legs felt like they were just gliding across the ground.  I was focused on where I was going, and my feet were just along for the ride.  It felt great.  The last lap was my fastest ever on this course.  My times were: 6:25, 6:13, 6:08, 6:03, 5:52.

I did the cool-down jog back plus a couple stretches, and that was it for the day.  I am really pleased with how that worked out!

Posted in Running, Zilker Park | Comments Off

Zilker soccer field laps

Monday, September 24th, 2007

This morning I had one of my last couple speed sessions before the marathon.  Because of the way the schedule is working out, I am running with the Monday/Wednesday group this week.  I think there were three separate workouts today based on which races people are doing.  I joined a group of about ten for the trip over to Zilker Park to run laps around the soccer fields.  It was really, really dark again.  We were a bit confused during the drills when we saw some slow moving vehicles on the road, but it turned out to be some folks getting a workout by pushing them.

Once we got down to business, the plan was to do four 2000-meter laps, faster than marathon pace, but not too fast.  I didn’t have anyone running my speed, and my first lap turned out a lot slower than I expected.  I picked it up from there and felt really good through the whole thing.  My times were:8:28, 8:00, 7:45, 7:49.

I did the run back, snuck in a couple of stretches, and that was that.  It’s almost time, and I’m feeling really good.

Posted in Intervals, Running, Zilker Park | Comments Off

Zilker extra-long ladder

Tuesday, August 28th, 2007

This week the extra-long version of the ladder workout was back on the schedule. I missed this the last time because they do it on Tuesday and Wednesday, and I’ve been going on Monday and Thursday. So, since I heard it was so much fun, I was determined to get to do it this time. I was willing to do it either today or tomorrow, but I decided to go for today. The faster people were there today, and this will give me an extra day to recover in case I get to run in the relays this Friday. I arrived a little late, so I hurried a bit on the warm-up run over to Zilker Park, and the group was already doing the drills when I got there. I got myself caught up and got ready to run.

This workout was intense! I felt a little off at first, but I stuck with it and had some good times. I was a bit confused and thought we were doing four of the 1000s, but after the first one of those the others pointed out that we were only due for three. I decreed that that last lap was the one that really made the difference, so I really stepped it up a notch to make sure I was practicing being tough at the end.

  • 3000m – 12:07
  • 2000m – 7:43
  • 2000m – 7:35
  • 1000m – 3:38
  • 1000m – 3:44
  • 1000m – 3:31

Those are some serious times. I could stand to be a bit more consistent, but I think I might have had some tiredness in my legs from this past weekend after all. I felt good doing it, though. It felt like my cooldown run back to RunTex was exceptionally slow, but according to the watch it was the same speed as the warm-up. Go figure. I did a couple stretches, and that was it for the day!

Posted in Intervals, Running, Zilker Park | Comments Off

Zilker soccer field 1000s

Thursday, June 14th, 2007

This morning was my first interval workout in more than a month, and I think it went pretty well. My legs are feeling really good, so I enjoyed the warm-up and the drills, and then we divided into groups for the workout. I know I can run these laps faster than I did, but I felt like this was a good effort for my first workout like this in a while. I had: 4:02, 3:50, 3:47, 3:47, 3:53, 4:06, 3:46. I kind of fell apart there for a couple laps, but I pulled it together and finished strong. Gilbert said my form is still off (legs crossing), so I really tried to work on that the last couple laps. I did the cool-down run back plus some stretching, and I left feeling pretty good.

Posted in Intervals, Running, Zilker Park | Comments Off