Friday, 6/21/13: Sprints for Speedwork *OR* Into the Fog

As I mentioned in my last post, I'm visiting my parents for a few days.  Since they live in a very rural area without sidewalks (or even a road big enough to run on without being hit by a car), I had to visit my old high school's track for my morning run.

This was the view as I walked onto the track that surrounded the school's soccer field this morning.  I had the whole place to myself, except for an older man cutting weeds around the fence.  

Start Time:  6:11 AM 

End Time:   7:01 AM 

Sprint Laps:  6 

Walk Laps:  6 

According to a few different sources, sprint training is beneficial to runners in a variety of ways.  I do it mainly to improve speed, especially because I have seen my speed suffer in the last few months, since my last half marathon.  I actually didn't know how long the distance around the track was, but, according to a very extensive Google search, the longest lane is 400 meters, or 1/4 of a mile.  

I alternated 400m of sprinting and 400m of walking, changing direction on the track every other lap to avoid uneven stress. 

Distance hogs like me, who normally only run to see how fast we can break a previous distance record (or to hit a new long distance), sometimes miss out on the benefits of sprints.  I had to convince myself that, even though this run was only around 3 miles in length, it was worth the time invested. 

And what a great view I had, before the sun rose and burned off all that mysterious fog!