Feb 27

FIT:
Since I happened to be in south campus with running clothes on, I decided to try out the mile. It was a good time to do so, since the weather was rather nice although a bit windy, and I had had a light week (nothing yesterday [Thurs], stadium ulty Wed, 35 min abs Tues (6 inches tougher than ever the first time, but got easier after I did some windshield wipers, and 7.5 Mon, as already mentioned). No sprint workout this week. My goal was 5:59, my time on 1/9/09 was 6:24.

The first lap, I was eager and knew I'd have to push hard, so I did (1:26, and this includes the little bit that makes a 1600 a mile). On the second lap, I was a bit too slow (1:31). On the third lap, I thought about just finishing that lap and calling it quits (1:34). On the last lap, I just wanted to finish. I did the last stretch without looking at my watch because I wanted every second of advantage (1:31). Those numbers were all rounded down. The total time was 6:04. I can't underscore the effort. I don't think I ever pushed that hard before for a mile. It hurt to breathe for about 10-15 minutes after that. It was as if parts of my lungs had been destroyed from lack of oxygen or something. I got my usual post-sprint throat congestion afterwards, which made singing difficult. The congestion usually only happens when it's cold, so I was kind of surprised, especially because the distance was short.

The result was kind of bittersweet. 6:04 was falling short. It was a 20 second improvement over about 6 weeks, though. 20s is a lot. Imagine losing another 20s. I was out of shape when I did the 6:24 (had gotten a 6:15 for a 1600 in October 2008, which might equal a 6:17 or 6:18 for the mile, which would've still been a 13-14s improvement), but 20s is a lot. Imagine a 5:40. Phew! Yeah, I can break 6:00.

My left knee hurts! I think it's a bit swollen on the medial side in the lower quadrant next to the patella. I don't know what I did to it. During fitness practice today, my right knee hurt for a while during the reverse crunches, but why does my left hurt? Aaaah. I have to wake up in 8 hours and run 15-16 miles. I hope it gets better soon. Maybe I'll need to take a couple Aspirins (which I usually avoid like crazy b/c of what it does to the liver) just for this occasion.