Vroom

With a long race coming up this weekend I need to focus on speed training this week. So yesterday I headed to the track to bang out some fast run splits. I left my parachute at home, but brought my sauna suit, even though the temperature was in the 80s. The best way to acclimate to a hot race is to make your training even hotter. Plus, the sauna suit helps you burn more calories, and taking off a few extra pounds before a race is always a good thing - lighter equals faster! I also like to practice exercising with limited amounts of water, because the less water you can carry on the bike, the lighter you'll be! I have trained my body to require only one bottle for a three hour ride.

Some details about my speed intervals. As I'm sure you know, speedwork improves your pace per mile by about 30 seconds. First I warm up for two miles. Then I do 4x500 at my 5k pace. That primes me for a series of 8 fast 200s - all out as hard as I can go. Now it's back to 400s faster than 5k pace. I do 16 of these. I always do a light 200 in between each 400 as a recovery. Finally I end with a mile cooldown. I don't recommend going out and hammering out 5+ miles of speedwork. You have to build up to it. I have worked for years to improve my speed and endurance, and most people don't have the excellent ability to recover quickly that I do.

You've probably already figured out that I'm the fastest person at the track. In fact, I often get asked whether or not I am a professional athlete. "You seem so serious!" strangers tell me. Ha! That's called FOCUS suckas. Most people don't have it. Mental toughness is what this game is all about. And if you think this workout is easy, you should see the inside of my sauna suit when I'm finished.

Speedy Gonzales

In my opinion, you can never get enough speedwork. It seems everyone now understands the value of speedwork. But what most people forget is FORCE. Force is what separates the fast from the sonic. I'll share with you my favorite force workout.

First you need an old tire. No, not a tire from your bike. A tire from a car. I have found some good ones on the side of the highway. The second thing you need is a rope about 15 feet long. If you really want to get fancy you'll also obtain one of those belts that weightlifters wear to support their backs. Now you put it all together. Take your tire and rope out to a long steep hill. After a 20 minute warm up, tie the rope around the tire and wrap the other end around your waist. The tire should lay flat on the ground a few feet behind you. Now run up the hill as fast as you can. Do as many repeats as you can manage (I do 10).

You + tire + hill = your fastest season yet.

Frenemies

This morning I was doing easy 7:10s around Prospect, just enjoying the moist air that felt as if it would turn to pure liquid at any moment, breezing past the usual cast of characters (the moms out for an early jog without baby, struggling to lose those last 10 lbs, the weird speedwalkers, the guy with the beard) and who passes me but her. L. My nemesis.

"Hey T! Long time no see!" She called, smiling and pretending to sound like we were friends.

"Pleasant day, L." I said curtly in response, making sure that it was clear from my voice that I was not breathing hard.

L. wasn't always my nemesis. There was a time when I was her mentor. I considered us friends. She clearly didn't see it that way. Now that I have that 20/20 hindsight, I realize that she was using me all along. Pretending to be my training partner so that she could steal my secrets. I showed her my favorite hills - hills you never see anyone else doing repeats on. I even taught her my top secret chamois cream formula when her crotch was raw from only 3 hours of riding. And how did she repay me? The way a pimp repays a ho - with a slap and a wad of crack. OK, I made up the part about crack (unless you count the time when her bike shorts were so worn through you could see her ass, but that's another story).

Because of L., I learned my lesson. Thank you L., for teaching me never to trust anyone but myself (and of course, Supersoulmate B.).

But today was my day to teach L. another lesson. One she had obviously forgotten.

As L. ran by me I realized I had a few options. I could accelerate handily now and put her out of her misery. I could continue running my slow, easy pace (not really an option - DUH!). Or I could track her like the lion tracks an innocent woodland creature (only in this scenario, L. isn't exactly innocent, more like a wolf or a boar, but I'm not sure lions eat wolves or pigs).

I let L. get about 40 yards in front of me and then I never let her go, yet I never passed her. You see, we still had a mile until THE HILL. There is only one hill in Prospect, and it will cripple the weak. Finally we came to the hill. It was time to work my magic. So I accelerated, closing the gap by 20 yards, now I was just 10 yards in front of her. Time to strike!

I took a big breathe of air and zoomed past her, making an "Hmph" sound as I went by, as if to say "You didn't really think you'd beat me, did you?" L. tried to keep up. I could tell. But there's no way L. can hold a 6;30 pace going uphill. I never taught her how. As much as I wanted to look back I didn't. That would admit to her that I cared about her. And I don't. Well, I care only about her as much as a lion cares about its next meal. She is my competition, and I thrive on competition.

ROAR!