I had company for my "speed workout" this week, and that made all the difference.
On Wednesday morning, I trotted down to the high school track to run some 200s. I'm doing a track mile this Saturday, so I figured that I should cram for it just like I did for math tests in high school. That always worked out, so what the heck.
Anyway... (see what I did there?)
On the first repeat, my running partner--who is WAAAYYYYYY faster than me--started off behind me, planning to run a full lap while I only completed a half. When I finished, I looked at my split and, well, it was faster than I expected. Easier too.
That's what running with fast people can do. I don't know why this is the case. Perhaps the cumulative energy of two runners in close proximity gives both some sort of cosmic push. Or maybe it's just the specter of accountability.
Ah yes, that word. Accountability! That's the purpose of this blog. Because in writing--as in running--accountability plays a significant role in moving me along.
In addition to having reliable (and fast) training partners, I'm also on the website Strava. If you don't know about Strava, it's something of a Facebook for runners and cyclists. We upload our routes, which comes complete with distances covered, heart rate, mile splits, and much, much more.
Oh, and then there are segments. SEGMENTS!
Segments are designated stretches of property (often selected by Strava users themselves) where the times of runners and bikers are collected and ranked. This means that I often find myself sprinting at random places because....SEGMENT!
Yes, Strava has made me do dumb things. But so has beer and bourbon. So Strava on!
Plus, if I'm being honest, Strava has made me a better (post-40) runner. I don't really think that my Strava buddies care if I run 3 miles instead of 6 miles. Or if my pace is 60 second slower than the last time I ran a certain route. But having that information made public(ish), and having a general sense that other people might see me. Well, that is a needed virtual kick in the pants.
Indeed, this blog is serving as my Writing Strava. I suspect that I will be tempted to embellish, to paint a public picture of productivity while privately watching Youtube clips of old Baywatch episodes (yep, I did that once--that was a low point).
But I hope that I don't do this. I hope that my bad days are just as honestly recollected as my good ones. That will be the only way that this Strava Blog will work for me, even though it won't have SEGMENTS!
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