The Fucking 1500

SATURDAY

Beautiful fucking day.  Steady fucking head wind on stretch but not of typhoon strength.

So I ran my first timed 1500 meters.  I was seriously dreading this for reasons I’ve given many times.  In a nutshell, I hate running over 400m.  I can’t really imagine racing this distance, and in all likelihood I won’t have to “race” it with anyone but myself.  If I’m neck and neck with some old dude for first place and it’s coming down to the 1500, then I’ll have to race.  Or if I am under my target marks in the previous events, I may be able to salvage the day with a strong 1500 (but that’s really racing with myself).

My approach to reach my goal of  six minutes flat is basic.  Keep cutting time in 400m intervals and increase the number of intervals.  Once a month I will time myself in a full 1500 to check my progress.  This was the first timing.   My goal was 8 minutes – a laughable time to anyone who is a distance runner.  8 fucking minutes?!  Are you fucking kidding me? I fall out of bed in the morning and shit 6 fucking minute 15’s!  Someone would say this.  They would say this in their heads.   But who ever would say that is not a muscular 5’10” 194lbs.  They are a slender guy – 5’10” 154lbs.  And they run distance all the time.

So how did it go?

The first 800 was fine.  I went out a little fast as I have little sense of pace but I run 800’s all the time – my usual warm up jog – and I was holding up fine.  By the next 100 meters I wasn’t feeling so good.  On it went and I’m thinking around 1000 meters “just walk it in, Dude.  No one will know, no one will care.”  It was a tempting thought and it grew louder and louder – “walk!”.

I’d told myself that I’d follow the advice I’ve read and heard which is basically “save 40% of your energy for the last 25% of the run”.  I wanted to run 3 2min 400s and hope to kick in for the last 400.  That plan went out the window after 300m.  My split was equivalent to a 1:45 400m.  I had saved practically nothing.

But, I crossed the line into the last 400 and I told myself that I had run a lot of 400’s.  I would survive this.  I closed off my mind to stopping, to walking and when I hit the 200m mark I knew I’d make it.  At 100m I thought I would die. 50m. 40m. 30m… there’s the line.  20 meters more… where’s the button on my watch?… Cross/push/GASP GASP GASP GASP GASP look…

7:58.25

Tonight I’m smoking a cigar.  Fucking 1500. I own the bitch.

1500 METER TIMED RUN

• 800m warm up
• 10 minutes stretching
• 1500m run – 7:58.25 (splits -300m first – 1:19 / 2:09 / 2:17 / 2:12)
• 2x 100m strides
• 400m cool down

Tomorrow I’m throwing with the NorCal Throwers club – whoo hoo!