Tulsa Track Workout

“I need to bring a watch next time.”

 That’s the thought that kept circling through my head after I stopped my lap at the track last week. I finally went to the University track here in Tulsa for some speed work. I’ve wanted to do this for a while but because of work I haven’t been able to get there. The Tulsa running club meets here every week and offers training tips for all runners, serious and beginner. Last week it rained so last Tuesday was my first day. I was pleasantly surprised to see both a few people who had asked me on occasion to come. 

Also I bumped into a guy I go to church with and my sister in law showed up later. I enjoyed the hell out of it to put it simply. I never run like that, sprinting and gasping followed by more sprinting and gasping. I’m a distance runner (jogger) so my pace is around 9:45 a mile. On the quick 1200 meter laps I wasn’t sure what group to run in so I just jumped in with Lancy (the guy from church) at 8:50 per mile. I figured it was probably a little slow but nothing is worse than overestimating your speed.

It seems the ideal way to run the track is to keep the same time on every lap. At least that's how it was explained to me. If you can’t keep the same pace on every pass, run in a slower group until you can. I didn’t have a watch but I had some idea of my pace thanks to others keeping time, I managed around 5:45 per 1200 meters. Next time I’ll bring a watch, or put the phone in my pocket.

The event went like this. We were to run 3 times around the track and walk a half, starting another 3 laps and another half lap of walking. We did that 4 times which was 4800 meters (I think). 1200 meters in each grouping of 3. I needed that for sure. It feels good to push yourself on a short distance run. I never sprinted though. I’ve been told by people who run regularly that I need to change up my routine and mix in some speed work. I should do a little research on exactly why that is. It’s probably the same reason you don’t lift the same weight every time you hit the gym, changing routine confuses the muscles for better gains.

Once I get back into my work routine of staying till 6:00 it’s all over for the track run. Unless I can find some way to get off work at 5:30 on Tuesday, I’ll miss the rest of the workouts. I guess in the summer there is a morning class at that kicks off before work. That I could do. The way my routine is structured I prefer the morning runs to the evening. My friends go in the evening though and I don’t have many friends. If I can figure out how to leave work early than morning classes won’t be necessary. My position might be changing at work anyway so maybe there is good news on the horizon. I’m all in on the running thing. When I started getting serious I didn’t know if I could stick with it all the way. 

Now I’m improving every few months and excited about it.  The extra pounds are peeling off too.