Kezar Track Session #3

Once again, we started off with a 1 mile (4-lap) warm up. I ran with Jen, who I haven't seen for ages because she's been out of town traveling to exotic places such as Panama, Mexico, and Cuba as part of her Berkeley MBA program. As an aside, Jen is training for the New York marathon, and has been tackling hills, most notably Billy Goat Hill, Twin Peaks, and Mount Sutro... all in one shot! She's planning on adding in Mount Davidson and Bernal Heights.

After the warm up, we did some familiar drills. The one I haven't written about is where you stretch out your arms to the side, and then run sideways while twisting your hips so your feet are alternating between facing the direction you're moving, and going backwards. We then did some abdominal exercises including "prancing" where you start off lying on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the ground. We alternated lifting our feet about 4" off the ground while concentrating on pressing our lower backs into the ground to eliminate any space between our backs and the ground. We did this to isolate the lower abs. We did the same thing with feet flexed (heels touching the ground) and then both feet together.

I was hoping we would do 800's again but we ended up doing 1-mile tempo (85% maximum intensity) runs. We did this three times with some rest in between, but without additional exercises. We were supposed to maintain the same pace/time for each mile run. I averaged about 8:45/m. I probably would have run slower had I not tried to keep up with Jessica, who is wonderfully consistent with pacing. Like last time, we ended up with a 2 lap run barefoot on the grass in a clockwise direction.

I'm getting a lot out of track, and I'm starting to look forward to our weekly sessions. I push myself during our one hour practices, and I think I'm gradually becoming faster. Part of the reason is because I'm trying to keep up with some of the faster ladies who run so elegantly and effortlessly. There's something to be said about training in a group.