Tuesday, March 04, 2008

Flying in Circles

This is the second time I've showed up to track draggin my behind and the second tIme I left swaggerin to the bus stop like some star athlete. The moment I entered the energy of everyone inside lifted me up and got me in the mood to work. Many teams, many individuals, a lot of fast people.

One team in particular is back on Tuesday nights. Two years ago they had practice the same time we did but last year I think they changed their schedule and I didn't see them at all. They are back this year and they are running circles around most of us - the all women Impala Racing Team. They are so beautifully fast. According to the info on their site, 3 of their members have qualified to run in the 2008 Olympic Marathon trials. While running our intervals for the night, 2 women blew by me like I was jogging, then two more, then one more before I completed one lap around the oval. With runners like this on the field how can you not get inspired.

If you are a runner contemplating getting some track workouts into your training, I say do it. If you have the time do it. Find a local team and jump head first. Running with people is inspiring and entertaining. Running fast will make you faster and it's not as boring as it looks. Is it painful? Absolutely there's pain but in controlled portions and if you do it right, you'll feel like a superstar. The speed will put a smile on your face (not while you are running:).

7 comments:

  1. I might do a little track work this summer when it's too hot for my long runs. Nice job!

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  2. I wish I could get back to the track workouts. I get a bit worried about injury when I start doing fast stuff, but I gotta start sometime. Nice job getting out there and running the oval.

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  3. Now I know why you like your track workouts! ; ) Just kidding. : ) Nice job working on that speed!

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  4. Those Impalas are fast. They've blown past me at many Bay Area races.

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  5. You know what else makes you feel fast - going downhill at 50 miles an hour on the Orbea - Wooooosh!

    Kudos to you - you have more stick-to-it-iveness than I do - too cold at Kezar. I prefer the treadmill, protected from the elements, at the M2 Revolution studio.

    Go forth and be speedy!

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  6. I am always impressed by the folks on those race teams. There are a lot of local running teams here that I see at the Minnesota races. It's not easy being speedy, and they makes it look soooooo easy. And as you noted, it is easy to draw inspiration from that! :)

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  7. funny i should read this post. i just did my first track workout with the local oc track club this past tuesday. working on trying to get faster so i'll probably make that a regular part of my training regimen.

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