Sore Hamstrings

Why are my hamstrings sore??? Maybe it has something to do with the great track workout I got last night.

After we got off work at 5PM yesterday we rushed to Byron to pick up our kids, swing by the apartment, change clothes, grab the kids a snack and get right back in the car. The MTRC track workout starts at 6:30PM and we got there right on time.

Sam informed us that we would be running 400 meters at an effort of 8/9 out of 10. Then we would walk 200 meters to cool down completely. He was suggesting that more experienced runners perform 10 reps of this workout and that newbies do 6 to 8 reps. Then we were to end the speed work with one mile of running.

This being our first speed work in A LONG TIME we decided at the beginning that we would try for the 6 to 8 reps depending on how we felt. I have no desire to try and show off and end up hurting myself! After the first 400 meter fast interval we laughed and said “yeah, let’s go for six”. I feel like we put in an honest 8/9 effort! I kept glancing at my Garmin and seeing the miles per minute around 6:30 and 7:00. I’m not sure if that’s what I’m supposed to be doing or what??? But it felt good.

Now, not only do I have my nifty Garmin, but I’ve got the heart rate monitor to give me even more training info. Still not 100% sure on where exactly I need to be in this area, (plenty of time to learn right?)… I just glanced at my heart rate at the very end of the speed interval, every time is was right at 190 bpm. Then at the end of my recovery walk it was always back down to 125 bpm. I guess this is alright?

I also learned that my new Garmin is quite a bit smarter than me! I wanted to press lap at each new interval. Well, the Garmin would start a new lap all on it’s own after I had pressed lap at that location. The book said that it can remember a location and auto lap. I don’t know, I’ll figure it all out soon enough. I thought it was funny though because I ended up with about 40 laps because I was manually pressing the lap button and my Garmin was creating laps all together. WEIRD.

Tonight I plan on resting from running. I have to teach a “Body Blitz” class at the gym. It is a weight training class that works upper body, lower body, abs, and I focus a lot on stretching. Sometimes I make everyone jump rope between weights, but they don’t like that so much. All the more reason to do it right! The thing I like most about doing the class is that it forces me to get some ab/core training in, which I tend to get lazy on.

Oh yeah, and did I mention my hammies are tight???