The Green Girl's Track Workout

Coach Steve leading the Sole Runners track workout

Last Tuesday, the Green Girl attended the first Sole Runners track workout of the season at her alma matter, Long Beach State.

We started off with ChiRunning body looseners and then Coach Steve had us warm-up with four easy laps around the track.

Sole Runners doing ChiRunning body looseners

Next, he had us do some 100 meter drills.

As usual, I refrained from participating in the crossovers because I am terrified of spraining an ankle again.

After the drills, we walked a lap and then Coach Steve instructed us to run a lap as fast as we could and then cool-down with a walk about 50 meters out and 50 meters back to the start where we could repeat the process all over again.

Sole Runners post-run yoga

Since I started training for Tour DaVita with Lexa, I've been alternating between running and cycling every other day.

I also stopped running with Mr. Green Garmin because it seemed like a hassle to change all the display settings back and forth between miles per hour and pace every day.

I forgot to change Mr. Green Garmin back to pace so I had no idea how fast I was running during the track workout because he was speaking to me in miles per hour.

All I knew was that I was passing runners who were doing 9:20/minute miles and Coach Steve said I was looking good.

I was focused on only one thing - relaxing my body.

Sole Runners post-run yoga

Coach Steve led the post-run yoga as the sun set over the college campus.

When I got home and uploaded my workout, I was thrilled to see my numbers. I couldn't believe how fast I had run. I had averaged between an 8:40 and 9:20 pace.

I've really been pushing myself lately and it felt good to see some results.

The Green Girl's Track Walk and Stretch

Last night, the Green Girl attended her second Sole Runners track workout at Long Beach State.

After my positive experience last week, I was looking forward to another productive session.

My only concern was a nagging pain in the middle my left hamstring that I woke up with on Sunday. I had applied a couple Phiten Discs and the pain had gone away so I was hopeful I'd be able to run.

I got stuck in traffic and missed the ChiRunning body looseners. I arrived just as they were starting to do the three easy laps around the track.

Once we warmed up, Coach Steve had us start the 100 meter drills. He had us do skipping, high knees, heel kicks, and crossovers. The heel kicks aggravated my hamstring. I opted out of the crossovers again for fear of re-spraining my ankle.

After the drills, we walked a lap before we moved to the fast running. I ran a single lap at a medium pace but the pain in my hamstring became constant so I stopped. I talked to one of the mentors, Matt, and he recommended I walk, do some stretching and ice when I get home. I slowly walked a couple more laps and then laid out my yoga mat and sat down. George, aka 'Hillbilly Yoga', showed me some stretches for the hamstring.

After I felt I had sufficiently stretched my sore hamstring, I got back up to walk a few more laps.

A loud rumble in the sky caught our attention and we all looked up at some sort of large military plane flying overhead.

We followed our track workout with our usual post-run yoga.

When I got home, I iced my hamstring and then did some light stretching and foam rolling before I went to bed. I will book a massage today and take off the remainder of the week to allow my hamstring to heal before San Francisco on Sunday.

The Green Girl's Track Workout

Last night, the Green Girl attended her very first Sole Runners track workout at Long Beach State.

I was really reluctant to attend because I haven't had good experiences with speed training but at the last minute, I decided to go. I also hesitated because of the scorching sun but something inside me told me I should give it a try.

We started off with our ChiRunning body looseners and then Coach Steve had us run three easy laps around the track. I struggled to run at about a 13:30 pace in the heat.

Once we were warmed up, he had us do some 100 meter drills. We did skipping, high knees, heel kicks, and crossovers. I refrained from participating in the crossovers because I am terrified I might sprain my right ankle again.

After we were thoroughly exhausted from the drills, we walked a lap and then Coach Steve instructed us to run a lap as fast as we could and then walk about 50 meters out and 50 meters back to the start to start the process all over again.

I started out running as fast as my little body could. I was huffing and puffing immediately. I looked down at Mr. Green Garmin and he told me I was doing a 7:50 minute mile. Gasping for breath, I slowed down to 8:00 but all that speed upset my stomach and I had to stop before I puked all over the Long Beach State track. There was no way I could maintain that speed over 400 meters.

After that, I slowed down significantly and walked a lot. I was grateful as the temperature decreased and an occasional breeze wafted through.

It finally came time for our cool-down of two easy laps. My stomach had settled at this point so I joined the group and was able to maintain a 10:30 pace. Coach Steve commented that I had gotten a second wind and I laughed and explained to him how I'd gone out way too fast on that very first lap.

We finished with Coach Steve leading our post-run yoga in the grassy area in the middle of the track as the sunset cast shadows over our mats.

The grass was plush so the ground was soft beneath our yoga mats. I was pleased to see some improvement in my pose transitions. I also focused on keeping my wrists straighter when I did downward dog.

I wore a brand new pair of New Balance 1012's to break them in before San Francisco. After the run, there were little bits of the dark red track material stuck to the sole.

For the first time in my life, I felt satisfaction instead of frustration after speed work. I'm glad I gave the Sole Runners track workout a try.