Runners sprint...and so do I

I'm really bad at paying attention to the training schedule - and I apparently missed the announcement from Head Coach Michael Gaige last week that said we'd be doing sprints this week.

Yikes. Sprints.

I'm lucky, though. Having trained with this program last year I have a good idea what to expect (hence the lackluster effort to pay attention to the schedule).

But for other runners in the group who heard the "S" word last week, I imagine their thought process went just like mine did when I first heard the word last year: "Sprints? Say what?! Did he just say sprints? He couldn't have. I'm not ready for any damn sprints - that's obvious. Are they trying to KILL me? That must be it! The whole world is against me! Why, God. Why?!?"

Whatever they were thinking, it must have been bad. Half the group failed to show last night. Maybe they were frightened off by the chilly wind. Maybe they were scooping out avocados in preparation for a wild Cinco de Mayo house party. Whatever the reason, the ranks were thin.

But we hardcore folks jogged out to the the Back Cove and ran sprints around the soccer fields. Head Coach Michael said that including sprints in your training is a great way to amp up your breathing efficiency - quickly, too. It's also a good change of pace from the regular routine.

The faster group looped around both fields - mine stuck to running around just one. The short course was split into quarters: sprint a leg, jog a leg, sprint a leg, jog a leg. Like so:

We went around four times total, then huddled by the water cooler for some much-needed air and water.

As we stood there recuperating, someone pointed out the empty Geary's packaging lingering suspiciously close to the water cooler. "This IS water, right?"

Yeah, it was just water. But I wished - just for a moment - that it wasn't.

We were allowed to jog/walk the mile or so back to the store, but the sprinting had me too jazzed up to consider walking. So I ran the whole way back (alternating between a slow jog and a faster run the entire way...I like this interval stuff).

Yea, sprints are okay by me.