Yesterday I did my first bit of speedwork in ages, and it wasn’t much at that: a 10-minute warm-up, 2 minutes at 5k or 10k pace, a 5-minute jog, 5 minutes at the higher pace, another 5-minute jog, 8 minutes at the higher pace, then jogging in for a total run of 50 minutes, plus a 5-minute cooldown walk.
All in all, it went well, I think, though I do have to be wary of doing the hard stuff harder than my fitness level calls for. I know I’m supposed to push myself to a certain level of discomfort when I do speed work, but I have a hard time knowing how hard that level should be. Since I haven’t raced since last Thanksgiving, and since I’m in nowhere near the shape I was then, I find myself in a nebulous realm of wanting to punish myself but knowing that doing so can really undermine my long-term attempt to get more fit.
So I’m trying to learn to feel my way, to use Perceived Level of Effort, though that is taking me a while a gauge. And I guess that’s okay. The shift from looking at a watch to listening to your body and your breathing requires patience, and ultimately that’s the point. I have to trust in myself, trust that I’m not going to let myself down or give up, even if that means I have to use trial and error and it takes longer to get as fast as I’d like.
