Speed Surprise

Before I begin, I'll be perfectly honest: I am not starting from scratch with my training. You see, I recently tied the knot (to CBC`s lovely and talented reporter Sarah Trainor), and worked out for a solid three weeks so I would look good in my tux. My training plan, if you would call it that, consisted of painful two hour runs that barely progressed beyond a slow crawl. I saw some improvements in my physical appearance in the days leading up to the wedding, but I would have looked even better had I done anything besides eat from December to April. Oh well.

While the long runs didn`t firm up my abs, they did provide me a base from which to start my marathon training. At least that`s what I hoped when I laced up my shoes and headed down the street for a quick speed session. I hadn`t planned an extensive workout - about three kilometers worth of speed work, and six kilometers total running - but I worried that the extensive winter layoff, coupled with the extra twenty pounds around my waist, would result in a really painful evening.

I started the speed portion of my workout with an 800 meter loop. I expected I would finish in three minutes, so I was very surprised when I crossed the finish line in 2:50. Thinking I probably ran too fast, I started my 400 meter run conservatively, but still managed to finish in a minute and a half. So far so good.

The third leg of the run - a one kilometer loop - was tough. I started out strong, but struggled with my form around the halfway point. The small inclines in the course burned my calves, and I mentally battled the urge to slow down for the last 400 meters. Therefore, I was very pleased to run the loop in less than four minutes. Brimming with confidence, I polished off my last leg - 600 meters - in two minutes flat.

Overall, my times are slower than they were last year, but they aren`t that much slower. Give it a few weeks and I might be able to match or better my best times from 2010. I`m not sure how it will translate in a full marathon, but I imagine it will save me from slowly shuffling for twenty six miles in August. At least I hope it will.

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