No need for.... speed?

On weeks that are free of tempo runs, one of my mid-week training days ends in speed/form drills. During a one-minute period, I run and gradually pick up pace until I'm essentially running all-out. Somehow I'm supposed to be thinking about form during all of this... A thirty second break and the cycle is repeated three additional times.

Speed drills are usually a necessary evil. The first two may be sort of fun, but after that it gets hard -- and, after all, I'm already tired from the 40-minute run.

Today the schedule fell so that Tiffany and I ran drills together. And it essentially felt like a game of tag -- mostly because Tiffany takes off in front of me, and I'm left to try and catch up! But something about the chase (and knowing it will only last a minute!) turns a routine drill into something fun and childlike. T zooms forward, so I surge to follow, thinking that SOME day I may just catch up. And then the minute is over, we recover and the chase begins again. I ALMOST caught her in drill 4. We were essentially running together, and when she noticed, she picked up the pace -- sadly, I was already running as fast as I found possible =0)

I've needed the play-like attitude of this week. I started this whole race-training thing because running is FUN. But somewhere amongst the schedules and early mornings, it finds a way to lose its appeal. Between puddle-jumping and unofficial games of tag, the fun has been renewed.