Track Workouts with Justin Stewart

Here are three of my track workouts I have done in the past few weeks. Stair climbing season has come to an end for me and now begins the cycling/running season. I am a runner first and foremost but this summer I am focusing on cycling so I can build my legs up for the fall when the stair climbing season kicks back up. Yet this does not mean I totally neglect the running aspect of my training. Stair climbing throughout the winter has created a huge base for me so that I can pop off great track workouts like I have been here lately. So here are a few samples of my speed workouts I have done here lately.  Check em out... Workout #1 on Tuesday March 27th, 2012 Workout: 400, 4x200, 400 @85%, 4 min. rest b/w 400 and 200's, 2 min. b/w 200's.   Splits: 58, 29, 28, 29, 28, 56 Im running the 800 this weekend at the Big Blue Open at Eastern Illinois University.  Thought Id try my favorite 800m workout to see where I stand.  Kind of surprised myself tonight on how much foot speed I still have without doing much running or speed work.  I guess the cross training/stairs/cycling keeps the legs well tuned an strong.  Felt pretty good, not as smooth as a year or two ago but still quick.     Workout #2 Wednesday April 18th, 2012 4 x 200m backwards running Splits: 34.8, 34.7, 34.9, 35.9 I was trying to see how close I am to the 200m backward running World Record.  Just ended up doing 4x200's.  Felt pretty fast surprisingly. Im a good 2 seconds off the WR in the 200.  I will try some 400's next week or so and maybe an 800. Getting a WR in a backwards running event is one of my long term goals.     Workout #3 Wednesday May 2nd, 2012 Workout: 4 x (400/200) w/ 2min rest b/w intervals and 3min. rest b/w sets I just kind of threw this workout together as I was doing it. I ran a solid 400 and then decided to run a 200 and so on, cam together nicely though for a great workout.  I was in trainer the first two sets then I put on spikes for the last two.  It was pretty windy going into the homestretch as well. Since I kind of threw the wokout together as I went I didnt have any set times I wanted to hit. I hit 60 seconds for the first 400 and felt good then I hit 30 for the 200 so I decided to see if I could keep that pace for the rest of he workout which I did to a T and even a little faster on the last set.  For the mileage I have been puttin here lately Im very happy with this effort. I am just doing a speed workout every other week to maintain speed and so I can pop off another good 800 or mile coming up here in a couple weeks. Splits:   60, 30         60, 29        60, 28       58, 27 Overall Thoughts The past couple months of training have, in my opinion, been some of the best weeks of training I have every had. I feel amazingly fit and quick of little miles 10-15 at most, running wise. I have completed two cycling races already this summer and have finished in the top 5 in both races, and I am still trying to learn the sport of cycling. I have also ran a solid 1:56.4 in the 800m.  A couple weeks ago I felt like my body was dragging a little bit and thought maybe I need some downtime since it has been a long haul of training since last year. But I think my training right now is low miles but high intensity; so I think I can keep this up until the end of May and take a couple down weeks and then kick back up.  That way I dont lose all that I have gained. Im taking one day at a time right now and training as I feel that day, which is a good place to be right now.