Speed

"Focus your efforts on seeing what it feels like to go FAST! Take your speed work right to the edge of really intense sensation (but keep your form together so you don't get injured)." - Coach Sage

"I'm o.k.....I'm o.k.....I'm o.k.......I'm just really, really, really uncomfortable!" -- Robyn's inner mantra during this week's speed workouts

One and half weeks until our first race of the season and we're in the middle of a two week anaerobic endurance / speed building workout block. Early on this year, we talked a lot about wanting to get faster, wanting to improve, wanting to see what our bodies could really do if we REALLY put in the time, effort, and smart training. Funny how speed works, though....we don't get faster just by wanting. We get faster by working.

And so working, we are. And work it is! As gals more accustomed and comfortable with long, slow, distances, speed does not come naturally. But while the physical output it's taking to go faster is really challenging, we're finding the the mental output is even more so. Going fast for us speed newbies requires complete mental concentration. There's no zoning out. There's no dialing in and letting gravity take over. There's no casual taking in of the scenery. We have to concentrate -- on cadence, on breath, on form, on cadence, on cadence, on cadence.....

It's tough.

But we are getting faster!