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May 10, 2011

Need for speed(work)

For the past few summers, I've thought it would be fun (yes, fun!) to go to some group track sessions. 

But as a journalist, I keep unusual -- or at least late -- hours. So the speed/track sessions I've found around town don't work for me. I know of sessions at the Hopkins Track at 6:30 p.m. on Thursdays, which is before I get off work, and the Pacemakers' 5:30 a.m. session on Wednesdays, which is just waaay too early for me to even consider being out of bed.

To get faster, I know I don't need a group. Or even a track. I've even got a recent Runner's World article that tells me how to do speedwork on my own, on a road or a trail. 

Now, I know this might sound weird, but I have found memories of Coach Scott - my cross country coach from high school - and the barf-inducing track sessions she tortured us with. Just the mention of the word "fartlek" gave me butterflies and made me wish I'd stayed home. But no matter how hard the workout, I was always happy afterward. Not just because it was over, but because I'd gotten through it. And each time, it got a little easier to stomach. I got stronger. And faster.

Now that I've completely over-romanticized my high school track torture, I'm wondering if anyone out there knows of a group with speed workouts that I'm not finding. Something on the weekends? Or later in the mornings on weekdays? Anything? 

I can't be the only only who works long days and would be interested in such a group. 

Posted by Anica Butler at 12:00 PM | | Comments (3)
Categories: Running
        

Comments

Mrs. MarkT is planning to check out this one tonight: http://www.charmcityrun.com/page.cfm?pageid=53&pid=16

(Not that the time, 6:15pm, is any better for you, just adding it to the list)

Thanks for sharing! Even though I can't make that one, I'm sure others would like to know about it. - anica

In the spirit of MarkT's post I was going to add a Tuesday night track workout that allegedly takes place near me, but it looks like it's moving for awhile:

http://bit.ly/k3k8qV

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About Exercists
Andrea Siegel, a reporter at The Baltimore Sun, covers mostly crime and courts in Annapolis and Anne Arundel County, as well as legal issues. She wishes she was more physically fit, and, as she's more fond of chocolate than exercise, fitness is a challenge. Her partner on a one-mile-plus daily walk is the family dog, a mixed breed named Moxie, and she exercises at the gym where the D.C. snipers once worked out.
Jerry Jackson has been a photo editor at The Baltimore Sun for 14 years and an avid cyclist for more than 30 years. Inspired by the movie "Breaking Away," he started racing as a teenager in Mississippi when leather "brain baskets" were still the norm. He regularly commutes to work by bike and still enters several mountain bike races a year for fun.
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Patrick Maynard, who will be writing about running and walking, has been a producer for baltimoresun.com since 2008. In 2009, he tweeted on-course for the Sun from the Baltimore Marathon, finishing in just under 4 hours and almost managing to run the whole time. He sometimes walks to the Sun offices on Calvert Street.
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Leeann Adams, a multimedia editor at The Baltimore Sun, also dabbles in content for the mobile website and iPhone app and covers the Ravens via video. She did a triathlon to celebrate her 40th birthday and continues to swim, bike and run -- none of them quickly, though. Her biggest fitness challenge is to balance working, working out, spending time with her husband and being a mom to a 6-year-old boy.
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Anica Butler, the Sun's crime editor, is a former high school runner and recovering vegetarian who spent more of her early-adult years on a bar stool than working out. She is currently training (though poorly) for a half marathon and is trying to live a generally healthier lifestyle. She also hates the gym.
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