Track Night

We tried out a different track this week - the Sycamore Jr. High track. I'd been there with Fleet Feet running groups before and knew it was very much open to the public. It seemed so small compared to Mason. Only 6 lanes instead of 8, and the surface was a black old style one, probably part asphalt and part tires?

Tonight's crew was me, Greg, Roman, Erin, Christen and Christen's friend Paige. Shaun was absent. He's doing a 50K race this weekend. Crazy.

Anyway, we warmed up for a mile. There were some kids streaming onto the field, playing football and soccer and cheerleading/dance kind of stuff. There were also a lot of adults streaming onto the track. I figured there would be some Fleet Feet training groups going on. It got crowded quick. Unfortunately, there was no track etiquette followed whatsoever. Walkers just chose lanes and went along not paying any attention to what was going on around them. There were groups 3 to 4 abreast starting in lane 1 to lane 4. On a 6 lane track that had about 20-25 people going around it. Ug. I got to witness some crabby lady who was walking in lane 1 complain about Greg and Roman passing her. Right after they went by her, she haughtily started throwing her elbows around while complaining, as if to say she'd elbow them next time...and I passed her (on the left) at the same time as she was doing this. Crazy lady. It reminded me of the cars that drive 35 mph at an angle across the Meijer parking lot and then give you a dirty look and throw their arms up in the air when they have to stop in order to not hit you as you properly travel down the marked lane. Oy, people. Maybe I should make up some track etiquette flyers for next time. I would have thought the Fleet Feet coaches would have told them about lane speeds, but I guess not. We all had bad experiences this evening with these people, who clearly owned the track tonight. Next time we all decided we'd just start yelling "track!" and push when they don't move :)

Anyway, the workout was overshadowed by stupid people, but I still had a good run. I did 4 x 800, so ran a total of 3 miles. :)  The first 800 was a little quick, at 4:07. Then the next two were 4:17. Last was 4:20. I'm happy with it, given the unfortunate distractions the entire time.