Missing intervals

Hey listen: Everybody’s a little mentally fried at this point in the collegiate school year.

The end of the second semester has more challenges for our student-athletes than the end of the first semester. At the end of the first semester, in December, we are training hard – when are we NOT training hard? – but there is little to no focus on actual meets. The opposite is true now, as we are competing – and competing well! – at late season outdoor meets, culminating with the MAAC meet on Saturday/Sunday coming up.

Add to that the stresses of what I call the “long goodbye process” with our graduating seniors, planning for next year (housing, class schedules, etc.) for our returning athletes … and sometimes it feels as though our collective heads are spinning.

So it was the past two Wednesdays, when somehow, some way, a few intervals of interval workouts got lost in the clouds above the Vassar track.

--Last week, I had a group of men’s distance runners doing various intervals. I had the workout all typed out and organized. The last portion of the workout called for 4x400 at an up-tempo pace. Only, I had forgotten my own workout. After the men completed two of the 400s, I started high fiving and fist-bumping them, signifying the end of the workout.

Huh? Some were confused. Others were thrilled. The workout ended early! What gives? An idiot coach is what gives. Honestly, many times in workouts I use the “eye test.” My eyes saw that it was a quality workout and the 2x400s were plenty fast and acted as a good punctuation to it. The extra two intervals would have been gratuitous, especially this late in the season. So we skipped them. Unintentionally or intentionally … it does not matter.

--This week, we had a small group of ladies whose workout consisted of 3x1000 at threshold and 3x200 uptempo strides at the end. I only had one watch and I was overseeing several groups. After the ladies did the 1km intervals, I was looking to see how their 200s were going and make sure they were not fast.

But wait! Where did they go? About 10 minutes later, we saw them out on Hooker Avenue, cooling down! Upon returning to the track, they admitted they had totally forgotten the 200s portion of the workout. They did them after the cooldown. No big deal! No worries. Chalk it up to the end of the semester.

We could all use a mental moment’s pause at this point. But not yet! First, it’s on to the MAAC meet (and for some, the Vassar meet on Friday night) this weekend.