Somewhere back in time, the Grand Idiot Nitmos advised, "If you keep knocking out these easy feeling negative splitters, maybe you ought to kick up the training a notch!? Shouldn't be that easy. Start approaching the puke threshold."
Last night, after the sun had finally sunk into its bed below the treeline, I stepped out my door for a four-miler at attempted 10-K race pace. The puke threshold was my pursuit.
The result was failure and success. I blame the sushi for both.
My four-mile neighborhood loop features a mostly downhill first half and a steady uphill second half, with the dreaded Garman Hill a mile from the endpoint. I set my pace range between my 10-K PR pace of 8:11 per mile and that puke inducing 10-K pace of 8:33. The result was a disappointing 8:55 per mile, despite a hard kick to the finish.
I flew through the first half, but maybe took it too easy for the first few minutes. I seemed to be on pace at my estimated mile markers.
When I encountered the uphill portion, I tried to keep up my pace with light pole intervals. My neighborhood loop finishes with a final road crossing and then a very flat 0.1 mile straightaway, where I attempt to expel the remaining effort left in the tank.
I had the right-of-way with lucky timing of the traffic light, and I burst into my finishing kick as I crossed the intersection. The whole time I'm concentrating on forefoot striking and turnover. I do not relent until I pass the gray utility box near the end of the block, where I reach across my body and press the stop button on my watch.
The effort tightened my lungs and diaphragm and I felt the familiar twinge in my guts. I trotted around the corner until the feeling subsided. The puke threshold was near. I could taste rice, soy sauce and wasabi from my dinner.
I don't usually run after dinner. This is probably why.
13 comments:
Your first mistake was paying attention to anything that Nitmos says.
Is it safe to eat sushi in Ohio?
Now that sounds like a work out designed to build speed!
Also, when I said "approaching the puke threshold" I guess I really meant "crossing the puke threshold." Makes for a more satisfying ending (for us).
I can imagine washabi would have been painful coming back up.
At least your abs got a good workout!!!
BLAAHHHH!!!
I agree with Nitmos. More puke, less foreplay. Nobody likes a tease.
I don't want you to puke. But if you break an ankle I'll send you a get-well card.
soulds like some dry-heaving to me; so you made it to the puke threshold (Yeah)!
Sounds like the fish was fresh if you didn't taste THAT about to come back up.
Blech. And I tought burping up cucumbers the entire time on my 4 mile run sucked. That sounds much more unpleasant.
What a build up to no climax. I was so waiting for the sushi up-chuck.
In the summer, it's always a tough call on when to eat dinner, but trust me (someone who has indeed thrown up sushi), rice hurts to barf.
lol. Matt Fitzgerald, author of a plethora of running books, is an advocate of doing a "puke threshhold" run at the end of every stage (4 stages) in his training plans. Okay, well, he doesn't call it the puke threshhold, but that's what he means.
I know what you mean about the sushi thing... I ran last night 2 hours after dinner... you do get used to it, though.
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