AM - Swung by Coach Eyestone's office this morning to make sure I had the dates right for the tryouts, since I've messed that up before. He mentioned that the winning times in the December race are usually high-8:40s, something that I think could be in reach. He also said that this race is really the deciding time trial for who makes the team, although if someone runs a great race in January, they always make sure to get that person on the team. So I've got mixed feelings about that. It would be nice to win this race, but I don't think I'll be able to go much under 8:50, if at all. My fitness just isn't there yet. So in that sense, I figure that by January I should be able to run closer to 8:40, but I don't know if that's enough to "turn heads," as Eyestone put it. I'm thinking that my best bet will be to train through next week's race, no taper, and try to peak as much as I can for January. Anyway, afterwards I went to the outdoor track for a workout. I wanted a mile-pace workout today, and it was tougher than I expected. I planned 2 x (4x400) with 1:30 rest between reps and 3:00 between the sets. I wanted the first four to start at about 67 and work down to 65, then the next set to start at 65 and, if I could, work down to 62 or 63 for the last one, or just maintain 65s if I couldn't drop time. I started at 68.00, then 66.7, 65.5, and 65.4. After the 4th I was already feeling beat. I took the 3:00 rest and got started on the next set. #5 was 65.5 and was difficult. Then 66.2 and 66.7 and I was considering not doing the last one. I knew 65 was out of the question, and 66 would be painful, but I decided the mental benefit of finishing the workout would outweigh the added stress of completing a workout that was a little over my head, so I dove into the last one. 67.1. It was painful. Overall average of 66.39. I definitely need to work on my speed. I've got more work to do on my aerobic conditioning, but that speed needs to be there. Based on today's workout, I think I'm in 4:23-4:25 mile shape, and I need to be in 4:15 shape. Anyway, it was a difficult workout, my body is now in pain, and I think I'll take things a little more easy until the race. Maybe a tempo run on Saturday and something easy but fast on Monday.
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