Workout. The last 2 weeks have been solid with big workouts and plenty of distance at T and MP. Since the long runs have gone well, I wanted to deviate from the well-beaten Daniels path slightly in order to hit some faster paces. Today would have been a good day for a 5k-pace workout, but experience has shown that 5k pace at 4:30am on the levee doesn't go well. So I did 6 x mile cutdowns, starting at T and working down to 5:05. I would have liked to see sub-5 on the last 2 or at least the last one, but I couldn't get there. The usual light winter breeze was there, and it impacted the even numbers. (I say "winter breeze" but it was 60°F. Winter in New Orleans.)
6 x mile (3:00 rests)
5:25 (down)
5:23 (up)
5:10 (down)
5:12 (up)
5:05 (down)
5:07 (up)
I felt pretty terrible on the warmup and first rep and thought this was going to be a blown workout. Was working up a fartlek in my mind to sub into if things went downhill, but I surprised myself on rep 3 by nailing the targeted 5:10. Then hit the targeted 5:05 on #5 and still felt decent. By the end I felt like I could hit 2 more in the 5:05-5:10 range without going to the well. I think that's perfect for this workout.
Saturday will be a long grinder. It was important to get an injection of speed today.
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