AM - 3 easy miles this morning. Again, the pace was at least 8:15. PM - I showed up at the track this afternoon to run mile repeats with the team. I think that my expectations for myself just got bumped up a notch. I've been doing these on my own at around 5:00/mile thinking that I was doing a good workout. Today I averaged 4:49. So after my workout Saturday, my confidence was lacking quite a bit. One of these days I'll get around to blogging it, but I ran 2xmile on the short track in 4:50 and 4:46, and it felt difficult. I was worried that I had lost fitness from being at sea level and missing some of my workouts. Coach wanted the slowest guys to start at 4:52 and work their way down. I figured I might be able to average 4:55 for the entire workout. I started with a few of the rear guys, and came through the first one in 4:52. I felt very sluggish and didn't think I could run another that fast. The second rep felt much better, and I didn't pay much attention to the time, but just to stay with the guys I was with. 4:45 on that rep. I was shocked. A little too fast, but I didn't start to tire till the final lap. The third one was more conservative, and we ran a 4:49. Again, I didn't start to tire too bad till the final lap. The fourth rep was a lot more difficult, and the last two laps felt closer to race effort. I lost contact with the two guys I was with, but finished in 4:49 and was happy with it. They were 4:45ish. So I am very pleased with this workout. It gives me confidence that I can run considerably faster than last race. The team is running a tempo on Thursday, but I figure I'll sit it out in the interest of saving my legs for my last shot. Mile reps (4:45 - 5:00 rest): 4:52 4:45 4:49 4:49 | 