6 x mile repeats with 5-min active rest between each. I decided to try something new and ran east from my house 2 miles, which took me about a mile up Emigration Canyon. I then did one repeat up the canyon, one down, and so on until I had done 6 total, then jogged home. I alternated my active rest between climbing and descending (which explains the different elevation loss and gain between each repeat) so that I finished the last repeat at the mouth of the canyon so that I would have just over a mile of cooldown. Splits were as follows:
1: 6:19 (170 bpm, 121 ft elevation gain)
2: 5:16 (171 bpm, 116 ft elevation loss)
3: 6:27 (174 bpm, 127 ft elevation gain)
4: 5:12 (169 bpm, 152 ft elevation loss)
5: 6:43 (173 bpm, 249 ft elevation gain)
6: 5:17 (168 bpm, 152 ft elevation loss)
Fortunately, my hamstring tightness from yesterday was gone, and all systems seemed to be functioning pretty well. I should note that there was the usual canyon wind, which meant that the ascending repeats were into the wind and the descending repeats were wind-aided. Still, maintaining anything close to MP while ascending feels impossible at this point in my training. Given the fact that I gave away lots of time at SG '09 on the uphill sections, I think I'll do this type of up-down repeat workout several more times throughout the course of my training this year. Hopefully that will help me stanch the bleeding enough to keep my average pace where it needs to be in October. | 