I was wrong about not having to run alone this morning. I hadn't really finalized plans with Randall. I got to the Y about 6:00 and he had gotten there at 5:30 and ran with Keith, Raj, and Tim. I'm not the best planner. My alarm had been set for 5:30 but I was woken by my oldest son 15 minutes early, nothing too urgent though. Well, I was up now. Unfortunately this didn't mean I got moving 15 minutes faster, it just took 15 minutes longer to get ready. When I got to the Y I felt a bit chilly and since I had missed the guys I went inside for a warm up on the bike and rower. I headed back outside just as the guys were getting back from their run. I said hi and then finally started moving. I did a two mile warm up and a nice easy pace. Stopped once to retie my shoe which was too tight, a good choice considering problems I have had in the past with shoes that are too tight. Sasha had advised me to do either a 3X2 or 2X3 instead of 1600's if I really wanted to do some speed work. These kind of scared me. This is good in a way since it means there is a challenge and without challenges it is hard to improve. Since I probably would have done 3 1600's I decided I would try doing at least two 2 mile repeats, figuring that was still one mile longer than 3 1600's. Still feeling a little bit guilty I settled on 2X2 followed by 1 mile. So, when I got going things felt better than expected. Usually the first mile of a tempo or speed workout is very mentally challenging, it wasn't so bad today. The weather was good, I felt warmed up and was able to get on pace right away. Here is what I did: 1st 2 mile repeat: 6:22, 6:27
2nd 2 mile repeat: 6:26, 6:28
Final mile: 6:26 I did 0.5 mile recoveries between. I think I could have done two miles in the third set but I had made a deal with myself and you can't break those deals ALL the time otherwise your body will think you are lying everytime :) Jogged back to the Y - a little over a mile away. Then, did some things inside, a quick cool down on the bike and some upper body weights. I don't have any more intervals planned for a while and there are no more races coming up - it will be a mix of easy, long, and some tempos. Average pace: 8:03 | 