I met Josse at Sasha's and did two laps around his block so we could be warmed up and stretch before we started. It was Jeff, Sasha, Josse, and I and MattK joined us on the river trail. Then we did 6x1 mile repeats. I wanted to do 5:45's but then Sasha only wanted to do 200m rests, so I downgraded my pace expectation to 5:50, which really took some pressure off. Sasha pulled Josse in a harness so he decided 400m rest was better, but I kept my expectations at 5:50 or lower just hoped to not give up for #5 and #6. We reversed direction on each mile (1,3,5 are very slight downhill, 2,4,6 are very slight uphill).
I don't have my watch so I have to go off memory: 1 - 5:46, felt in control, after the first mile, I inform Matt that we were doing 6 miles. I didn't think he'd do them all (I need to psych up for big workouts like this) but he was a real trooper and was strong through all miles. Sasha groaned through this mile after about .25 and I told him after the mile was done that I was about to punch him.
2 - 5:49 3 - 5:46, felt much harder than #1, but I was stronger than my #3 mile two weeks ago, no mid mile slow down 4 - 5:45, feeling capable of completing the workout 5 - 5:44, felt painful but still no slowdown 6 - 5:42, slowed down in the second quarter of this mile, held on for the third quarter, but kicked the last 200m with Matt and Jeff. Thanks so much to Jeff for encouraging me in this mile. This is really the only mile where I needed him to tell me to close the gap and stay strong, etc. This is my best workout of the year, possibly of my life (not my fastest, but I am now a marathoner I have to remind myself). I have to go an ruin the post workout euphoria by getting in a tiff with Sasha about whether it's ever ok to race on Sunday. Sorry Jeff, Josse, and Sasha for that one. I obviously don't like being told what to do. Ice bath after weight 123 | 