Wow, I cannot believe the Philadelphia Marathon is only three weeks away. In order to makeup for the interval workout I missed on Friday and to ramp up for the big race, it was time for some speed play. Consequently, early in the afternoon, I ran 2.9 miles up to Olympus High School and competed a Yasso 800 workout. The results for each of the fast 800s are as follows: 2:36, 2:44, 2:41, 2:41, 2:47, 2:48, 2:45, 2:44, 2:46, and 2:47. My average on the slow laps equates to 2:35 (a range from 2:00 to 3:05) and the average of my fast 800s calculates to 2:43 (i.e., this is a high 2:43 in that one more second would have made it 2:44). The weather was pretty nice (just a little headwind when running north on the track) and I felt exhausted after my 5th and 6th interval (i.e., I did not know if I was going to complete the entire workout); however, this was my best Yasso 800 workout to date in terms of faster averages for both my the recovery and threshold laps. I concluded my workout by jogging 2.8 miles back to home.
While watching Meb Keflezighi, one of my favorite elite runners, run an absolutely amazing and inspiring race to win the 40th New York City Marathon, I completed my non-running workout which consisted of 220 sit-ups, 30 push-ups, and a 60-second plank on elbows and toes. A final thought on the NYC Marathon, with six of the men’s top ten spots (Ryan Hall--another favorite--finishing in 4th) going to American runners, this is more evidence that the USA is officially back in terms of distance running!!! | 