13x400m on Speed Loop

Goal:
5 Mile Wave

Actual:
3 mile warmup
13x400m with 1:00 rest at 76-79
2.5 cool down for ~9 miles total

I was going to do a 5 mile wave tempo, but I hadn't done speed in a while and I had the Moe's Burrito Dash coming up on Saturday.  So I switched things up and opted to do a tempo next week.   Phil came out with me for the first 5 intervals, but then the top of his foot began to hurt and so he dropped out.  Later he sent me a snapchat with a picture of him in a boot -- stress reaction.  With him out, I changed my strategy because my motivation was wavering.  I relaxed as much as possible going through the first half and then once I passed the 200m mark, I changed gears to push really hard.  This method seemed to work really well for me because all of my times began to drop.  I was running 1-2 seconds faster than I had with Phil!  After I completed 13 400s, I called it a day and ran home, feeling satisfied with the effort.

Some 400s on the DSL

Goal:
14x400m with 1:00 rest

Actual:
3.7 mile warmup
4x600m (157, 200, 159, 200 w/ 1:45 rest)+ 6x400m (77, 77, 77, 77, 75, 75 w/ 75 sec rest)
3 mile cool down for 10 miles total

I had 14x400m on the schedule for today, but I really want to set myself up for a PR on Saturday, so I decided to switch it up a bit for only 3 miles of quality.  I had the pleasure of working out with Laurie for the first time in 2013 and it was a tremendous help!  All the guys that I typically work out with were all recovering from PRs from the weekend, so it was basically just the two of us on the Dilworth Speed Loop in the dark, early morning hours.

There really isn't much to report here except that I came away feeling like I got some good turnover in the legs without overly taxing myself physically.  I'm looking forward to more workouts with Laurie as we both continue to get into better shape than we are now!

10x400m with Meagan!

Goal:
No workout

Actual:
2.5 mile warmup
10x400m with 1:00 rest at 75-78
3 mile cool down for ~8.5 miles

While I had hoped that the sun would make an appearance for Meagan's visit to Charlotte, it didn't quite work out that way.  Instead, the temperature hovered at 37 degrees the entire day, from 5:30AM until 5PM, not budging a smidgen over that.  To make matters worse, it was raining.  I woke up to Meagan peering outside the window, desperately trying to tell if it was raining hard.  Without less than a second thought, we both decided sleep outweighed running. As a side note, when I went to work, both my boss and my co-worker commented that I looked "tired."  So that definitely means that running in the morning makes me look more spritely rather than sleeping in.

We headed out the door later that afternoon for the Dilworth Speed Loop, where we traversed back and forth on the 800m section.  I felt good through about 7 and then I started to feel less energized.  My quads were very cold and much too red, but I powered through, without a single interval slower than my times a couple weeks ago.  Meagan pulled away from me on the last 3-4, but a part of me didn't care because I knew she was running really fast, while I was just running fast.  Indeed, I was already ahead of myself since I hadn't planned to do a workout anyways.

While the quantity was low, the quality was high, the company splendid, and the weather terrible.  But that didn't stop us from getting the work done in miserable conditions and then rewarding ourselves with a smoothie from Carolinas Smoothie.  Nothing is better than working out with one of my besties.  Too bad this is tricking me into thinking Meagan's back for good!

16x400m Repeats

Goal:
16x400m with 1 min rest at 78-83

Actual:
3 mile warmup
16x400m at 78-83 with 1:00 rest
2.5 mile cool down for 9.5 miles total

pm:  4.5 miles for 14 miles total

After learning that I've got low iron and that I'm trying to do too much at this point in my life, I decided to do 400s.  Why 400s? Because they are easy to handle mentally and I didn't have to even look at my splits on the speed loop.  I was fortunate to have the company of Spada and Caleb for this workout in the early morning hours on the Dilworth Speed Loop.  We started off and I felt okay, not too winded but not a walk in the park, either.  I let Caleb and Spada speed ahead in front of me, and felt no worry. I didn't look at my splits, which helped a lot.  Towards intervals 10, 11, and 12, I felt terrible, and when I looked at my splits after the workout, my times reflected this (81-83 splits here), but then I was able to pull it back together by the last set.  In fact, I really wanted to quit after 12 intervals, but I vowed to myself prior to the workout that if things started getting tough that I would just slow it down.  I didn't even have to slow it down once I reached what I thought was my breaking point; I just needed to get my mind focused and in the right spot and I was able to fight through my own mental shortcomings.  All in all, the focus of this workout was to run fast time.  Instead, it was to come out of it feeling mentally stronger than when I went into it, and I achieved just that.