Wave Tempo

Goal:
10 Mile Wave in 5:55/6:25

Actual:
2.3 mile warmup
10 Mile Wave in 5:55/6:45
2 mile cool down for 14.3 miles total
2:58/3:00 (5:58)
3:23/3:20 (6:43)
2:56/2:57 (5:53)
3:30/3:30 (7:00)
3:03/2:59 (6:02)
3:20/3:16 (6:36)
2:55/2:59 (5:54)
3:24/3:20 (6:44)
2:56/3:00 (5:56)
3:40/3:20 (7:00)

Aaron had a similar workout to what Mark had on my schedule, so I decided to go down to his neck of the woods and run with him at McMullen in the morning.  While my confidence is still coming back, I really practiced going into this workout with some positive energy and trust that I could accomplish a solid effort of work for 10 miles.  Fortunately, my mental planning paid off because I was able to hit a pretty decent wave workout. Contrast this to two weeks ago, when I set out to do a 10 mile tempo and really just ended up running a 5 mile tempo at slower than my goal marathon pace.  Figures how a 20 degree drop in temperature and 14 days of iron supplementation can really come through.  While I do feel like my iron is probably coming back to a fairly normal level, I still don't know for sure and my times still aren't reflecting that I'm 100% better.  Typically for this type of workout, my "slower" portion would be between 6:20-6:30 and I was a bit off of that today.  However, I am excited by my faster splits because this was the first time that I've run 6:00 pace and had it feel easy.  In fact, for the very first interval, I thought that maybe we were too slow, but we came through right on pace for 6:00.  Despite the small improvement, it's enough to keep me smiling.  Looking forward to my next workout 3x2 mile later this week.

5 Mile Wave

Goal:
5 Mile Wave at 3:00-3:05/2:45-2:50

Actual:
2-ish warmup
3:03/2:53
3:02/2:54
2:58/2:51
2:59/2:55
2:59/2:53
2 mile cool down

14.5 miles for the day

I've been spending so much time watching the Olympics that I haven't been going to bed at a reasonable hour, so needless to say that when my alarm went off, I wasn't having any of it.  So, I just did a short double and then texted Matt to see if he wanted to workout in the evening.  Matt is almost always guaranteed to be willing to workout in the evening.  I wasn't feeling too hot, so when we went to the Dilworth Speed Loop, I just figured that I would go on feel and try to not focus on the time.

We started out and Matt would be a little ahead of me on the fast, and then I would get a little ahead of him on the easy part.  Essentially, I should have slowed down more on the easy portions of this workout, but I felt good so I just kept going.  Matt dropped off after 4 miles, so I was left solo for the final mile.  In the end, I didn't hit the goal times for the fast portion, but I also went too fast for the easy portion.

5 Mile Wave

Goal:
5 mile wave at 3:05/2:50

Actual:

3 mile warmup
5 mile Wave at an estimated 3:10/3:00
1.5 mile cool down for 9.5 miles total
4.5 miles in the PM

Since I spent 9 hours in the car and returned home from Indiana last night at 10PM, this workout was doomed before I even laced up my shoes.  It's difficult to stay hydrated while in the car for that long and it probably prevented healthy blood flow from my legs.  I didn't feel bad on my warmup, but once I started the workout, it was really difficult to hit my target paces even though my breathing was fine.  My legs just didn't have that extra gear.  It was definitely hot and humid, and I think that some days it affects me more than other days.  Today was not particularly a great one, but even after my Garmin died, I maintained a hard/medium effort for the whole five miles.  My cool down was ridiculously slow, but it was all that my legs could muster.  Looking forward to a better workout on Friday.