Michigan Workout

Time: 87:25
Distance: 13.5 miles

What a great day to be out running. The wind was kind and the temperature was warm. Tom planned an unreasonably fast workout. I thought that I would give it a shot and see what happened. I warmed up to the track in 21:02. Stretched out and put on the Nike XC Streaks. I had mapped out a mile loop on the road before heading to the track but I was unable to use it because the southwest gate was locked. Instead I had to use the northeast gate and change the road mile portion of the run.

Target: Mile, (road mile), 1200, (road mile), 800, (road mile), 600 in 4:30, (6:00), 3:12, (6:00), 2:05, (6:00), 1:30.
Splits: 4:32.87, (6:07), 3:25.52, (6:25), 2:13.51, (6:22), 1:35.75. Jogged for 4:59 then did 4 x 200 in 29.81, (57), 30.25, (57), 29.87, (56), 28.56, (57). Total of 41:30 and about 7 miles.

I felt good, but the splits weren't attainable. Last week I ran 3:12 in spikes...fresh. Now I was supposed to run 3:12 in flats after a mile in 4:30 and a road section in 6:00. Possible? Sure. Likely? No.

Anyway, I'm glad I got the workout in. I felt relaxed for the most part, but I couldn't get turned over quick enough to be on pace. I would have greatly helped to have a training partner on a workout like this. I miss the days when you could float through certain intervals knowing that all you had to do was tuck in and relax. No I'm forced to lead each one and concentrate on hitting each time. My best workouts came when I only had to focus on the 3 or 4 intervals that were my responsibility to lead. If a teammate was feeling good and pushed the pace, it was no big deal because I knew that I had a chance to get him back at the end.

C/d of 24:53 back to the Lodge after a short visit with Jilane in the newsroom. I got my first "cat call" of the season down by the sorority houses. --> This guy <--