Trying to Open the Stride Up

Time: 88:23
Distance: 14.03
Pace: 6:18
W/u Splits: 7:40, 6:53, 6:42, 6:43, 1:45 (for .27 miles or 6:31 pace)
Workout Splits of 3 mins on/off (distance/pace): .52/5:45, .48/6:15, .56/5:24, .48/6:17, .55/5:26, .47/6:22, .58/5:10, .48/6:11, .56/5:22, .45/6:38
C/d Splits: 6:24, 6:23, 6:10, 3:40 (for .58 miles or 6:20 pace)

This morning I took a quick spin around North Base to warm the legs up. I ran easy around the empty streets and didn't see too much action other than a parking lot full of diners waiting at Ozzie's. I knew I wanted to change things up by running a bit quicker for part of the run today and before I headed out the door I set my watch timer for repeating 3-minute intervals (was that correct "-" usage Jilane?). I was dreading the change in pace a bit but I didn't want to stress about the pace and focused on turning the legs over so that I could open up the range of my stride.

At just over 4 miles into the run I tossed in the first hard effort along Robinson St. and averaged a whopping 5:45 pace. The pace dropped during the following intervals and the quickest ended up being the 5th one when I averaged 5:10 pace. I wasn't purposely attempting to follow the "hammer" interval that Jailhouse Jeff often has Team MJ do, but it just turned out that way. Also, the last interval I ran up the steep grass incline near Scotty D's house. The efforts on the hard intervals all felt about the same regardless of the pace. The rest intervals weren't run slow, but I was felt like I was recovering at the pace I was running.

I was glad to put in a solid amount of running this morning so that I can watch the OU vs. Florida game tonight and not have to put in some miles before heading to the bar.