Jus' Running Track Workout

Time: 69:06
Distance: 10.65 miles

W/u: 15:51 for 1.86 miles
W/o: 41:38 for 7.48 miles (4 sets of 1 mile, 200 jog, 1k, 200 jog)
C/d: 11:37 for 1.31 miles

My travel schedule today took me from Charlotte, NC to Greenville, SC to Asheville, NC back home to Charlotte. I hadn't had the opportunity to run with Jus' Running's Tuesday night track group and thought tonight might provide an opportunity to work out with Norm's Maggots. Norm Blair is the owner of Jus' Running and his store's team wins the Blue Ridge Relay every year. His Maggots can run and I wanted to see if I had the stuff to compete with these guys.

I was introduced to Norm my first trip up to Asheville and while I was there I met Taylor Little who was getting ready to race USATF Club XC Nationals. He ran a solid race finishing just behind my former teammate at Brown, Ari Zamir who now runs for New Balance Boston. It was my hope that Taylor was doing something that would fit into my marathon training cycle. As luck would have it, Taylor was running 4 sets of 1 mile hard, 200 jog, 1k hard, 200 jog. This was close enough to what I was planning to do tonight (5 x 1.5 miles).

I knew that Asheville was going to be a bit colder than Charlotte but I didn't expect mid-20s. I was freezing my ass off, yet the store still had about 20 people show up to the Tuesday night workout. They were going to do 6 sets of 300 hard, 100 easy, 700 hard, 200 easy. While a few members of the group were former 29:00 minute 10kers, I'd say most were your average running enthusiasts. Jus' Running definitely has one of the most committed training groups that I've seen in my two months on the job. Norm has created a great little community in Asheville.

The workout splits:
5:07.43, (67), 3:06.20, (69);
5:04.31, (74), 3:08.60, (74);
5:05.65, (81), 3:06.87, (74);
5:07.25, (82), 3:08.36

That was brutal. I got my ass handed to me by Taylor. Granted we tried switching off every 800 meters, but I usually dropped off the second half which meant he got to draft on me for the first 800 and then hammer away. I was left running into the wind the entire interval. However, I think we enjoyed having another body there for the workout. Tonight I only had one gear. I could run 76 and 77 second quarters on the miles and 74 and 75 seconds during the 1ks. That isn't much range as basically I was holding pace for the faster sections. I guess this is what marathon training does to your legs.

Nevertheless, I was really pleased with the workout. I mentioned earlier how the temps were in the mid-20s and the wind on the back stretch was pretty real (15-20 mph). At one point there was a snow flurry that I noticed in the middle of the workout. When the National Marathon comes in March and I'm able to throw down 5:07, 5:04, 5:05 and 5:07, I'll be really happy and tough to beat.