McAlpine Work

Time: 81:49
Distance: 13.18 miles

W/u: 22:26 for 3.04 miles
W/o: 2 x 4 miles with 4 mins recovery
C/d: 16:27 for 2.14 miles

I met up with some of the Queens boys at the main entrance to McAlpine. One athlete was running 300s, two were doing a 3-mile predator run and two were running a 5-mile predator. I was gearing up for a long 2 x 4-mile effort around marathon pace.

The warm up brought us the the one mile mark of the Footlocker course. The two runners who were doing the longer predator run (Oscar and Benny), had to run the final two miles of the cross-country course and then the course once more. I would be running the final two miles and the first two miles. A little confusing, but it worked out. I would run the same four miles on my second repeat, except in reverse. This meant on the first I would have to go up with hill twice, and on the second I would have to go up the hill twice, but in reverse (the steeper side). Writing this feels like a routine of "who's on first?"

Splits:
5:29.49 (hill)
5:12.51 (10:42)
5:19.75 (16:01.75)
5:23.20 (hill #2) for 21:25 total and 5:21 average.

(4 mins recovery)

5:25.82 (hill reverse)
5:18.77 (10:44)
5:28.39 (16:13)
5:20.32 (hill reverse) for 21:33 total and 5:23 average.

I felt good on the first tempo as I had Oscar and Nelson out front to eye. I got a little aggressive on the second mile when I dropped that 5:12 but I felt easy doing it. I closed the gap that mile on Nelson who was stopping at 3 miles. I was able to attack the second hill and coast down the backside for a solid split. With 4 miles down, I ran a loop of the pond and took a minute to gather myself. Knowing I had to run the same course in reverse was a little intimidating but manageable.

I will admit that those two hills in reverse rocked my world. It felt like I was walking up the backside of the hill because I practically was. I went into the hill on the first mile running 5:10 pace and came down from it running 5:30. My splits were able to recover however. I'm not sure what happened on that third mile where I struggled with a 5:28. A loss of focus on my first workout like this certainly showed. Overall, I'm pleased with how things went. I think had this workout been done on a flatter section of McAlpine I could have averaged 5:15s with little effort. To throw in four hills made the workout honest and forced a mental toughness on the day.