Hawthorne Track & Common Market Run

Time: 84:29
Distance: ~12 miles

W/u: 14:46 for ~2 miles
W/o: 4 sets of: 1k, (200m jog), 400m, (400m jog)
C/d: 39:34 for ~5 miles

Chris Lamperski and I met up over at the Common Market off Central Ave. as we wanted to fit in a workout prior to the Charlotte Meet Up Group run at 6:30 pm. Our plan was to jog over to Hawthorne HS and do something a little faster and then have a long cool down with the bulk of the running group. I thought up a basic workout that mixed a little bit of strength with speed and figured Chris and I could work together by sharing the lead.

When we showed up to the track at Hawthorne HS there was a pretty fit looking guy doing some faster laps. He told us that the track seemed to be accurate despite the grass growing in lane one, substantial cracks across the track and awkward shape to the oval. The track has really long straights and tight turns that would make the 400s a little tough.

Splits:
3:10.08 (60), 70.31 (2:12),
3:06.44 (63), 71.56 (2:17),
3:08.70 (62), 69.82 (2:14),
3:06.62 (65), 63.06 (2:07) for 30:09 total and 8,000 meters.

We used the first interval to get the pace down as we were shooting to hit 5:00 pace on the thousands. We ran evenly throughout and worked together well. On the third set, I asked Chris to lead out the first 500m and then stay close for the second half. He was hurting a bit after his chowdown/throwdown at The Burger Co. with Billy Shue, but he ran tough. The pace was relaxed and my legs felt fine at both speeds. I was ready to open things up by the time the final 400m came around. However, the tight turns made the 63 feel like a 60. I should also make note that we ran in lane two as to avoid the grass in lane one, but this also made each lap about 10 meters long.

We finished up with just enough time to jog back over to Common Market and meet up with a large group of other runners. Everyone headed out for the loop which is four miles long. I was surprised that some guys up front really pushed the pace and others were kicking to the finish. That's such a different way to train than I'm used to. I ran with Erik and Tyler and we gradually worked our way up to the top third of the group. My cool down was a bit faster than I would have liked, but having all the people out was great.

After the run a bunch of the runners stuck around and drank pints in Common Market. It was the typical CM crowd with piercings, skinny jeans, tattoos and sweet haircuts mixing it up with short shorts and moisture wicking clothing. Fun run, good group.