Back to the Grind

Time: 92:45
Distance: 12.8 miles

W/u: 27:25 for ~3.3 miles
W/o: 2 x 2 miles @ 5:10 pace, 4 x 800m @ 2:20-2:25
C/d: 20:57 for ~2.5 miles

Inspired by Geoffrey Mutai's 2:03:02 Boston Marathon performance I arrived at Rebecca Thomason's house having just dropped Meagan at the airport. She was headed up to Beantown a day late if you asked me. This was to be my first proper workout since last fall and I wasn't sure what to expect. The goal was to run at close to short term goal 10k pace (5:10s) for the 2 mile repeats and then drop the pace on the 800s.

Since Mr. Garmin is still broken (I'm lazy and haven't sent it off to be fixed) I had to run on somewhat of a standard loop. I opted for the two mile loop in Dilworth and began my workout from the 400m mark so that I could check my pace at the end of the Speed Loop. I've only run the loop with Caitlin so I'm not sure if it's a little short or long but I wasn't concerned as today was all about the effort.

The first two mile when according to plan. I was right where I needed to be and felt good running. On the second I struggled for the middle 5 minutes which cost me 10 seconds at the end. I lost focus and my pace clearly slowed. It was good that I recovered relatively quickly after both 2 mile efforts.

I jogged back in the direction of East Blvd. to start the 800s and ran into Larry Seaver. I had to ask where the actual start was because the mark is very faint. This also added 90 seconds to my rest as we chatted a bit. I kept going through 200m in 34-36 and slowing the entire way which tells me what I already know... I'm not that fit. My legs can handle the quickness of the splits I want to be running but I'm not aerobically efficient to maintain that pace.

Splits:
10:17 (3:00), 10:27 (4:29);
2:25.30 (2:10), 2:25.63 (2:09), 2:25.30 (2:10), 2:21.73 for 44:23 total and ~7 miles total.

My goal after running this workout is to come back in a few months and see if I can run 2 x 2 mile in 10:00, 6 x 800m in 2:20. I cooled down around the 2 mile loop while chatting with my buddy Lee Greenberg on the phone.