3, 2, 1... Done

Time: 82:54

Distance: 18.86k

W/u: 26:12 for 5.12k

W/o: 3 miles, 2 miles, 1 mile with 800 recovery

C/d: 13:35 for 2.39k

Like last Saturday, I got to tag along in a workout with Paul, Spada and Meagan. Only Mr. Beigay was missing this week, but that's because he ran The Bear on Thursday evening. The workout was 3 miles, 2 miles, 1 mile starting at about 5:30 pace which was then adjusted according to Paul's coach, Tim Budic. Since I was only tagging along I wasn't concerned with hitting specific splits, I just wanted to provide some company for Paul on these repeats.

The course was pretty simple as we warmed up out to the 3 mile marker at McAlpine. The first repeat would be straight back to Old Bell with 800 jog in between. Fortunately we all came prepared with bottles of water as this was going to be a hot one.

I felt good during the opening 3 mile section as if necessary I could have upped the pace. However, that feeling was short lived as once we stopped to get water and jog I could tell that I was going to be hurting. Knowing that the pace would drop didn't do much to make me feel any better despite the distance getting shorter. I finished the 3 miles feeling hot, but the overheating cues didn't arise until about 12 minutes into the workout. This wasn't the case on the 2 mile interval as 90 seconds in, I felt hot and sticky.

Splits:

3 mile in 16:45 - 3:25, 3:32, 3:30, 3:23, 2:55 (for .83k or 3:31 pace)

(4:29 for .83k)

2 mile in 11:11 - 3:23, 3:26, 3:33, :49 (for .23k or 3:35 pace)
(5:11 for .85k)

1 mile in 5:24 - 3:21, 2.03 (for .61k)

43:07 for 11.35k

Avg - 3:47/k

I tried my best to stay on pace even when Paul dropped back and eventually called the interval at 1.5 miles. I ran to the 2 mile marker knowing the final 2k was just flat out bad. I tried to regroup for a final mile interval and all I could muster was a 5:24. The smoothest part of the workout was when I snatched my Nuun bottle off a ledge with 600 meters to run.

Everyone was feeling the effects of the heat, humidity and dew point today. We were all glad to put in some work and survive.

McMullen Tempo

Time: 79:52

Distance: 19.38k

W/u: 16:19 for 3.31k

W/o: 8 mile tempo between 5:50 and 6:00/mile

C/d: 16:11 for 3.19k

This workout has been blogged about by Meagan and Steve and mentioned on Facebook by Paul and Beigay. I'm just now getting to it because I'm a slacker.

I'm not sure why I felt inclined to jump in this workout because I really just want to be running for the month of July. I guess the thought of putting in solo kilometers along McMullen was too McMahon-esque. I didn't think the pace or the distance was too unreasonable for my current fitness, so in a Boondocks Saint's mixed idiom, I threw caution to the early bird catching the worms.

Meagan and I met Paul, Steve and Mike at McMullen for a light warm up just before a local Team In Training chapter started their run. We all regrouped and kicked off the 8 mile workout that would be out and back right around 7:00 am. I was content to sit toward the back of the group and let Paul and Steve do most of the work. I wanted to keep Meagan in the workout for as long as possible before checking my fitness later on. We stayed together as a group through about the 10k mark when Meagan called it a day (she did run a hard mile to finish up). I rallied from several meters back to catch Paul and Mike who were both having pretty solid runs.

During the 10th kilometer my chest/heart was definitely being tested as I felt some slight discomfort. It eventually subsided and I was able to run the final 2k somewhat more relaxed. In fact, if the pace kicked up a notch the final few minutes, I would have been able to answer the challenge.

Splits: (just for reference 3:45/k is 6:00/mile pace)

3:45, 3:46, 3:43, 3:44, 3:37, 3:44, 3:41,

3:37, 3:37, 3:41, 3:35, 3:34, 3:38 for 47:22 total and 12.88k. 3:40 avg.

The splits aren't anything to brag about, but nice indication of where I'm at. In a few months I hope to run close to that pace on a medium long run done midweek.