2 Burst of Speed

About 10 days ago, I hit the track for some 1 mile repeats. I did my good ole' "go to" speed workout of 3 x 1600 with 90 seconds rest. Here's what I was able to do:

800 m split, 800 m split = 1600 meters total
2:47, 2:43 = 5:30
2:50, 2:39 = 5:29
2:45, 2:39 = 5:24

Descended each 1600 AND the 3 intervals. Solid workout!!

Then last weekend I had that super crappy long run. Dang.

Finally, a few days ago, I headed out with Henry for a few easy miles before work (to get him to take a nap). I dropped him off at daycare, and I had about a half hour yet, so I headed right back out for a hard 5-mile tempo run. I wanted to slightly descend, but run it all pretty hard.

Here are my mile splits:

- 5:58: Mostly downhill, so I knew that'd be fast. But sub-6? Nice!

- 6:04: Solid. I wanted to get back under 6 now.

- 5:50: I turned around here, and I was working! I realized I could (and SHOULD) be going faster. I recalled something that Kevin O'Connor (2009 duathlete of the year) said at a duathlon clinic 2 years ago. He recommended doing tempo runs so hard that you think you won't be able to finish. Well, I thought I was going to finish just fine, so I upped the pace.

- 5:37: YES! I was working, but that was a great split! I was so happy with my times so far that I NEARLY let myself ease up. But I kept pushing hard. The final mile was uphill, so I knew I wouldn't descend even more, but I just "worked it" as best as I could.

- 5:51: Nice. Done. Time to walk.

So that's a total of 29:21 for 5 miles, or 5:52.2 / mile!! I was REALLY happy with that!!

Well, the Get in Gear 10K is a week away, and my current 10K PR pace is 5:55.8 / mile, so can I PR next weekend?!?! More on my pre-race thoughts next week.

Happy weekend!