Snowy 2x2 Mile Intervals

The TC 10 Mile happened about 2 weeks ago, so it was time for some speed work again.

My wife and I were laying in bed at 5 a.m. on Friday, and I read her my weather app forecast: "'Snow expected to quit at 8:00 a.m.' SO I GUESS IT'S SNOWING!!?!" I looked outside to make sure it wasn't going to be slippery, but the sidewalks were just damp as it was coming down, and it was just sticking to everything else. Time to run.

I took my glasses off once I got down to the river. I was hoping all the trees along Mississippi River Blvd would help stop the snow from hitting me in the face so much, but they did nothing. At least the paved trail down there is relatively smooth so I could run without my glasses on and not have a big worry of tripping.

After a 1+ mile warm-up, I started some efforts. I felt like my legs were just a bit heavy from lots of kicking in the pool the day before, so I didn't know what to expect for these splits. This is a workout I tend to do early in the season where I have trouble keeping them under 12:00, but I was hoping to be substantially faster than that - but nowhere near my fastest 2x2 mile intervals which were both sub-11:30.

I felt OK about my first 2 half-mile splits clocking in just under 3:00, and then a bit surprised that my 3rd was so fast: 2:48! I think it was just easier and less annoying to run with the wind and not be slapped in the face *as* hard by the snow.

My 2nd interval started a bit faster, but then I didn't have the speed in the last half of that interval like I did in the first interval. It was a well-run workout! Here were my splits:

2:56, 2:58, 2:48, 2:59 = 11:43.0

3:01 walking rest (0.15 mile)

2:53, 3:02, 2:54, 2:58 = 11:49.0

I was a little disappointed that I couldn't keep them ALL under 3:00, but it is what it is. And that final 2:58 split felt more like 2:48, so I think I ran that well - I was out of juice but not dead!

Intervals from split 4 up to split 6 and then back.


Pace graph is about what you'd expect.


HR zones is interesting because it usually doesn't look
so even - one is usually a LOT higher than the rest.

It was snowing the hardest for my first interval, and it started letting up a bit during my 2nd. It was barely snowing when I finished. I grabbed my phone and got a shot of the yard and sidewalk to show the snow that had fallen:

Nothing dramatic - just enough to be annoying while trying to run hard.