20 min. w/u: 2.5 miles
5 mile tempo: 6:57 (long, started at wrong marker), 6:45, 6:38, 6:30, 6:30
6x300 w/100 wog in between: 58, 57, 56, 55, 54, 53
15 min. c/d: 2 miles
Total: 11 miles
This morning was definitely the warmest and most humid since my arrival to Atlanta, which undoubtedly made things even more miserable at the Peachtree Road Race this morning, but nonetheless I was excited to drive out to the river for this week's only workout. The river is pretty much an ideal training site, as you can run either the 5k dirt loop or head up into the Sope Creek trails or veer off onto Columns Drive and run a few miles on a straight and flat residential street. Also, the trail is marked every 1/4 mile (although there are several starting points and thus several different sets of markers, which led to my confusion on the first mile of my tempo).
After my warmup, I started into the run and was pleased with how well my legs responded. When I hit the first mile marker and realized that 6:57 couldn't possibly be correct, I tried not to panic and/or speed up unecessarily, but instead held the pace and waited until the next marker to get an accurate gauge of my time. I kept the tempo controlled throughout, and never really felt like I was pushing too hard.
I took a five minute break to wog around and get some water after the tempo before launching into the 300s. Since the trail is marked every quarter mile, I kind of had to approximate where the 300m mark would be. I decided to run each interval for the specified time that Jeff wanted for each interval and just increase my effort with each one. By the last two, I was pretty much running all out, and it felt great to stretch out the legs and speed up the turnover for once. I finished up with an easy cool-down jog and then headed back to Brooke's.
On the way home, I was greeted with an unexpected holiday treat: a rare sighting of the elusive "Tourette's bum," as Brooke and I have affectionately dubbed him. When I previously lived here, I would often see this bum storming up and down Highland Ave., shirtless and shouting obscenities. He became quite a fixture in our neighborhood and was considered relatively harmless (that one time he exposed himself to Brooke notwithstanding). So imagine my delight when, as I was turning from Freedom Parkway onto Boulevard, I spotted my old friend angrily stomping down Freedom. Shirtless. Shouting obscenities. Best welcome home present I could've ever asked for.
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