Return to the AO

AM: 20 min. w/u (2.5 miles)
Target: 5x1.5 miles @ 6:25 pace w/800m jog rest
Actual: 9:38 (6:25 through the mile), 9:38 (6:25), 9:31 (6:20), 9:34 (6:21), 9:29 (6:19)
23 min. c/d (3 miles)
Total: 15 miles
PM: 40 min. walk

Since I'm taking an early-ish flight to Oklahoma tomorrow, I got permish to tackle tomorrow's workout today. I wasn't sure how spry I was going to feel after doing 300s a few days ago, but sometimes you have to roll with it and hope for the best. I was debating between driving out to the river or doing the workout on the Active Oval and decided to stick with the AO mainly due to its proximity to my house. The workout was going to take long enough without a 45 minute round-trip drive (not to mention I was still recovering emotionally from yesterday's traffic situation).

As I jogged down from my house, I could tell my legs felt decent but not great. In talking with Jeff G. yesterday, he basically told me to expect to feel tired from now until the end of September, and to go as much by effort as time on the workouts. That said, I was optimistic I could hit the splits (unlike in the track workouts) as long as I didn't take things out crazy fast the first 800m. Long story short, the workout went well. I was able to steadily squeeze down the pace through each interval and never felt like I was pressing too hard. The last two intervals were definitely an effort, and I'm pretty sure I was flailing around a bit during the final 400m, but otherwise I kept things controlled. The rain of the past few days kept skies overcast and temperatures comfortable, but the humidity has definitely shot up again. I was a hot mess by the end of the run.

I don't know how sound this reasoning is, but the aspect of this workout that actually gave me the most confidence was how I felt on the cool-down. If you'll recall, the last time I worked out on the AO, I ended up collapsing on the steps of Inman Middle School and hoping for death (okay so perhaps I'm being slightly dramatic). Today, I kept the pace fairly brisk on the way home, even adding on a few minutes to make it an even three miles. It's difficult to put into words how my legs and body felt toward the end...definitely exhausted and mostly numb, but almost weightless at the same time. Like I could've picked the pace up indefinitely without feeling any different. It was...weird. A good weird, I suppose. If I can replicate this feeling during the last 10k of the marathon, I just might be able to pull it off.