Columns Drive Workout

Target: 2x6 miles @6:30 or faster w/10 min. rest
Actual: 15 min. w/u (2 miles); 6:29, 6:26, 6:26, 6:15, 6:27, 6:29; 10 min. rest (1 mile); 6:29, 6:33, 6:25, 6:32, 6:25, 6:23; 4 min. c/d (.5 miles)
Total: 15.5 miles

There are some workouts you look at on paper and know you'll be able to hit out of the park. There are also some you just hope you won't screw up too badly. For me, this workout certainly fell into the latter category. I decided to utilize Columns Drive for five of the six miles, finishing up the final mile of each interval on the dirt loop. After sleeping in way too late before driving out to the river, I finally started this workout around 10am, which made the conditions a tad warm but not terrible.

One thing I recently noticed about Columns when I started doing harder runs there is that it's a false flat; the first 2.5 mile section out to Johnson Ferry is a very gradual, continuous uphill, which obviously means that the 2.5 miles back to the river is slightly downhill in equal measure. Today there was a strong headwind on the "out" sections, which meant that the first 2.5 miles of each interval were, put simply, a struggle. I definitely looked forward to the point where I could turn around and feel a reprieve. As you can see, I took full advantage (perhaps too much so) of the return trip on the first interval, where I got a bit carried away and clocked a 6:15 mile in the middle of things. Otherwise the splits were very consistent, acceptable but certainly not spectacular, and I managed to grind things out at approximately the correct pace.

Nothing much else of note except that I took an espresso-flavored Gu in between the two intervals, which was quite tasty. Until now I'd been "practicing" with Clif Shots because that's what's provided at MCM, but after sampling Jordan's berry Gu last weekend I discovered that I liked the consistency and flavor much better. With this the case, my new plan is to carry a few in my pockets at the race and also make sure Jordan has some at the ready.