Fast Times at Grady High

AM: 4 miles
PM: 16 min. w/u (2 miles)
Target: 8x800 @2:55 w/2 min. rest
Actual: 2:56, 2:54, 2:52, 2:52, 2:53, 2:52, 2:49, 2:45
16 min. c/d (2 miles)
Total: ~8.5 miles

I don't known if it was the gallon of coffee I drank at Panera, or perhaps the panic induced by learning that my landlord found someone to move into my place in five days, but for whatever reason I was itching to get out the door for my afternoon run. Since I'm feeling almost 100% recovered from my cold, I decided to attempt Tuesday's track workout. The wind finally died down and the sun was shining brightly; it was definitely a beautiful afternoon for a workout.

After an easy warmup from my house and a few minutes of stretching, I jumped right into the intervals. It occurred to me midway through the first one that I hadn't the slightest idea what the rest was supposed to be. I vaguely remembered taking two minutes on a similar workout I did with Jordan and Scotty D in the summer so I decided to go with that. Right away I could tell that the prescribed pace felt quite comfortable and my legs were turning over nicely. I decided that since I felt so good I should focus on maintaining form with my arms and also on my positioning within the lane. I've noticed--and Jordan yelled at me for this the last time we worked out--that I tend to run too close to the inside stripe. This could be a problem if I fall into that habit, so today I made a conscious, even exaggerated, effort to stay within the middle of the lane on the curves.

Halfway through the workout I was still feeling great, and decided that I would crank the final two intervals after maintaining on 5 and 6. It felt great to open up the stride, especially on the last one, and even though I was running hard it was nowhere near all out. I was also pleased with how my form and breathing held up even when pressing. This is the best I've felt on a workout since before MCM, and it couldn't have come at a better time.