It's My Workout and I'll Cry if I Want To

AM: 3+ miles
PM: 2 mile w/u + strides
Target: 1 mile @5:30, 2 miles @6:30 or faster, 1200 @4:03, 2miles @6:30 or faster, 800 @2:35
Actual: 5:39; 6:21, 6:21; 1000 @??; 6:32, 6:34; no dice
1.5 mile c/d
Total: ~9.5 miles

Well, I'm just gonna go ahead and put it out there that I cried during the workout. Like a little girl. With little pigtails. And a little lunchbox. You get the idea.

Anyway, from the top: Jeff drove Jess and I out to McAlpine fairly early in the afternoon to bang this out. It was a beautiful sunny day, if quite breezy, and we certainly didn't have any complaints about our running conditions. What we did have some beef with was the workout, and specifically the amount of rest between each interval (which would be zero, just to clarify). Jordan and I attempted to do a version of this workout when we were in San Diego in October and were met with disastrous results, and I wasn't much more optimistic about today's effort. My legs did feel decent on the warmup so I maintained a sliver of hope.

Unfortunately, simply put, I just didn't have it today. Jeff thinks it's because I'm still sick, but it's actually just because I'm slow (shhhh don't tell him). I started out slow on the mile, but maintained a decent clip on the first two-mile segment. However, when I turned around at three miles and attempted to pick it up for the 1200, my breathing got really panicky and I just couldn't catch my breath. I finally had to stop about 200 meters short and just suck wind for a minute. As soon as I regained my breath I trotted to the next marker so I could begin the second two-mile segment. This went a little slow but i wasn't worried because I was directly into the wind at this point. However, when I attempted to pick it up for the 800, same breathing issue as before. Sooo basically I just stopped short and started crying. Like a little girl. With little...we've been over this already. Point is, I finished (or failed to finish) this workout frustrated and discouraged, and also disappointed in myself that I couldn't suck it up and see it through. I know it's just one day and one workout but still, not what I was hoping for.

After returning to town, Jess and I took a field trip to Jeff's apartment to take an ice bath in his outdoor swimming pool. The locked gate and "Pool Closed" sign did little to deter us, and as soon as Jeff McGyvered open the door we were good to go. Surprisingly, the water temperature was quite refreshing. I mean don't get me wrong, it was freezing cold, but thankfully we were standing in the warm sunshine and managed to tough it out for 10 minutes.

Just as we were toweling off and preparing to leave the area, one of Jeff's crotchety AARP-aged neighbors decided to come harass us on the grounds that being in the pool was "illegal." Now I'm no legal scholar, but I did just pass the North Carolina drivers license exam, so I feel as though I'm fairly well-versed on local policies and procedures. Nowhere on the drivers license cheat sheet did I see a reference to "standing in the shallow end of a swimming pool" being deemed illegal. Driving past a school bus that is stopped for unloading children? Illegal. Passing a tractor before it has an opportunity to pull off to the side of the road? Definitely illegal. Standing waist deep in a swimming pool? Pretty sure that's kosher. Anyway, after a threat to find out which apartment Jeff lives in and sic management on him, she left. Never a dull moment around here.