Pickard Miles

18-19 min. w/u (2.5 miles)
Target: 4-5xmile @6:10-6:20 w/2 min. rest
Actual: 6:10, 6:12, 6:13, 6:10
13 min. c/d (1.5 miles)
8.5-9 miles
Wind: 15 mph
15 mins. core (no really, I swear!)

Against his will, Jeff permitted me to do a "baby workout" today. That said, he advised I not run much faster than half-marathon pace, so this is what we came up with. I recruited Kristi to come along for the fun and Jordan/Mr. Garmin to set the pace, so we agreed to meet just after 8:30am. None of us felt the need to do this on the track since the pace wasn't blazing, so we opted to use the "Pickard mile" (Pickard/Lindsey to Pickard/Imhoff) as our out-and-back section of choice. Since the wind was blowing out of the south, this meant that miles 1 and 3 would be slightly downhill but into a headwind, while 2 and 4 would consequently be slightly uphill but with the wind at our backs. Sort of evened things out, I suppose.

Overall, this effort felt very comfortable for me. It wasn't until the final mile that I felt my breathing quicken noticeably. I attribute this more to the blazing heat (already mid-80s by 9:00) than the pace. Kristi was a trooper and ran with me on the first three before heading home, while Jordan was a metronome as per usual and kept the pace in check. We opted to jog the two minutes between each interval to make the workout feel more continuous, so overall this was a solid effort. I could've done the fifth interval without straining the legs too much, but it was simply too hot and I was sweating too much to make it worth my while.

Upon returning home, Jordan and I did some real actual core work, which I've been completely neglecting since I came to Oklahoma. Now that our half-marathon training is largely over, we want to start incorporating some "extras" like core, plyos and strides into our daily routine, and today was as good as any to start.