(Another) Way Too Early Morning Workout

AM: 3+ mile w/u
Target: 6x1200m w/3 min. rest
Actual: 4:18 (2:56 through 800m); 4:04 (2:44), 3:57 (2:39), 4:00 (2:42), 3:59 (2:43), 3:59 (2:43)
2+ mile c/d
Total: 10.5-11 miles

For the second time in less than a week, we had a stellar turnout for this 6am workout. Basically it was the usual suspects from last time (myself, Caitlin, Spada, Thomas and Justin), plus a few newbies (Billy and Pezz) plus Jordan and Paul, who were apparently just along for the warmup and some easy miles. The most notable of these additions was Pezz, who would probably contend that 6pm is too early to work out, much less 6am. I had doubts that she was coming until I received a text from her at 5:45 that simply said, "I hate you."

After an easy extended warmup, a bathroom break and some last minute preparations, we were ready. Caitlin had already planned for us to run the intervals on the first 1200m of the last mile of the Footlocker course, then jog back to the starting point during our rest segments. As everyone except a delusional few are willing to admit (I'm talking to you, Jay Holder), the last mile of the Footlocker course is slightly off. Specifically, it's a few meters short from the 800m to 1200m mark, i.e. the final 400 meters of our workout distance today. We all realized this meant the times would be a little bit fast, but since the terrain includes a hill and since the workout is focused on effort and since it's the ass crack of dawn we decided not to worry too much about it.

Just before setting off on interval #1, I told Caitlin and Pezz it would be smart to ease into things. I was thinking this meant 2:50ish through the 800. Instead, we apparently fell asleep while on our feet and jogged through the marker just a few ticks shy of 3 minutes. Oops. Well, we certainly accomplished our goal of taking the first one easy. The combination of the legs waking up and me panicking slightly at the lackadaisical pace meant we kicked things into gear on #2, and from there on out the pace and effort increased noticeably. Pezz was unquestionably the all-star out there this morning, as she took off at the beginning of #3 and never looked back. I spent the last half of the workout just trying to stay close to her, which proved to be a much more motivating challenge than simply tracking the splits on a watch. Everyone was working hard and encouraging each other between intervals, which kept spirits high even when fatigue was mounting. Like I said last time, this workout was about best case scenario for 6am. If all goes to plan, we will be replicating this atmosphere with a 30-minute group tempo on Saturday morning.