Worst Idea Ever

AM: 3 mile w/u
Target: 2xmile @5:20; 2x400 @faster
Actual: 5:21, 1200 @4:00; 800 @2:38; 2x400 @73, 72
2.5 mile c/d
Total: 9-9.5 miles

Initially my schedule had dictated mile repeats for today, but since I want to be somewhat rested for Greek Fest I decided to craft a pre-race workout instead. A nice, easy, confidence-boosting pre-race workout. I'd entertained the idea of meeting Pezz, who was running a similar workout, at McAlpine in the morning, but opted instead to jog from home over to the AG track. Since I irritated my foot doing some harder running at McAlpine on Sunday, avoiding the loose gravel seemed prudent. I hadn't set foot on a track since my failed duel with Tim at the Myers Park All-Comers meet two months ago, but for some (naive) reason I didn't think the layoff would be too big of a deal.

I was wrong.

From the first lap I felt awkward and uncoordinated. Oh, and winded and hopelessly out of shape. I didn't expect 5:20 pace to feel like a jog, but I certainly didn't plan to be seriously laboring halfway through the first mile. It was so bad that I realized immediately I would have to adjust the workout on the fly and focus on maintaining the same pace for shorter intervals. Even still, I wasn't able to relax and certainly never felt comfortable, despite taking full recovery (a lap jog plus some stand-around time) between each. If there was anything positive to take from the workout--and believe me, I'm reaching here--it's that I was able to negative split every interval. Otherwise I felt hopelessly locked in to 80+ pace from start to finish.

Needless to say, this was a rude awakening for CVS. Recent workouts have proven I'm fit for longer distances, but if I want to avoid embarrassment at the 5k champs in a few weeks I need to get my rear in gear.