Downtown Louisville Workout Disaster

4-4.5 mile w/u
Target: 4x1k @3:25, 4x800 @2:45, 4x400 @80, 4x200 hard
Actual: 4x3:15-3:25, 4x2:45, 4x80, 4x40
1 mile c/d
Total: 13+ miles

Well, this was an unmitigated disaster. I'm staying in downtown Louisville for work, and the bike path that I thought traced the outline of the river was practically nonexistent (or at least I never found it). Instead I ran all of my intervals on what was basically a glorified sidewalk in full view of all the morning commuters. I'm sure they were wondering why the spandex-clad lunatic girl was sprinting back and forth in front of them while stopping every few minutes to shout obscenities to herself. (Actually I was shouting obscenities at my new Timex GPS watch which is far too sophisticated for me to understand, and on second thought perhaps this behavior made me blend in with some of the downtown street denizens. Either way, I lose.)

On the plus side, I didn't quit and I didn't start crying. I'm embarrassed to say how many times I came dangerously close to one or both of those outcomes, and with gusto. Instead I finally changed my watch to the one setting I know how to read, chrono, and just ran hard for the approximate amount of time mandated by each interval. If the goal paces were achieved I'd be shocked, but the bottom line is that I put in almost eight miles on my feet at faster than marathon pace. Given today's circumstances, even that seems like a small victory.