San Jose Bike Path Workout

2 mile w/u
Target: 3x1k @3:45, 1 min. jog; 10k @3:50/k (6:10/mile), 3 min. jog; 3x1k @3:40
Actual: 3:43, 3:41, 3:50 (got lost); 10k @38:15 (6:08/mile); 3:36, 3:41, 3:36
1.5 mile c/d
Total: 13.5-14 miles

This workout was supposed to take place in Palm Springs, but no thanks to United Airlines that was not to be the case. As we were traveling to the airport from downtown San Francisco with Jordan's aunt Emily (she of "red eye flight before running the turkey trot 10k" fame ), we got an automated call saying our Wednesday evening flight had been canceled due to very enigmatic "mechanical issues." Fortunately Emily was happy to host us at her beautiful home in San Jose; even more fortunately, said home boasts one of the most impressive wine cabinets I've ever seen. Oh, and it's also conveniently located just over a mile from a perfectly adequate bike path. As far as travel disasters go, this one actually turned out just fine.

And so, at 9am on Thursday morning, suffering from the slightest of wine headaches--just doing my part to simulate late stage marathon fatigue--Jordan and I set out into the gloriously warm air with the bike path as our destination. For my final substantial workout before the Trials, Jordan wrote out a mish-mash of intervals all designed to hone in on my target marathon pace, which quite honestly could range anywhere from 5:55 to 6:10 at different points in the race. Thus, the goal for today's effort was to stay comfortably relaxed the entire time and to feel confident running within the prescribed pace range.

To my pleasant surprise, the entire workout felt ridiculously easy. I expected the first few 1k's to jar the system a bit, but my legs eased into six-minute pace immediately with no resistance. (We encountered a brief detour during the third one, when we missed the turn over a bridge and instead found the bike path abruptly ending at the freeway. Oops.) After jogging around for a few minutes, it was time to begin the uptempo segment. Jordan was adamant about keeping the pace at 6:08-6:10, so as per usual I was content to tuck in and follow his lead. After what felt like an eternity, I glanced down at my watch hoping to see that at least 10 minutes had passed. To my dismay, we were only at 3:35--less than a kilometer in! With a loud exhale, I voiced a complaint that may have never previously escaped my lips during a workout: "This is so boring!" And, truly, it was. Other than a few sharp, steep inclines on the path my heart rate never spiked, and the minutes seemed to stretch on forever. It was a bizarre, yet exhilarating, sensation to calmly click off a 38-minute 10k in the middle of a workout without being slightly out of breath. Even the final 3x1k did little to fatigue me aerobically. After finishing the final interval, Jordan looked over and asked incredulously, "Are you even breathing hard?" And, even more incredulously, I responded, "Not really." It was...strange.

I think I'm ready.