Fartlek Around the Neck

2.5 mile w/u
Target: Whatever Jordan makes up
Actual: Above, with intervals ranging from 200m to 600m; active rest ranging from 61 secs. to 91 secs.
Fastest pace: 2:58/k (4:52/mile)
Slowest pace: 3:35/k (5:46/mile)
Average pace: 3:17/k (5:15/mile)
2 mile c/d
Total: 8.5-9 miles

This morning Jordan and I embarked on a fartlek in the truest sense of the word, especially from my perspective. By his own devious plan, I had no idea how far or how fast each interval was supposed to be, nor did I know how long each of my rest segments would be; instead, I was at my trusty pacer's mercy (or lack thereof). I stayed close on his heels over the rolling terrain of the Neck, at times feeling a bit flat and sluggish but at other times feeling strong and powerful. It wasn't until we finished that he shared some of my splits, which didn't end up being half bad given the wind and the hills. In fact, the only time the pace slowed above 5:20/mile was during a 400-meter interval on the hardest uphill section of the entire loop. This was much more fun and less stressful than duplicating the same intervals on the track, and I still ended up achieving respectable splits thanks to Jordan's presence and encouragement. In fact, with all said and done I ran over 5.2k of "on" distance at sub-16:30 5k pace. If I want to sharpen my fitness over shorter distances like 5k and 10k (and actually, you know, run 16:30 without taking breaks every other minute), this is exactly the kind of work I'll need to do.