Tempo Tuesday

AM: 5k w/u + strides
Target: 5k road @18:00, jog to track, 4-5x400m @75 w/2 mins. rest
Actual: 18:00, 75, 75, 75, 74
2k c/d
Total: 9 miles
PM: 5 miles easy
Total: 14 miles

Monday night, Jordan and I hatched a somewhat elaborate plan for this workout that involved driving to Beverly, parking at Dane Beach, running the road tempo in (what we thought would be) a quiet section of neighborhoods close to the high school and then finishing up with some shape-cutting on the high school track. Incidentally, this plan would also involve us driving straight to work afterward, which had the unintended result of me not showering or changing clothes for the entire day. Oops.

The only part of our plan we hadn't really considered was the weather. Sure, we knew it was cool when we went to bed the night before, but both of us were surprised to walk downstairs in our warmups and find ourselves smacked in the face by fall. Unfortunately we were both too lazy to go back upstairs but fortunately I had some gloves in my purse, so at least one of us was able to adapt to the 40-degree temperature.

Okay, I lied; there was a second part of our plan we hadn't completely nailed down: the 5k course. We had a loose idea of where we wanted to go based on runs and races we've done in the area, but none of those had hinged on having us finish at the track. Because of this, my trusty queenmaker decided to wing it and make up the route on the fly. This worked out about as well as could be hoped save for the fact that there were way too many sharp turns--at least a dozen--in the 18-minute run. I found myself moving fastest and most comfortably on the rare long, straight sections and struggling to catch up every time he darted this way or that at an intersection. Still, I executed the tempo down to the second and felt like I had plenty left in my legs for the 400s...

...until I actually started running them. Perhaps due to the much-needed deep tissue massage I'd gotten a mere 12 hours prior--not ideal timing, but sometimes you have to work with the options you've got--or maybe the cooler weather, or maybe the fact that I'm just not all that fit, my legs felt sluggish and tired each time I tried to pick up the pace around the 200-meter mark. In fact, I felt much better a few weeks ago when I was closing at the same pace after 12 repeats on a triple run day. Whatever the reason, I was happy to call it a day at four reps. Workouts like this can be difficult for me because they require switching pace and focus, but with the help of my trusty queenmaker I was able to squeak a few more coins into the fitness bank.