Workout Wednesday Triple

7am: 4 miles easy
12:30pm: 5 miles easy
5:30pm: 3 mile w/u + strides
Target: 10-12x400m w/90 secs. rest in 82-78
Actual: 80, 80, 81, 80, 80, 80, 79, 78, 77, 77, 76, 75
1 mile c/d
Total: 7 miles
Daily total: 16 miles

The idea to triple first entered my admittedly demented brain when Katie, my new-ish coworker, asked on Tuesday afternoon if I would be up for a jog at lunch the following day. We've been working like crazy with presentations, order deadlines and a million other things, so getting out for a few easy miles sounded like a great idea. With a shape-cutting workout already planned for later in the evening, I knew I'd be doubling, but despite the intensity of 400-meter repeats the reality is it just doesn't add up to that many miles unless you egregiously pad the warmup and cooldown. So, why not knock out an easy run in the morning as well? That way I could enter the workout with near double-digits on my legs for the day but without feeling overly fatigued or having to cooldown for an hour on tired legs. Brilliant!

My decision was validated in no small part by the fact that the weather was absolutely gorgeous. After several days of hot, humid and muggy air, the morning dawned cool and crispy and sunny and breezy--like fall! I coasted easily through my first two runs with the 400s in the back of my head. Jordan was out of town for work, which meant I would be hitting the track for the first time in months and no queenmaker to boot. I wasn't exactly looking forward to it.

In the end, however, it went fine. Pretty great, actually. I felt strong, relaxed and comfortable throughout and recovered quickly between each interval. My form felt strong and powerful as opposed to weak and strained, and my body settled naturally into a familiar 80-second tempo despite having not approached that speed in quite some time. I don't plan to triple often, but I think it made perfect sense today and I'm happy with the result.