As predicted, the enthusiasm I had last night for my upcoming speed session faded dramatically overnight and I woke none too excited about heading to the park for some fast laps around the lake. I still managed to drag myself there and started to feel better about the prospect after an 8:30 warmup mile. I stretched, then went in to the speed portion of the workout. The plan was 4 x 1 mile in 7:00 with 1 min rests between. The path around the lake at the park is 1.1 miles (marked every 1/4). So, I figured I’d run the mile, then walk the 0.1 from the mile mark back to the start. As it turned out, this walk took about 1:30-2:00, but I needed the extra rest. Here’s how the miles went:
mile 1: 6:35
mile 2: 6:47
mile 3: 6:50
mile 4: 6:58
After realizing the first mile was too fast (I was showing off for Raffi and Britt who were running their usual Tuesday morning 3 miler at the same park), I tried to slow myself down in the next two miles. I finally succeeded in hitting the proper pace in the final mile but only because I was tired. I’m actually surprised I got under 7 for that one.
So, the first speed session was not the most consistent, but at least I’m clearly fit enough to proceed with the plan. I may even need to bump myself up a VDOT level, but I’ll wait a couple more weeks and decide then. I finished the workout with a mile cool down to round the whole thing out at 6 miles.