Back to the Track #5

I always figured that running fast races isn't about the race, it's about the training that goes on for the 6 months leading up to the race.  If that is true then this morning was a key event in my Ottawa race.  I was scheduled for trackwork and I had to be at work for an early meeting.  To fit it in I had to get up in the dark and wet (not my favorite activity).  Woke up 5 minutes after my cutoff to fit it all in, looked at the clock, looked out the window (couldn't see anything, but could hear the rain).  Made the decision to "man up" and go do my workout instead of staying in bed.

Ran to the track thru the rain, thinking "What am I doing this for?".  It didn't help that I stayed up late drinking too much red wine last night with friends.

After a couple miles warmup and some quick 100m strides I was feeling almost human and the rain had stopped and the sky was getting lighter.

Goal was 6 x 1,200meters in 4:33 (6:06 pace) with 90 seconds rest.  This was a little quicker than my last time (4:36 average, plus it was 6x vs 5x).  Here's how it went......

1. 4:34 - lap times were about 91,94,89 - lost focus in lap 2 and couldnt quite make it up in 3
2. 4:34 - similar laptimes - I definitely need to work on that second lap
3. 4:37 - same problem in lap 2 but didnt pick it up for lap 3 - got to nail #4 or this is going to get ugly.
4. 4:33 - nailed it, felt pretty good.
5. 4:35 - again, it got sloppy in lap 2
6. 4:29 - 90,90,89 - solid last rep, but not a lot of fun.

Average was 4:34, which is 6:07 pace (that's a 19:00 5k).  Felt happy with the result and very happy with the decision to get my ass out of bed and do the workout in the first place!

Next trackwork will be probably in two weeks, when I'll see if I can get down to 6x1200 in 4:30.