4x9 min with 2:30 rest

Goal:
4x9 min with 2:00 rest starting at 6:00 ave and getting faster each one

Actual:
3.75 miles warmup
4x9 min with 2:30 rest at 5:52, 5:48, 5:41, 5:39
1.8 miles cooldown for ~12.3 miles total

After Matt and Thomas arrived at my house and complained about doing a long warmup, somehow I still managed to lead the way and get in the longer warmup that I wanted. We met Will along the Sugar Creek Greenway as we took the long way through Freedom Park to arrive at the Dilworth Speed Loop. The plan was to do the 2 mile loop, but cut off the 800m part so we would really just be running on Worthington and Tremont. Matt and Will would drop off at the mile mark, and Thomas would continue with me, and then we would all meet back up somewhere around where we started.

We stripped our clothes, threw it all in a tree, and toed the line. Before our Garmins beeped, I noticed what an eclectic group of runners we had:
Matt - shirtless with bright green CRC shorts with the logo slapped on both cheeks
Me - with a sports bra that matched Matt's bright green shorts and my winter pale
Will - shirtless and rocking his winter pale to keep me company
Thomas - shirtless, six pack, arm sleeve tattoos, and so tan he could pass for Native American compared to us whities

I laughed to myself at the oddities of our group and appreciated their company. The Garmin finally beeped and we were off. While it felt like we were going at a relaxed pace, we were a little fast at 5:54, but all of us were still able to chat a little bit throughout. We went through the first mile and I made a game time decision to pick it up after each mile split. Thomas continued with me and his company proved to be much needed towards the end of the workout. We finished that interval and before we knew it, 2:30 was up and we were ready to roll again.

For the second interval, we went through the mile in 5:54 again, but Thomas and I picked it up probably a little too much for the last portion. According to Thomas' Garmin we split the last 3 minutes in 5:37 and we both felt pretty tired after that one. During our rest, I told Thomas that it was fun to run each interval a little different than the last one to mix things up. Doing so helps break up the monotony of intervals and also helps practice different race tactics.

On the third and fourth intervals, I finally began to hurt. Granted, we did pick it up going through the mile by over 10 seconds. I really felt my hamstrings and quads tighten in the last 3 minutes of each of these, and I account this to the fact that I lifted the night before and was still sore from that at the start of the run. Thomas was a huge help as he really pushed me.

After we chugged some water, threw our clothes back on, we ran the short way back to my house very, very slow.

Writing this now, I cringe as I move my leg and continue to procrastinate to avoid foam rolling because I know it's going to hurt. However, the pain was worth it because I'd say that this was one of my first real workouts in a long time that went quite well. Now to get ready to pace Allen in his half...