6x4 Min at McAlpine

Goal:
6x4 min with 3:00 jog rest at 5:25-5:40 pace, progressively getting faster

Actual:
3 miles warmup
6x4 min with 3:00 jog at paces of 5:38, 5:32, 5:28, 5:34, 5:28, 5:26
1 mile cooldown for 9.5 miles total

Today I felt like I had fully recovered from the sickness that I battled at the beginning of this month.  I was a little nervous to do a speed workout that featured longer repeats because of the debacle of a mile workout I did two weeks ago, but I went into the workout believing in myself and the tides turned!  I ran the exact same times as when I did this workout last year on July 7 with Meagan and Pezz, but felt much better this year.  My legs felt fresh and I actually was able to finish all 6 intervals (last year I cut it short at 5). 

Eric and I started off the first interval a little on the slow side so that we would feel good on the last one, allowing us to push our body to run the fastest time of the day on #6.  We ran throughout the course and let our Garmins lead the way.  Since Eric has been battling some hip flexor issues, he hung back on a couple of the intervals. I know that in just a couple of weeks he will be leading the way, a couple of meters in front of me!

Just a couple weeks after I did this workout last year, I went on to run a 17:01 at the NC USATF 5k Champs in Winston-Salem.  I am feeling really positive about my training right now and I trust that I can post a strong PR in the 10k next weekend at Richmond.  I really believe that my training is beginning to fall into place and that I will see improvement in my times.  In fact, I've purposely put off writing down any goals until I was feeling strong and confident.  I have finally penciled in my goals for Richmond (35:50 or below)!