5 Mile Tempo at Mcalpine

Goal:
5 Mile Tempo at sub-6:00 pace

Actual:
3 mile warmup
5 Mile Tempo at 29:30 (5:54 pace) with splits of 605, 555, 546, 558 (car), 546
2 mile cool down for 10 miles total

My reliable workout partner Eric joined me in the early hours of the morning at McAlpine for this tempo.  We warmed up 3 miles and I highlighted the best moments from the Boston Marathon since Eric had missed it.  I felt inspired on the warmup just recounting what had happened! I'm so impressed with all the performances, especially with Desiree Davila's amazing second place finish.  She ran a 2:44 in Boston in 2007 and has increased her marathon time with each marathon she has ever raced.  Her improvement in times shows those inspiring runners like myself that anything is indeed possible!

I also summarized the local Charlotteans' results.  All the hard work and dedication paid off for several Charlotte runners as many saw major drops in their marathon PRs.  Great job everyone!

After reliving the Boston races, Eric and I stretched a bit and headed to the two-mile mark of the greenway.  The plan was to run to the 4 mile mark, turn around, and then head onto the course and run a loop around the lake to finish at the 5k finish.  While the pace above was not blistering fast, this was the first time I had run a shorter tempo out at McAlpine since 2010.  I'm sure that my legs are not used to the softer terrain.

Only 200m into the tempo, I could tell that my legs were tired from last week's workouts, but I was determined to still make this count.  I went through two miles in 12:00 and then decided to pick it up a bit for the third mile.  I had to slow down a bit for traffic on Margaret Wallace Road, but pushed through until I got back onto the XC course.  At this point, I began to feel fatigue in my quads (probably from the elevated split squats I had done the day before), but continued to press because I wanted to hit as close to 5:45 as possible on the final mile.  I finished with a strong 5:46 and was entirely content to be done with the workout.  It was just one of those days when my entire body felt tired and tense.  I was not relaxed for a single moment. 

Eric followed closely after me, finishing his tempo right at 6:00 min pace.  He even admitted to me before the workout even started that he did not like me for making him wake up way too early.  I told him that he will appreciate the early morning discipline once he wins top five award in the grand prix series. 

After some easy miles on Wednesday, I've got a 3x3 mile workout on Thursday that I plan to do on the Booty Loop to bring back nostalgic memories of my Twin Cities training.