7x1000m with 300m jog

Goal:

7x1000m with 400m jog rest

Actual:

3.5 miles warmup

7x1000m at

3:24 (800m split 2:42)

3:19 (800m split 2:38)
3:19 (800m split 2:37)
3:20 (800m split 2:39)
3:19 (800m split 2:38)
3:14 (400m splits 75, 800m split 2:34)
3:14 (800m split 2:34)

with 300m jog between
2.5 miles cool down for 11.3 miles total

After fitting in a late night conversation into my night time routine, I got to bed a lot later than I had hoped and woke up this morning feeling exhausted.  After I jumped out of bed, I suddenly felt much more lively and had high hopes for the work out.  I headed out my door with a Timex water bottle, hoping that the water on hand would bring a sense of comfort toward the latter part of the intervals. 
 
The early morning hours didn't stop anyone else in the Charlotte running community to come out to beat the heat.  Once I made my way over to Dilworth Rd West, I already had spotted Tim Rhodes, Aprille Schaffer, Larry and Kathy Seavers, and Pete (and many more!).  Eventually I ran into Stephen Spada, who was finally able to join me for a work out since his son's lacrosse season is over.  (Apparently their team posted a record of 26-2!)  A couple of minutes later, we picked Eric up and waited for him to stretch before we began our attack on 1000m repeats.
 
The goal was the run the 800m Dilworth Speed Loop but to add on 200m since there is a mark in the sidewalk on East Blvd that Stephen told us about.  You can see our route in the map below.  With our course marked at every 200m, we set off on our first one on feel.  We started at a relatively conservative pace, going through an 82 in the first 400m. It felt easy.  After that one, I mused to Eric and Stephen that for the next couple, I would like to stay above 2:40 for the 800m split.  Did that happen?  Not so much.
 
We didn't go over 2:40 for the rest of the workout.  In fact, I felt smooth and relaxed until about the 6th and 7th repeats, but by that time, Justin Breland had randomly joined in for the fun, so I had an entourage of three guys around me to push and motivate me.  In fact, Justin somehow had enough energy to say encouraging phrases to Stephen and I like: "Wow! You guys look great!" 
 
After the fifth one, I told Spada that he could take off on these next two because I didn't want to hold him back at all.  He must have listened to me because he took off like a bat out of hell in the first 200m and we cruised through the first 400m in 75 seconds.  I had a brief moment of panic, brushed it away, and pushed through the Dilworth Rd E turn.  Suddenly I was ahead of the guys and found yet another gear to push through the small hill before the 800m mark.  We cruised through the finish in my fastest split of the day:  3:14.  The best part about the work out was that I was able to run another 3:14 for the 7th and final interval.
 
After we finished, we grabbed water with PROPEL at Rebecca's front porch.  Was it the best propel ever?  Yes.  While sipping on my sweet grape drink, I was able to reflect on my completed work out.  I definitely was happy with how things had turned out. 
 
It could be true that the 1000m Dilworth Speed Loop is a bit off, but I wore my garmin and it consistently had .63 miles, which is technically longer than 1000m.  Regardless, I was able to post my two fastest splits of the day at the very end of the work out and also maintain a fast speed going into a sharp turn onto East Blvd.  I pushed through when it hurt most and took advantage of the competition from the guys around me.  I can tell that my speed is definitely coming along.  I haven't run a 1000m at sub-3:20 in a REALLY long time so it felt great to walk away from the Dilworth Speed Loop with a new workout "PR."

The 1000m Dilworth Speed Loop