7x1000m Repeats in Dilworth...Again

Goal:
8x1000m at sub-3:20 with 300m jog rest

Actual: 
3+ mile warmup
7x1000m at interval (rest)
3:24 (2:17)
3:19 (2:35)
3:19 (2:22)
3:19 (2:35)
3:18 (2:34)
3:18 (2:54)
3:18
3+ mile cool down for ~11 miles

After making Meagan get up way earlier than she would have liked, I wanted to make it up to her somehow.  I decided to drive over to the start of the Dilworth Speed Loop to place three bottles of ice cold water waiting for us at every interval.  Turns out we had five people doing this workout, so I figured three bottles would be sufficient for the lot of us.  I did this workout back on June 28th, so I had high hopes to run just as well as I did then.  Turns out we ran almost exactly identical to how we did then, except that I didn't drop a 3:14 for the last two.  Regardless, I am pleased with this work out because I ran under 3:20 which is always a great time for me.

Fortunately I had the company of Spada, Billy, Eric, and Meagan to help push me. Unfortunately, Meagan had to drop off after a couple because it just wasn't her day.  Since she disappeared in such a stealth mode, the boys had to listen to me between intervals as I worried out loud about her whereabouts and also her gimp shin. For the intervals 1-5, Eric and I really worked together as we ran side-by-side and pushed each other to run decent times.  It was fun even if we had to yell at Billy for staying in the middle of the road on one occasion!

After the fifth interval, I was tired of taking the lead, so I told Billy to lead.  This was a good learning lesson for him as he typically just runs side by side with me.  I was hoping he would realize that he can execute his own strategy by taking the lead.  Sure enough, he felt great and ran some really fast times.  This helped me maintain my pace as I watched Billy pull away from me.  Spada and I ran together for all of these and it seemed like we both weren't feeling as great as we had the month earlier.

At the end of the work out, Spada jumped into his car and I was left to listen to Billy and Eric analyze their work outs.  It's funny how everyone handles their post-workout.  Spada jumps into his car without a cool down, Billy talks about the last time he did 1000s (February 2010) and his latest Grand Prix race, Eric analyzes his final striders and form, and I just listen to them all and maybe say a word or two but then keep the rest of my own analysis in my head.  I'm probably just creating a rough draft in my head about what I'm going to write about in my blog. 

Needless to say, the difference amongst all of us is what keeps these work outs exciting.  It definitely breaks up the monotony of just running solo.