"Soft" 8 Mile Progression Tempo

Goal:
8 Miles Progression without looking at Splits

Actual:
2-ish warmup
8 miles in 51:14 (6:24 ave) with splits of 653, 614, 621, 628 (u-turn), 624, 618, 619, 617
2-ish cool down

In an attempt to adjust to doing early morning workouts to prepare for the new role that I've accepted at Bank of America, I grudgingly pulled myself out of bed at 5:15AM to prepare for this workout.  I was out the door by 5:30 to meet Dalena, Spada, and Eric on the greenway near Freedom Park.  Somehow, I convinced Dalena to join us in the fun and it was a welcomed addition because I realized that this was the first time I've ever actually worked out with her and I liked her positive spirit.  Regardless, after an uneventful warmup, we started our tempo...very slow.  After a couple of minutes of leading, Spada annoyingly told me to pick up the pace.  That's probably why my fastest split was seen during mile 2...because I was scared of Spada.

The last six miles of the tempo went by just as you would except - at least as normal as any tempo can go when it's still dark out on the streets of Charlotte.  We ran back and forth on the greenway between East Blvd and Brandywine twice.  I didn't feel too labored in the first half, but the second half I did, embarrassingly enough...At least labored enough where I had no desire to expend any precious energy trying to keep the conversation going.

I finished the workout on my own as I continued on the path towards my house while Spada and Eric turned around to head back to Freedom.  I was glad I had the last half mile of the tempo to finish on my own so that I could be left with my own thoughts.  Coming back after a marathon is tough.  It's mentally grueling - even more so than the training leading up to a marathon.  I've been spending the last couple of weeks really trying to keep my spirits up, but it's been really tough for me to do that. I've had this nagging discomfort of weakness in my left hip flexor, and I was freaking out just a little bit that I might have an injury coming on.  Even my right knee started to hurt on Tuesday, and I had quick flashbacks to January 2011 when my left knee hurt due to IT Band issues.  Fortunately, it's been a couple of days since then, and all of that has gone away.  My body must still be in the process of healing itself from the unforgiving concrete in Houston, and I just need to be patient and let it do just that.  And, of course, I need to keep doing all of my prescribed exercises to correct my weakness.  See you in the gym doing good girl/bad girl folks.