8x1000m Repeats

Goal:
8x1000m with 2:00 jog rest

Actual:
2.5 mile warmup to Dilworth Speed Loop
3:34 (2:03)
3:25 (1:57)
3:24 (1:56)
3:24 (2:30)
3:22 (2:00)
3:23 (2:02)
3:21 (2:02)
3:20
2.5 mile cool down for 11 total

This morning I woke up at 5:30am, expecting to hear the sounds of the wind howling and branches hitting the sides of my house, which is what the weather man predicted would happen. Instead, I just heard the normal whir of my fan and checked my phone for any texts. Eric, who was supposed to meet me at 6am, had texted me at 3:27am: "It's pouring and radar looks bad for entire run. Can we push to afternoon?" Wondering who in their right mind checks the radar at 3:27am, I wearily got out of bed, walked two steps to my back door, stuck my hand outside, felt no rain, and texted him back: "It's not raining now." In other words: I'm still going. (Side note: I found out later that Eric wakes up regularly in the middle of the night because his dogs wake him up…yet another reason why I have a cat right now).

In fact, everything about the weather seemed quite agreeable. There was little wind, the temperature was in the upper 50s, and there was no rain, lightning or thunder. As long as I didn't see any great flashes of light in the sky, then I had no excuse to not run, even if it had been pouring. After all, there's no guarantee that it won't be raining later in the afternoon. I continued getting ready and figured that since I hadn't received any texts from Spada, that he was already en route to the Dilworth Speed Loop. I ate half of a PB Bonk Breaker, wishing that it was actually their new flavor, Fig, before heading out.

I jogged slowly from my house to the RBC Bank on East Blvd, where Spada and I gave each a fist bump and added another loop of warmup for good measure. During those final minutes before we started, I truly had no idea how this workout would go. I wasn't feeling too amazing and I had done a 30 minute ab/glute circuit the night before with D Willis. I figured I could just take it easy on the first one and then push from there.

After the first one at a conversational clip--heck, we were going the same pace we had in 2 mile repeats the week prior--I decided it was time to pick up the pace. Through the first two, I took the lead. After the 3rd one, Spada woke up out of his early morning daze and took over leading responsibilities. He mentioned even that he was now doing "medium-speed" on 3/4 and was planning on doing "faster-speed" on the next 5/6. I told him I didn't know if I had another speed because, truly, I had no clue. My 4th interval in 3:24 felt strong--not all out, but not comfortable. I surprised myself by digging deeper on the 5th one. I also realized that Spada splits his workouts into thirds or quarters, depending on the workout. Today, for instance, he broke the workout into quarters, and approached each set differently in his mind. He determined to make the effort gradually harder with each set. This realization was good for me as it's exactly what I'm trying to do in, well, all of my runs and workouts.
 
We finished the day with the fastest splits posted in the last half of the workout. I was pleased, especially considering the air that was thick with humidity. Afterwards, Spada jumped into his car to make it back in time to get his kids to school (also known as "pulling a Spada"), while I slogged my way to Rebecca's porch for some much needed water, satsified with this morning's work.