2 x 3.5M with Laurie & Eric

Goal:
2 x 3.5-4M @ 604-610 pace, 1 mile jog rest, next set at 550-600 pace

Actual:
4 mile warmup
2x3.5M with .8M jog rest
604, 602, 612, 258 (21:18 total)
5:49 jog rest
602, 553, 600, 245 (20:40 total)
2.9 miles cool down for ~15 miles total

Taking advantage of the Bank holiday, Laurie, Eric and I headed over to the Sugar Creek Greenway to knock out a tempo.  I was kind of dreading this workout since it’s the first time I’ve done an extended tempo since December’s marathon, but the company helped tremendously.  We traversed down the Greenway, before heading up to the Booty Loop and some hilly side streets for the second set.

On the first set, the three of us were cruising along, chatting like it was no problem.  This set definitely felt easy and I was enjoying the flat terrain and the conversation.  Then, we headed up the booty loop and we were ready to roll before 1 mile hit, so we started a bit early and ran on a hillier route during the middle miles, but with a downhill last 800m.  Our route was completely unplanned, so we basically created a route on the fly that was absolutely perfect!  Laurie naturally led about one step in front of me for the first mile, but then on the slight uphills, I would break even with her as she had just completed a 23-miler on Saturday.  Laurie, Eric and I are great workout buddies as we each challenge each other in different ways.  After the uphill section, we crossed the street and Eric surged ahead to run alongside Laurie.  My legs felt tired then from the hills, but I knew there was a downhill coming soon, which really helped bring our overall pace down.

Overall, I’m really pleased with this workout! I nailed the times that Terry suggested and didn’t work too hard during the first set.