5 Mile Wave Tempo

Goal:
5 Mile Tempo alternating every 800m pace between 2:50-2:53 and 3:05-3:07

Actual:
2.25 miles warmup
2:55 (on)
3:03 (off)
2:52
3:04
2:51
3:07
3:00 (fell asleep)
3:04
2:53
3:04 (29:53 for 5 miles)
2.75 miles cool down for 10 miles total

Wave workouts never cease to amaze me in their difficulty to complete.  They are mentally consuming, physically taxing, and aerobically challenging.  It's the hard workouts that make us stronger, right?

Spada, Eric and I all planned to meet at the Freedom Park Tennis Courts at 6AM.  This meant that Spada and I would actually meet somewhere halfway on the Sugar Creek Greenway since we both left our respective stations at 5:40.  By the time we united with Eric, it was time to get the show on the road.

We started at the East Blvd Entrance to Freedom Park, did a loop and a half around the Freedom Lake, and continued our way to the other end of the Greenway.  We started off a little slow on the first 800m "on," but that was to be expected since it's hard to get the legs rolling immediately when it's so early in the morning.  After the second "on" 800m, I knew this was going to be a tough one for me.  My breathing was already labored and my form felt sloppy.

I was really grateful for the company of Spada and Eric because I really just wanted to stop and catch my breath, but that wasn't an option with them around.  On the fourth one, Eric bolted ahead, and Spada went with him. I heard Eric ask Spada something, but I didn't quite catch what he said.  They rolled about 10-20 meters ahead of me, but pulled back to come get me on the easier segment.  Spada happily told me that Eric had asked Spada: "Did we drop her?"  Well, yes, they had dropped me, because I dropped a bomb of a split on that one.  If it had been light out, I'm sure I would have seen Eric blush in embarrassment, and he immediately stuttered something in an attempt to cover his bases and to not insult me.  Fortunately, I have thick skin and I told him not to worry about it.  In my mind, I was thinking: "Don't worry, I'm going to drop your a$$ in the next workout."  I smiled to myself.

Fortunately, I was able to bring things back into respective digits for the final hard segment, and then we called it a day.  I continued on my way on the greenway back to my house, grateful that was over.  Things are slowly coming together and I'm really enjoying this training.  My left hip flexor is still tight, but definitely manageable.  Looking forward to mile repeats on Friday.

60 Min Tempo Flop

Goal: 60 min at 615-620 pace
Actual: 50 min at 610 pace

Mr. Stephen Spada is always reliable for a midweek tempo since it's part of his weekly training cycle so I reached out to him yesterday to organize a tempo together. The plan was for this to be my last big marathon workout before Twin Cities in just 12 days. I was surprised to find Jordan in the parking lot when I arrived because he just came back from a two week adventure from DC to California to Providence. Regardless, I was excited for the extra company. We would start from our respective McAlpine locations at 530 and run towards each other and then the tempo from Old Bell and circle through the flat trails of McAlpine and Margaret Wallace.

From the get-go, I never felt comfortable with the pace. My stomach was sloshing and I felt sluggish. It's ironic how much better I felt last week doing a 60 minute tempo AFTER ten miles of warmup! Anyways, what went wrong? It was completely dark in the woods, I had to pull off after five miles to make a pit stop in the woods, and after the pit stop I battled with my stomach cramps the rest of way. Since I've been running for about 14 years now, I know my body well enough to know that it is not worth it to push through an extra 10 minutes. As soon as my Garmin beeped for mile 8, I slowed to a jog and cheered Jordan and Steve on for their final leg.

Splits
1 - 6:12
2 - 6:13
3 - 6:10
4 - 6:08
5 - 6:15 (turnaround, bathroom break)
6 - 6:12
7 - 6:12
8 - 6:04

Steve, of course, dominated as usual! It will be exciting to see what he gets at NYC.

I am crossing my fingers that what happened today will not happen on race day. These things happen every so often and I'm glad it happened today because maybe it will get everything out of my system by the time the gun goes off in 12 days. I didn't eat the typical large salad the night before my workout, so this could be why I was experiencing stomach problems. In the end, I can just hope that everything falls into place.

Now begins the real taper time...65 miles this week with a 13 mile long run and a day off. Next week will feature one workout and then it's go time!