76 and Counting

January 29, 2013: 76 and Counting….. Wow!  Just this time last week it was 15 degrees and windy.  Today it was 68 degrees according to a bank thermometer I drove by heading to the track.  It felt almost surreal as I stepped out onto the track on a warm, sunny, breezy January day.   Today’s workout was a 3-mile warm-up; 8 x 100 meter strides; a rust buster 400; a 400 jog; a 4-mile tempo run; then finally a 3 mile cool down (11 miles total).  Overall, the workout went well.  I was expecting to run the rust buster in about 72 seconds.  To my surprise the watched clicked over to 68 seconds as I completed the lap.  I haven’t done any type of speed work in about 4 weeks, so the 68 was a spirit lifter right off the bat.  I then proceeded to jog a partially oxygen indebted lap, then immediately started into the 4-mile tempo.   My goal going into this tempo was to average somewhere between 5:15-5:20 per mile (hoping to get closer to the 5:15).  My 1600 meter splits went something like this: 5:19, 5:17, 5:19, 5:15.  I know 16 laps is a little short of 4 miles, so my distance OCD kicked in, and I ran about 50 meters passed the finish line to make sure I got four in.  So, for 6400 meters I ran right around 21:10, and about 21:20 for the 6450, which is 14 meters longer than 4 miles.  Therefore, after all of my ridiculous distance analysis, I averaged approximately 5:19 or 5:20 per mile.  I will definitely take it.  God provided a gorgeous day for a workout…..I do hope it’s cooler than this on April 15^th though. J