Cruise control

7:10 AM - 10 miles - AHS Track.
21:30 up, 4 x 1 mile in 5:10.58 (57.58 recovery); 5:09.88 (58.56); 5:07.78 (57.52); 4:56.26, 23:15 down.

Solid workout at the track this morning -- yes, the track. Normally the men and women of New Balance Boston wouldn't step foot on one this time of year, and most of them likely still won't, but I was forced to fly solo in lieu of working out with the team tomorrow and wanted to make sure I didn't mess up Kevin's assignment. I figured the most idiot-proof way of achieving this goal would be by making use of the brandy new 400-meter oval at Auburn High School, quite the upgrade from the 357.5-meter cinder diamond we used to race around back in the day.

It proved to be a good choice. An even better choice was waking up 45 minutes earlier than usual and downing a cup of coffee, but those are min.

Kevin wanted me to do a set of cruise intervals, specifically 4 to 5 times a mile at 5-10 seconds faster than tempo pace with a scant minute recovery between each repetition. Since tempo pace for me right now equates to something in the 5:20-ish range, 5:10-15 is where I set my sights this morning. Given the length of Tuesday night's workout and an up-tempo finish to yesterday's run, I settled on stopping at the fourth mile before I even set foot on the track, but my main goal was to keep the effort consistent and make sure I didn't finish the workout any slower than I started it.

Mission accompished, and then some. I started out right at 5:10 for the first mile, then settled in at 5:09 and 5:07 for the next two before bringing it home in 4:56. Most importantly, everything felt good, even the intentional gear change over the last two laps of the final mile. It wasn't a spectacular workout by any means but it was a solid effort and easily the best workout I've done before 8 AM, ever.

The discomfort south of the border still remains though, but thankfully hasn't gotten any worse. It doesn't affect my mechanics or cause me to keel over in pain, but it's there and not getting any better either. Luckily, I won't have to wait 12 days to see a sports med specialist as James Casady over at Ashland Physical Therapy was able to squeeze me in this coming Tuesday morning. James refers a lot of his patients to us at the store, has a great reputation for diagnosing and treating running-related injuries and is a decent runner himself to boot. I'm thankful he was willing and able to fit me in on such short notice and am looking forward to figuring out what's going on down south and then taking the necessary steps to fix it.

For now though, I'm looking forward to a Sox victory followed by a sound night of sleep. Who am I kidding, the win alone will suffice.

Quote of the Day

"I ran as much as I could. I had a dream.”
- Marilson Gomes Dos Santos, Brazilian marathoner