Mile Repeats...

Today was an unscheduled group workout that involved some mile repeats. It's funny, every time we do mile repeats I can't help but think of the movie groundhog day....I have NO idea why, but I about 3/4 of the way through the first mile, I get that scene in my head when Bill Murray is driving the car with Phil and they're in the quarry...You know, the part where he tells him that he drives pretty good for a quadruped....and "Don't drive angry!". Then the next thing they show, is the truck going off the cliff and bursting into flames into a HUGENORMOUS fireball......and then BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP......His alarm goes off and it's ANOTHER groundhog day.....For me....The BEEP BEEP BEEP was us finishing the first set....

And what a great workout it was. 3x1mile and 4x400 back to the start. First off, I really need to check my watch. Because this is the second time in a row, where i thought I left with AMPLE time to get there, but they were starting the last group as I came up....It was Butch, Michele and I, but Mamma Michele was doing her own 30/30 workout. Butch and I ran the 1st mile together. That's kinda strange for me, because I'm used to being quite a bit behind him. Running with him is a new and exciting adventure. The first mile was at a nice 7:15. My legs felt GREAT! even better, we even caught up to the other groups that started in front of us. :) Set two, not as fast, but it is was the back of the first mile and slightly uphill. Came in a bit behind Butch at 7:30. I'm a little upset with myself on that one, because I allowed myself to lose focus somewheres areund the 3/4 mark. When I crossed the split I noticed the terrible quarter, got re-focused and then came back strong. That's definitely somethign I need to work on...FOCUS.

So the third set, I set that as my goal...FOCUS FOCUS FOCUS. And I kept it nice and even through each split and ran a 7:18. Very consistent with my first split, only 3 seconds slower. I'm very happy with that result. That led into the quarters. Those are a more up tempo pace, more like your 5K grind 'em out, with a much smller rest in between (45 seconds). And grind them out consistent I did: 1:44, 1:43, 1:43, and 1:43. BAM BAM BAM BAM! That put a huge victory stamp of approval on theworkout. To be able to run a consistent sub 7 pace was GREAT!

Whats even better is that I had several members of the group tell me that they had to do a double take to see who that "skinny" guy was running with Butch! YEAH BABY!!!! Just 12 short weeks ago, I was running with the group, not on a consistent basis, and I weighed in at a miserable 206 pounds. Today, I've been able to take over 25 pounds off that number. I credit that with a LOT of will power, and a major change in eating habits....And a nice bout of dedication to running and staying fit. Meeting my goal and breaking through 40 miles last week was a HUGE accomplishment. This week, may be considered a rest week, but it's not really a rest from running, it's just allowing for my body some extra recovery time while I change my focus from miles to speed. 3 of my 5 workouts are dedicated to SPEED. Todays, Thursday, and Saturday. Tomorrow I will get in a 6.5 miler and Sunday I'm planning on doing 9-10. On paper that's about 30-32 miles. We'll see how it shakes out. I'm feeling great and running strong, aand I have to hold back the urge to run long this week. It's ALL about performance. My progress report comes on Saturday with the 30 minute tempo run. That's where I get to see the real progress!

So, untill tomorrows post I'll reminisce a little bit about my trip to NYC last year. This weekend last year, I was getting ready to make the long trip to Manhattan. Talk about a great time....I had a blast....I'm really kinda bummed i'm not running it this year, but I will say...that was one expensive TRIP! Until tomorrow....LIVESTRONG and Train HARD!