Track Workout

I finally went to a local high school track yesterday morning to get in some speedwork. I had gone here several times last summer but at the time I had a running buddy, Emily, so it was easier to force myself to go when she was also going to be there. Recently, I'd been doing a lot of speedwork on the treadmill just so I could control the speed but I knew it was in my best interest to actually do it outside. I do my tempo runs outside and sometimes faster mile repeats also.

I had 800 meter repeats (half miles) on my "schedule," and I say that loosely because I tend to make up my running schedule on a week-by-week basis depending on how I'm feeling and also by looking at some other running programs. I do have a race in mind this fall but I'd like to keep it quiet for a little bit longer....you know, in case I get injured or something. I did a very easy mile warm up (9:14 pace) and immediately went into 6 x 800 with an easy 400 jog in between followed by a half mile cooldown for a total of 6 mi. My goal was to keep all 6 repeats under 3:30.

800 #1: 3:21 (uh oh, I think I might have gone out too fast)
800 #2: 3:23 (not bad, only a couple seconds slower)
800 #3: 3:26 (progressively getting slower, I hope I can hold on)
800 #4: 3:27 (I still have 2 more!?)
800 #5: 3:29 (ok, I really need to pick it up & bust it out on this last one)
800 #6: 3:26 (thank god I'm done!)

It was amazing because I went through the first 400 on all my repeats in 1:39-1:41 so I seemed to slow down on the second lap. Overall, I was very pleased with my workout and if it's true what they say about Yasso 800s, maybe a 3:30 marathon is in my future.