Workouts!

So after a few weeks of operation speed up those easy runs, I finally got to start workouts this week! Woo hoo! While I have been pleased with my pacing progress, running every run with the same pace goal gets to be a bit mentally challenging! I am going with the flow here, but I have to admit I was excited to see that this week we were starting to mix it up some.

Yesterday, workout #1, was for tempo intervals. I was scheduled for 80 minutes of running total with 4 striders post workout. 20 minutes of warmup at a 9:00 pace; then 6 x .5 mile intervals at 7:17 pace; .25 recoveries. Cool down for the remaining time and then hit 4 x 100 meter striders with 30 seconds rest in between.

Now, the 7:17 pace for this short of intervals did not sound hard. And really, it wasn't. The best news of the day was where my HR was during all of this.

Warm-up: 27:46 - 3.1 miles (8:58 pace) - AHR 142. That's right, 142! Woot. This was even despite cold 20 degree weather and my regular hills [I extended my warm-up a bit too to get to better footing as the roads were a bit icy in spots.]

Intervals (.5 mile) / Recovery (.25 mile) Paces/HR:
1. 7:13/171; 9:15/162
2. 7:15/172; 9:05/159
3. 7:15/171; 9:09/163
4. 7:16/174; 9:29/163
5. 7:12/176; 9:26/164
6. 7:08/176; 9:17/162

Cool down: 18:45 - 2.12 miles (8:51) - AHR 157

What is good about all of this is that my paces were all at or below my LT and my recovery paces were quicker than normal, but my HR was nice and low. This is good. Truth be told, my goal interval paces probably should have been a bit faster, and I'm sure they will be soon, but for now, it was a good confidence builder.