8x.5 Mile With 2 Minutes Rest – 9.19 Miles Total

2.91 Miles Warm Up

5 x 10 Second Strides

8x.5 Mile With 2 Minutes Rest, Goal 2:35-2:40 (5:10-5:20 Pace)

2:38	5:17
2:36	5:13
2:34	5:09
2:34	5:09
2:40	5:22
2:36	5:12
2:31	5:03
2:38	5:18
Total Average Pace	5:13

2.28 Miles Cool Down w/ Sean 

Originally Sean wanted me to run these at 5 minute pace but the weather proved too tough so he altered it to 5:10-5:20 pace. This turned out to be just right. The display I had my Garmin on didn’t have the current lap pace so I just winged it and ran by feel. This turned out to be the right thing to do as I tried something different during the workout. At the start of each rep I would burst out for the first 250-300 meters at probably 4:30 to 4:40 pace and then I would slow down to gather myself. Then I would fall into a relaxed pace and then finish strong. This strategy seemed to prove effective. I used a similar strategy in my recent races and it seems to work for me. The only way you can get away with this is if you are pretty fit because if you aren’t then your legs will turn to jello and you will collapse at the end. There was a quite a bit of variation of splits during the workout. This can be explained away by 2 reasons. 1) At times I was running into the wind or with the wind and 2) I had no idea what pace I was running!

I’m going to have to try this strategy in my future workouts since recently it’s seemed easier to blast out of the gate at a quick pace and then relax as opposed to getting out at a comfortable and relaxed pace and then trying to speed up. Sort of like going from uncomfortable to comfortable rather than comfortable to uncomfortable. I must warn you though, it kind of goes against conventional wisdom.