Notes
3 sets of [2k @5:00-5:05 pace w/400 float+ Mile @ 4:55 w/400 float and rest to 3']. Of course, I was a little scared coming back out to Marshall after two straight blow-ups on the road that left my confidence shattered. I was feeling halfway decent though and had Sid and Isaac doing the workout with me, and surprisingly Brian's fartlek aligned pretty well with me as well. We took off at a solid but unspectacular clip and it allowed me to build into the first rep. I started to get gapped by Isaac and wouldn't be with him for the rest of the workout, but I was stubbornly going to run the pace I was assigned and keep the 400s in between pretty casually. Spilt 5:00 on my way to 6:15.8 for the first 2k. I wasn't pressing too much and Brian's company was lovely as we set out a bit quick on the mile back, running a pretty evenly paced 4:52.8. I think the 80-90 sec of standing recovery between sets made a big difference for me. I was running controlled on the second 2k and was out surprisingly fast in 73 for the first 400 but wasn't going to ask Brian to slow down. We rolled together through the mile in 4:59 and I ended up with a 6:14.5 for 2k #2. We proceeded to cruise back down and I was admittedly not as talkative but Brian was positively chatty. We ran 4:53.1 and it was pretty smooth, although I could start feeling the burning sensation in my left Achilles that has been plaguing me so far this week. I was solo for the last set, Isaac was long gone as he was pushing a good pace on the floats, so I was desperate to keep things on track now that it was on me to do so. Opened up well at 2:28 through 800 but I started to feel the fatigue of the session over the last K or so. Powered up the incline well, splitting another 5:00 mile, and ran 6:14.7 for the final 2k. I was breathing hard by this point but had avoided cramping and took a fairly positive mindset into the last mile. I wasn't going to crush it, I just wanted to exercise as much control as possible. 4:52.6 for the last mile and this whole morning did wonders for my confidence. If my Achilles didn't ache with nearly every stride of the cool-down, I'd be stoked, but this was a step in the right direction as far as pace acclimation goes.