First Speedwork.

Boulder High School track, 7:45 am.

Here's the benchmark.

Coach's instructions: two 1/4 mile runs, at 8:30 pace, or 2:07. If those feel *really* good, do two more.

Two felt ok, and I'd have felt like I cheated myself to leave after just that, so I went ahead and did two more.

With easy laps in between to allow my HR to recover, I was plenty tired after the eight laps. Even then, I felt like I could have done more but left it at that, per instructions.

Excellent!  You left the track just when you were supposed to--really tired, but feeling like you could have done one more.  Now we have a reference point for your speedwork.

Observations:

• It's a good challenge for me yet to maintain a steady pace for a quarter mile. I have to monitor my GPS pretty closely and be in a state of constant adjustment. It varied from 6:21 to 9:00. I'm assuming I'll be able to better calibrate with practice.
• The south side of the track was covered with a skiff of snow--enough that I could feel some slippage with each step. I suspect that added extra effort at maintaining pace.
• This run found me in my Merrill hiking shoes rather than my Brooks running shoes--goofy, and I should have returned to the locker room and changed shoes but I didn't. I'm sure running shoes would have made for an easier go of it.
• Several times I found myself running at a 7:30 pace, and felt like I could have sustained that for at least one lap. Probably would have taken me more than a lap to recover, but nice to know the capacity is in me.

I finished the workout with an easy run out east on the Boulder Creek path, doubling back for a total run of 4 miles.

It was a good effort today and I felt good about the results.