Great workout!

Yeah!!!

I was not excited for this workout, not going to lie.

It’s one of the hardest of the cycle, both physically and mentally. 4x2miles at sub-marathon pace.

Good thing I had recruited Pat (bike) and Craig (running) to help, and Craig had recruited Anders (running) to run part of it with us.  What? 3 runners and one biker in small-town Northfield completing an epic marathon-pace workout over the lunch hour? Oh yes – Northfield is the BEST :).

 Craig and Anders were able to pull away the last 2 repeats, which was more of a function of me not being able to pick up the pace. But, nonetheless, this workout was a HUGE success. 8 miles of work done at an average of about 6:08 pace – below goal MP!

At first I was a little disappointed  as I wasn’t able to hit my times for this cycle. But I looked back at my Grandma’s ’11 cycle to see that this workout was on par, if not stronger, than what I had ever done before Grandmas.

Plus, when I actually slowed to MP (6:12), it felt EASY.

Granted, after  about 18 miles I know it won’t feel easy, but at least it feels smooth and effortless for a  couple of miles now! It gives me confidence that a Chicago qualifier might be possible :).

Now – time to continue to hydrate, sleep, and run FAST! 2.5 weeks until Chicago, 5.5 weeks until ING New York!! Yikes!!