You know what Tuesday’s mean! My favorite run of the week. Intervals!!! Many of us are getting ready for the Coogan’s 5K on Sunday. Therefore, last night was intended to be our main event of the running week. The Thursday night tempo will be light on intensity (at least for me). On tap were 3x1200s at 5k pace with a 400m recovery and ending with 3×200 at 3k pace with a 100m recovery. It was a fairly aggressive workout in that it added a bit of distance followed by a shortish recovery and ending with speed. This workout required energy management as it would be only too easy to bust out in the first 1,200 only to suffer for the rest of the session. The results:
| Time | Pace | |
| Warm Up | 13:00 | 8:40 |
| 1st 1200 | 5:02 | 6:46 |
| 2nd 1200 | 4:46 | 6:24 |
| 3rd 1200 | 4:37 | 6:12 |
| 1st 200 | 0:42 | 5:38 |
| 2nd 200 | 0:41 | 5:30 |
| 3rd 200 | 0:37 | 4:58 |
| Cool Down | 13:00 | 8:40 |
The only set from which I can take anything constructive away is the 1st 1200. That is in the range of goal 5k pace. It’s still likely too aggressive, but I felt good running it. I actually paced the group for the majority of the 1st interval as our normal pacer said he needed a little more time to loosen up before taking over his usual duties. He came back with the vengeance on the 2nd 1200 with a 6:24 pace. On the final 1200, a couple of the Assassins ended up racing on the last 50m, so you can imagine how that interval went. I hung back. The 3×200 was a nice way to let off some steam. I’ll be honest. Last night was an interesting construct. I found the 1200’s challenging in the sense that you really had to concentrate on following an appropriate, sustainable pace, but being on the track you always want to let it loose a bit. I’m sure Coach had this in mind. The 200s were meant for us to focus on form. To that end, I tried to relax, but found myself running a bit too hard, like always. In all, 6+ miles with the warm up and cool down.
I’m starting to get excited for the 5k. It will be my first race under 13.1 miles in nearly 10 months. I last ran a 5k in February 2009 (23:52, 7:41 pace). Unless something goes horribly wrong, I should PR. The goal is 21:41 or 6:59 pace. My training has been solid, but I’m not experienced enough to know if that goal is realistic. We’ll see. I’ll definitely give it my all.