Maybe. Maybe. Just maybe I am getting over the CPTC Thursday night tempo hump. Honestly, the real test won’t come until the next 2 x 4 mile session, but I’ve had back to back solid efforts now. Clearly, a first for me. I’m learning with this running business that everything builds and layers. Coach planned for a hard interval session on Tuesday that was to serve as our primary workout of the week, but Mother Nature had a different agenda. Therefore, the concern becomes how do competitive folks handle a workout on their own knowing that Thursday is coming. As See Jess Run recently commented, structure in speedwork is a good thing. Otherwise, you just go out and indiscriminately start hammering while trying to follow a fuzzy plan. Prior to the start yesterday, Coach asked the 30+ who did the Tuesday workout on Wednesday. Only one honest soul raised his hand. I knew of at least 4 other folks who did it. 
I’m new to this stuff, but experienced enough to know that it would have been counterproductive to “make up” the Tuesday interval session on Wednesday. Instead, I did a light fartlek to save the legs for last night. Good move. The plan was a 5.14 mile tempo at HM pace on reasonably favorable terrain … heading around the lower CP loop from Tavern on the Green, up the East Drive where Cat Hill greets you during mile 2 and the rolling hills on the West Drive kick you in the shorts at mile 4. In hindsight, I’m not sure it’s any more favorable than if you started going up the West Side where it’s a steady, but not painful incline and the finish on the East Drive is not so bad. Anyway, sorry for the verbal tour of CP.
My goal for last night was simple: goal HM pace is 7:20 (1:35 HM) and to stay on it … unlike the stock market … limited intra-session volatility. The splits:
| Mile | Split | Pace |
| 1 | 7:22 | 7:22 |
| 2 | 7:17 | 7:17 |
| 3 | 7:15 | 7:15 |
| 4 | 7:46 | 7:46 |
| 5 | 7:15 | 7:15 |
| 0.14 | 0:52 | 6:40 |
| 5.14 | 7:22 | 7:22 |
Overall, mission semi-accomplished. The blow up at mile 4 is annoying, but I managed to hold it together on the final mile and resist the temptation to race it to make up for lost time. Last night was the first time I used the Virtual Partner feature on the Garmin. I like it much better than the basic 3 stats display (time, pace, distance). VP kept me relaxed early on when I was ahead of pace by up to 17 seconds. It also gave me confidence when I fell behind 11 seconds of goal pace during the challenging 4th mile. During mile 5, I went quick enough to keep me close to the goal without spilling over into race mode. Although, the .14 mile bit indicates I was moving a little too quick at the end. Will use VP much more. Big fan.
Very solid workout last night. Mile 4 was a challenge, but overall it was an energizing session. Let the suffering continue!