Project Breaking 5: Part 4 - the final speed work

Shawn and I hit the track one last time this morning prior to our attempt to break the 5 minute barrier for the mile Saturday night. We ran ladders in the sun and humidity, probably 80s felt 90s or worse. Shawn commented it was the worst weather he has experienced during our training. Of course, he was in New England during the week of July Fourth so he missed the last time it was sticky and soul-sapping like this morning. We hit some pretty impressive times regardless.

On the warm up to the track, I felt quite sluggish. Shawn was fresh since he ran only 4 miles Saturday night with his kids at the Bastille Day Four Miler and took off Sunday. My soreness was likely from the 10 on Saturday at midday in the heat in New Jersey and 8 on Sunday in New Jersey, but early in the morning and cooler. Oh, and the 17 yesterday which included 5 to daycare and 7 home in the morning and another 5 in the evening running Miles home. On the run home, there was a slight drizzle that cooled us off. And, a woman on a bicycle encouraged me as she passed on the MBT. I was singing the ABCs with Miles and she said, "Parenting, it's a marathon!" I responded, "It's not a sprint!" I got the thumbs up as she rode away.

At the track, we ran our initial lap of striders. Then we hit the ladder: 100/200/300/400/400/300/200/100 with jog rest. The jog rest varied so that it was long enough to recover but lined up so that we started and finished either at the start line, 100, or 200 (the 300 mark was unclear so I tried to have us avoid using it as a start/finish marker).

Our results: 16.6, 33.7, 53.9, 70.0, 69.9, 51.7, 33.9, 16.6. Shawn can take a second off for the middle times since he stayed out ahead of me. I figured we didn't need to hit anything faster than my pace. In fact, 73-74 seconds per lap will accomplish our goal Saturday night. Tomorrow is an easy one hour run, Thursday will be a double getting Miles to and from daycare, and Friday will be an hour run. Then, rest Saturday morning (actually going to brunch for a friend's birthday) and maybe the pool in the afternoon after Miles' nap.

Then it will be showtime! I suspect I will run to and from the track as my warm up and cool down since it is at Dunbar. A friend in my club agreed to time us and shout out 200 meter splits. I figure we need 36-37 for every 200 to make this work. Even if we come in a few seconds over 5, we will be happy. But, I'm not going to start thinking of excuses now - not when all of our workouts show us capable of getting in under 5.

If you want to come watch, the meet is hosted by our club, DC Road Runners Club, and will be a lot of fun. Our heat is scheduled for 6:15, the Masters Mile Men (must run under 10:00).