800m Repeats

Workout today called for eight miles, but a group of people were heading out for 800m repeats on Flat Rd. and I thought I might as well join. I haven't done any interval work in a few months and it might be good to see where I stand. After a mile warmup we started into a headwind which also carried rain with it. The turn comes in around 600m and the headwind dies, giving you plenty of opportunity to sprint to the finish. The second 800 doesn't match the first. A recovery job towards the FireGate entrance and the start is there. Again, there is a turn at approx 600 meters. The headwind doesn't really affect you on this portion, but it's always tough to say. Here's how they turned out:

3:08, 2:53, 2:51, 2:44, 2:47

We had originally thought of doing 4 repeats, but decided tacking on an extra after the workout was supposedly finished. I had emptied the tank on the fourth repeat and struggled to beat the time on the last. I'll attribute it to the headwind I had to suffer on the last repeat. I still think it was pretty fast.

I won't say these were easy, but they were definitely faster than I expected. Granted, I was really pushing for the last 200 meters of each repeat, but the first 600 felt sustainable. The only reference point I have is this same workout that was done on September 2nd in the heat. I was hovering just below 3 minutes and was lucky to get below that. My last rep for that workout was 3:06. This time around, I had some pop in my step and was glad to see how they turned out. The recovery portions were a little lengthy (~3:00) but that's just how the course goes.

About 6 miles in 47 minutes