Day 7: Back to the Grind

Today's task:  1200m (5:03), 1000m (4:10), 800m (3:18), 600m (2:28), 400m (1:37), 200m rest intervals

Today's weather - 39 degrees, raining, breezy

Today's outcome:  1200m (???), 1000m (4:10), 800m (3:18), 600m (2:28), 400m (1:37)

I figured after the effort put in for Saturday's race in some rather unpleasant weather conditions, I earned myself a nice, cozy interval workout in the comforts of the rec center.  Not to mention the added complication of all the math involved in mapping out those distances without a GPS watch!  So after a warm up mile from Camryn's school to the rec center, I hopped on the treadmill for the first time in several weeks.  My brain isn't all there these days, and I forgot to calculate my pace in mph, so I had to do some math on my phone's calculator during the rest intervals to try to get it right.  The first interval was off by about 10 seconds or so because I didn't have the speed set right, but the rest were right on target.  I try to keep my focus straight ahead while on the treadmill, because if I look around at the other patrons, my inner athletic trainer comes out and makes me cringe when I see the way some people are executing their exercises.  Let's just say that orthopedists and physical therapists will always be in business!  I finished up with a cool down mile back to my car at Camryn's school, where my hot coffee was waiting for me.

I'm still reeling a bit from my 4th place finish for my age group in Saturday's race.  I think back to just a couple of years ago when a 10k seemed well beyond my abilities, and by hard work and determination alone, I'm running farther and faster.  This is what's so incredible about running.  All you have to do to improve is keep running.  It's that simple.  It's hard work, but seeing actual progress makes it easy to stick with it.  Put in the work, see the results.  With no races until mid-February, my focus will be on my marathon training and increasing the mileage of my long runs.  It's incredibly daunting, but the results of my past few races have given me confidence this program will get me to the finish line.