The quake today shook things up on many levels besides literally. I'm sure others were mentally derailed afterward as well, but I went into the day with some work-related baggage and the afternoon rumbling only left me even less focused.
I've been wanting to get back to some speedwork, and today I decided on 3-4 mile repeats. Not sure where there's a reliable track in Bethesda, so I found a one-mile stretch of trail near the office to walk to after leaving the office. The anticipation of some faster miles actually made me a little anxious for the few hours leading up to them. Some mental hurdles to overcome I suppose.
Began with a 15 minute warmup that included a few strides. Did some light stretching at the head of the mile stretch and then I was off. The trail heads downhill at a gentle grade until the turnaround point, so I expected a slight disparity between the downhill and uphill splits. Just over 6 minutes seemed like a reasonable target. I would jog for 2 minutes between reps.
When I looked at my watch within sight of the turnaround on the first repeat I already knew I'd overdone it. First split came in at 5:51. Maybe with some practice I can nail 4 miles at that pace, but that was a stretch today.
This realization stuck with me during the second mile, now uphill. I started struggling with a minute or so remaining and eventually my insides protested and I was forced to slow down to prevent a GI disaster. This has happened more than once this summer, particularly on hot days, but today I guess the intensity upset things. I probably could have paid more attention to what I'd eaten throughout the day as well. Noted. Second mile 6:17.
Luckily there was a coffee shop within a few blocks at this point. I walked a bit and took an extended recovery between repeats 2 and 3. I knew I had to redeem myself, but my already heavy legs suggested I wouldn't get back down to my goal pace. I revised my plan and my only goal was to run the next two miles within a few seconds of each other.
They went 6:24 and 6:24. I was happy to be done and wrapped up with a short warm down. Total for the day is 7 miles in about 50 minutes. Clock stopped for the bathroom break.
In the end it wasn't the workout I'd hoped or imagined it would be but I'm happy I was able to bring things back under control for the latter half. I expect my pace to come down over the next few weeks but it's all in how much practice I get in. Next time I'll check my enthusiasm and make sure I run more reservedly to start and hopefully come out with some more consistent splits. Today's average split was 6:14.
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