12 myles - 1.21:12

South Platte River Pkwy - 2:00 p.m.
30's, icy patches, partly cloudy
mind/body - eager to get it over with
Hard effort

I couldn't stand to think about putting this workout off another day AND since the weather was nice I went for it. It's supposed to get back down to zero over the weekend so I have to get em in when I can, right? When I said ooooofffhhhh yesterday, I really meant it! Just like high school track workouts - dipping into the red and happy to be done.

The prescribed workout was to be a warm-up/down 15-20 each with 30 minutes @ 5:45 pace in the middle. I went out to the South Platte river pkwy because it's a paved path with mile markers every 1/2 mile. This way I'll know exactly what pace I'm running rather than guesstimating. A 25 minute warm up to the start and then out and back 20 seconds beyond the 2.5 mile pole which means I ran about 5.1 myles in 30:02. My first 1/2 was 2:47 so I backed off and settled into an easier pace after the lungs started working. First and last mile splits were 5:53/5:56 respectively for an overall average of 5:53. I was really happy to be done and pretty much tapped. I walked a couple minutes then cooled down just over 26 minutes back to the car.

I now know that 5:45 is a little fast for me at this stage but with a few more LT workouts it should be easier to hit. I think my LT is right around 5:55 right now.