13 myles - 1.36:35

South Platte Pkwy - 2:00 P.M.
mild, clear path, mid 40s
mind/body - very strong
Hard effort

Prescribed workout: 60 - 75 minutes with 6 x 1 mile @ 5:50 - 5:55 pace - 2 min jogging after each.

Actual workout: 13 myles 1.36:35 - 24:38 warm up/27:33 cool down - mile splits: 5:39, 5:43, 5:45, 5:54, 5:42, 5:43.

As AJW once referred to a comment Lance Armstrong made about how good he felt during a training ride "it was like riding without a chain today" - I can honestly say I know what he's talkin' about now! I had an awesome day with speed work! I was supposed to hit 5:50-:55 splits and look at my first split - 5:39! My breathing was relaxed, my body was relaxed, and it felt like a 6 min effort. That, my friends, is running without a chain! I thought I had cooked myself after the first mile so I eased up on the second and still came in with a 5:43. I finally started to feel a little lactic acid build up by the 5th mile but I still hit good numbers. One thing I noticed today was that running strong and relaxed is hard to do, running relaxed and sloppy is easy to do. My breathing seems to tense up once I start thinking about posture so it's something I've gotta work on when I get tired. Speedwork is starting to pay off.