ACTUAL TRACK INTERVALS

Can't wait for my watch! This still sort of tells the story though. First two intervals aren't as pronounced oddly.

Turns out I might have bashed Southridge High School a little prematurely. Maybe they just lock it up during the summer or were doing construction when I went there on a quest for a water fountain once. Anyways, long story short, I ended up running on their track last night.

I was really NOT looking forward to doing the neighborhood intervals again so I investigated the high school a little further on Google Maps. Looks like there was a small parking lot I could park in and investigate the fence situation. On my way home from work I swung by and saw that the gates were flung open and access to the track was granted. Score!

So I got home, changed, then headed back to the high school. It is less than a 10 minute drive so not too annoying. Once there, I hopped up to the track, which wasn't lit, but had enough ambient light from other sources that I could see. Others were on the track too. So apparently people do use it. The problem was, it was FREAKING COLD. Like 38 degrees and windy. Plus, I was running hard so I was sweating, which was not fun in that temperature!

Interval	400m Time	400m Pace	Rest Time	Rest Pace
#1	1:38.40	6:34/mi	2:16.41	9:06/mi
#2	1:35.58	6:22/mi	2:21.10	9:24/mi
#3	1:34.47	6:18/mi	2:18.74	9:15/mi
#4	1:32.51	6:10/mi	2:24.54	9:38/mi
#5	1:34.00	6:16/mi	2:26.68	9:47/mi
#6	1:36.58	6:26/mi	2:26.43	9:46/mi
#7	1:35.00	6:20/mi	2:29.87	9:59/mi
#8	1:30.87	6:03/mi	2:31.72	10:07/mi
Average	1:34.68	6:19/mi	2:24.44	9:38/mi

After about three intervals I really wanted to quit. Intervals suck. Even though afterward you feel like ripping open your chest to reveal the "S," they suck during. Especially in the cold and dark (once it gets sunny and warm again I'll complain about the heat). Anyways, I just kept convincing myself to do one more. One more and then I can fake a hammy injury. Eventually I "one more"ed myself to all eight.

Cool to see that after only four interval sessions my average time has gone from 6:41/mile to 6:27, then 6:25, and now 6:19. Kind of like when you start running and your average mile time drops like 5-10 seconds each time out. So I'm enjoying that "massive improvement" honeymoon. I know soon those seconds will be hard to come by but for now I'll take the improvements.

Had a great run on the seven mile rollercoaster on Wednesday night. Averaged 8:12/mile. Feeling pretty dang good at the moment. Much better than last week. Fourteen miles tomorrow with the Coach Jim running group. Never been, but I feel the need for some companionship on some of these long runs so I'll be tagging along with them tomorrow. Only issue is the 8am start. Ugh.