Speed Before Breakfast

With a little help from Heather I got up just before 5:00 this morning. We went out on a loop around Chestnut Hill that has become our standard "Morning Loop". At just over 4 miles it's a good distance to get the blood moving but still short enough that Heather can squeeze it in before work.

After stopping at home to get some coffee going and slug a glass of water I was back out the door headed to Chestnut Hill Academy track, about 3/4 of a mile away. I have been trying to add speedwork to all of my Wednesday runs and heading to the track actually seemed like a good idea this morning. I thought a 4 x 800 workout with 400 recovery would be a reasonable thing as it was my first trip to the track in a long while and the first time I'd ever done any speed workout on a morning run. (I guess that is with the exception of races).

After 5 + miles I was more than warmed up when I arrived at the track so I got right to it. Here is how it went down. 2:53, 2:53, 2:54, 2:51. Recoveries were all about 2:10.

I was shooting for 2:55 - 3:00 but the faster pace came naturally and I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to knock them out fairly easily. Not to say they were a breeze but they felt like the appropriate amount of effort. I was more than happy with the workout and glad I had knocked it out all before 6:30 in the morning. It is possible to do speedwork before breakfast. Who would have thought. 8.5 miles in 68 minutes.