Town Lake, Track, Greenbelt

Time: 62:00
Distance: 9 mi.

Easy afternoon run with Brian. We started at Barton Springs and ran over to the Austin High track so that he could do a 10 minute tempo. He's basing his getting back into shape plan on the idea that you run at a reasonable tempo pace from the get-go and then just increase the length until you are doing some solid work. I like the idea... get the legs used to running fast off the bat. After that we ran back to Barton Springs and did a short out-and-back on the Greenbelt.

After the run we hopped in the water, got some BBQ, and played beach volleyball for four hours.

4 Mile Tempo, 300s

Time: 81:00
Distance: 12.5 mi.

Target: 4 mile tempo at ~5:10; 6 x 300m in a good effort with 100m quick jog
Workout: 20:46 (5:12, 5:10, 5:15, 5:08); 48, 50, 48, 49, 48, 47 (8:10 for 1.5 mi.)


Mile 1 on Town Lake is on the bridge near Barton Springs

Chilly, windy morning in Austin. Joe and I ran from his house down to the Austin High track. We dropped off our flats and met Stanley, who had run from campus. The tempo was from the 2 mile mark to 0.0 and back. There was a fairly strong wind from the west, so the way out wasn't too bad, but we were fighting it all the way back. I was pretty stiff for the first mile of the tempo, but settled in. If the wind hadn't been so bad it wouldn't have been terrible to make this 5 miles, but the 5:08 at the end was a fight.

Joe and I jogged for 10 minutes and switched into flats before starting the 300s. We knew that one straightaway would have a lot of wind, so we didn't focus on the time other than to try to run even throughout.

Overall, it was a good workout despite the Oklahoma-esq wind. Unlike Oklahoma, however, there has been minimal leg bitage.

2k Buildup, 400s

Time: 90:00
Distance: 13 mi.

Target: 800m (2:00 rest), 1200m (3:00), 1600m (4:00), 2000m (4:00), 3 x 400m (1:00); long intervals at 70 pace, 400s under 65
Workout: 2:20.5, 3:31.0, 4:39.9, 5:53.3, 66.5, 64.5, 64.2

Brian suggested a Barry Harwick workout, as I didn't really know what I wanted to do this week and was just going to run the workout alone (yeah, I need a better plan soon). I was happy with his suggestion and it turned out well.


The Austin High track (since redone with red rubber) right on Town Lake

I decided to head down to the Austin High School track as a change of pace--it was nice to be able to warm up and cool down on Town Lake and I was hoping it would be empty. Instead, however, I had the Hot Middle-Aged Women's Track Club doing repeat miles in 7:00. At first I was annoyed, but it turned out they provided good targets to run down during the workout. It took a little time to settle in--the mile probably felt the best of all the intervals--but it was a good combination of strength and speed. It was good to get in a faster gear to end it. I got in a 25 minute warmup and a 30 minute cooldown to keep the volume up.

I have signed up for the Diploma Dash, a 5k in San Antonio this weekend, but am not planning on tapering for it.