That was Scary

Strength-speed workout on Saturday.  I didn't nail the session as I'd have liked, but to some degree I think it was because it was a bit too aggressive (target - three 800s and a 600 all under 2:20 half pace in the span of about 25-minutes)  However, I did run hard so at least I got in some quality work.

The big story was later that evening. I was icing my calves (which surprisingly are feeling much better now).  Just sitting down w/ the lower legs in some ice water.  After about 15-minutes it was time to step out and dry off.  As I stood up, my lower back felt odd.  I toweled off, walked into the bedroom and a severe pain shot through me like a lightning bolt.  I went to the bed to lie down for a few minutes - maybe I was in the ice water a few minutes too long?  About 5-minutes later I stood up again and my lower back didn't feel right.  I tried walking - definitely some pain - about 10-seconds later a violent pain shot through me again and I hit the deck - couldn't even stand.  Something was seriously wrong.

I've never had lower back pain before (aside from muscle soreness from lifting or working in the yard, etc)  This was definitely nerve related - not muscular.  I was thinking, "did I slip a disk?", "do I have a pinched nerve?"  In either case, I knew one thing for certain - I couldn't walk w/o fear of falling to the ground at any moment.  This was scary.

At this point I certainly had bigger problems than "how/when was I going to be able to run again?", but from the running perspective, yeah - it looked it was all but over for a while.  How can you run workouts and races when you can't even stand up much less walk??

For the next hour I tried to figure out what had gone wrong w/o much luck.  I kept "testing" it by moving into different positions and occasionally trying to walk (I dropped to the ground at least 5 more times)  Then while standing I did some kind of movement w/ the spine and I heard a "pop".  The area was still sore, but all of a sudden I could walk.  I walked around for a while and I thought the problem was essentially solved - whatever popped out popped back in and I was OK.

Not so much.  A short while later it was back "out".  It soon became apparent that this wasn't a disk popping in and out, but in a certain position it was much better.

I went to bed very early and had a miserable night's sleep.  When I could get the back into the "good position" by laying on one side I was OK, but if I moved to the other side it shifted to the "bad position".  I wound up doing some self-physio on the hip and glute muscles around 2:45 am as the whole hip joint didn't feel right.  (this combo of tennis ball and foam roller that does wonders on this area)  This actually helped some and I was able to then get some sleep.

By the next day I was "experienced" enough w/ this thing to get back into the "good position" more quickly which kept me from hitting the floor, and I was able to keep it in this position longer.  When it got into the bad position I could position myself in a certain way where I'd hear the slight pop (almost like cracking a knuckle) and I'd be OK.  Of course the overall area was still sore.  

By mid-day I went outside and started doing some minor things in the yard.  Later in the day I was able to do more and although the back was still a problem, for the first time I started thinking that it was actually improving. 

Here comes the part where you'll think I'm nuts - of course I couldn't run, but I figured, "hey if I can do some stuff in the yard I should be able to x-train".  So I was off to the gym only 20-hours after being unable to stand.  (maybe I am a little crazy)  

Twenty-five minutes on the elliptical actually made it feel better!  Then 20-minutes on the spinner bike where I did 3 solid intervals.  I finished up w/ 20-minutes on another stationary bike as a cool down.  All in all not bad - nothing got worse and honestly I was feeling a little better.

Last night it still went in and out, but the feeling when it was out was improving and it was now very easy to get it back in.  Today it's still sore and I can get some pains in it, but there is no longer an in and out at all, just general soreness.  

When it comes to nerve/disk issues w/ the back, I can't say I know too much about it, but I know enough to know that there is no such thing as "out of the woods".  So although things are improving quickly, there are no guarantees what will happen even 3-minutes from now.  I don't know what caused it - all I know is that I had both legs in ice water up to the knees for 15-minutes and was sitting when it happened, and my left hip joint (same side the pain was on) had felt tight for a day or two beforehand.  Maybe my CMT can shed some light on the subject.

I don't know when I'll feel healthy enough to try a run, maybe Wednesday, maybe not until the weekend, maybe later than that - I just don't know.

At this point, I'm just thankful to be able to walk and do most day-to-day things.  Every 8-12 hours there is noticeable improvement so I'll just hang my hat on that for now.  Hopefully the worst is over and I'll be back in action soon.

Training:

Sat, 5/30:  800m-2:21, 550m-1:35, 800m-2:23, 600m-1:45  (550 was supposed to be 800, just didn't feel like I could get it done.  Re-grouped and got in the 2nd half of the w/o)  the 600 was supposed to be 600 - didn't cut that one short.

Sun, 5/31:  X-train  (elliptical, spinner bike)

Split 1000s

Today's workout was like a long interval session w/ a twist - split 1000s.  (meaning not run at an even pace)  A great split 1000 w/o can be found in this article which talks about training for 800m runners.

In that one, it's 3 x 1000m w/ the first 600m at about 3k pace, then a slower 100m float which they call a "lactate shuttle".  The idea is to use the 100m float to clear the lactate produced by the first 600m quickly through a fast active recovery.  The last 300m are then kicked up to 1500m pace.  That's a great looking workout - I'm hoping to try it out somewhere down the line.

And while that session is certainly no picnic, it's probably easier than the one I had today.  For my split 1000s I had 800m at slightly slower than 3k pace followed by an acceleration to around 1k race pace for the last 200m.  (I'll tell you, by #3 I was wishing I had a 'float' somewhere in there)

The target was 4 x 1000m broken down as follows:

800m:  2:40 (5:20 pace)

200m:  32-33 (about 4:20 pace)

I'd never done a workout like this, and wow, it was hard.  Having to switch gears to that degree takes a lot out of you.  This is MUCH tougher than running the 1000m at an even pace, and the fatigue escalates in a hurry!  It also didn't help that we're having some east coast weather out here in CA - 80% humidity.  What the heck is that!?  This is CA, we're not supposed to have humidity.  On the bright side (if you can call it that) I did lose 3 pounds during the session, and that's with about half a gallon of water and recovery drink post workout!  Hey Rick - if you want to lose weight, I've got the workout for you!!

Here's how it went down:  

Mile w/u, 1 x 200m (cut out the 2nd 200m due to humidity - sticky and disgusting already)

#1:  800m - 2:39, 200m - 33, (3:12)

#2:  800m - 2:39, 200m - 32, (3:11)

#3:  800m - 2:42, 200m - 34, (3:16)*

* inadvertently slowed on lap #2 in anticipation of the kick, workout starting to take its toll

After that I decided to call it quits - I was pretty fried.  But after 2 minutes I talked myself into doing the last one knowing it was going to be absolutely dreadful.  I figured the time would be terrible (I was right about that) but at least I had the guts to go to the starting line and give it a go.

#4:  800m - 2:47, 200m - 34, (3:21)  Yuk!  Yeah that one was really bad, but I just didn't have anymore in the tank.  

If we had cut it to 3 x 1000m, I'm sure I'd have done a few seconds better on #3 (knowing it was the last one) thus nailing the w/o.  Four was one too many for me today - but since I had run #3 anticipating there being a #4, I was glad I went ahead and threw that 4th one up there.

I was looking forward to seeing what I could do w/ this session as I knew it played straight into my weakness as a middle distance runner - sustaining or picking up the pace when fatigue has already set in.  I'm more of a - go kill the first half and hang on kind of guy - I'm sure the sprinting background has a lot to do w/ that.  I'm going to ask coach for more sessions like this until they start becoming easier to manage.  This is an area where I really need to improve.

All in all - a good learning experience, and it was actually fun too.  Trying to drop your pace a full minute per mile when you're already going 5:20 - if I can't get up for that, I shouldn't be doing middle distance!

Training:

Wed, 5/6:  4 x 1000m (split-1000s)  3:12 (2:39-33), 3:11 (2:39-32), 3:16 (2:42-34), 3:21 (2:47-34)  PM - core work at home.

Mix and Match

Today was another "combo workout" where I did some long intervals up front followed by some speed work on the back end.  These sessions are new to me - I'm used to running the entire w/o at close to the same pace, so it takes some getting used to.  I can clearly see the value in the sessions - use the long intervals to get in some VO2Max type work (even if it is in lower volume) which also pre-fatigues the legs such that I can be forced to work hard on the speed portion even though I'm no longer able to go all that fast. (which hopefully decreases the chances of injury)

Today's deal:

Standard warm up:  Mile jog, stretching, 2x200m (the 200s are like long strides to get the legs ready to go)

3 x 800m @ 2:35 (2.5' rests)

5-minutes

6 x 200m @ 30-31 (60-second rests)

The 8s went off without a hitch, but one thing I learned today:  coming from a sprinter's background - I'm not that big a fan of combining 60-second rests w/ speed work!  (although this is exactly the type of training I need to process the lactate better to handle that 2nd lap during an 800m race - the reality is, I need to do a lot more of this, unfortunately)

I hit all the times, but the 5th one wasn't much fun, and I honestly didn't even want to go to the starting line for #6.  The fastest one was 30.0, the slowest was 31.4 and I averaged 30.8.  Not too bad, but these guys should get better when I get more of these short rest sessions under my belt.

A few easy days ahead - I have a session from hell scheduled for Saturday. 

Training:

Sun, 4/26:  5-miles @ 6:56  (should have been a long run, but the hip was tight so I cut it short)

Mon, 4/27:  Appointment w/ CMT - hip is getting better, everything else was much improved, and there are now no other issues.  No running (scheduled off day)

Tues, 4/28:  lifting (upper-B, abs) stretching, rolling. 

No running - took an extra day to rest the hip

Wed, 4/29:  Interval/Rep combo.  Standard w/u, 3 x 800m (2:34, 2:35, 2:35 - w/ 2.5' rests), 6 x 200m (30.8 average - 60-sec rests)

Dustin' Off the Track Spikes

I was supposed to do some speed work on Tuesday, however the mild issues w/ the hip and quad caused us to call an audible and do a volume speed session instead.  (400s @ 68)

There are still a few sore spots here and there, so I needed to be careful, but I was feeling good enough to do my first real speed work of the season.  Today's workout was a few 400s at a quick pace w/ near full recoveries.  JT being as clever as she is, decided to 'extend' my warm up just a tad to make sure I wouldn't be able to really go out and hit it on the 400s.  What we didn't want to have happen was me overdoing it on the 4's and potentially straining a muscle somewhere, so the idea was to pre-fatigue the legs to keep this from happening.  This warm up 'extension' came in the form of a 5:15 mile that I was to do prior to the quarters.  "Yeah", I said, "that ought to do the trick".

The target for the session was as follows:

Mile warm up

2 x 200m

Mile @ 5:15

7-minute rest

3 x 400m @ 62-63 w/ near full recoveries (about 7-minutes)

**  I was to switch over from the flats to the spikes for the last two 400s

I nearly nailed the session.  Once again I didn't bother to time the 200s.  Just ramped the pace up - went at speed for about 100m and then ramped it back down.  I was a little lax early on w/ the mile (2:38 first half), but I closed w/ a 2:36 to come in at 5:14.  Clearly this was a little tougher than my usual warm up - let's not turn this into the standard deal, shall we!?

The first 400m came in at 62.3  I then switched over to my spikes for the first time in, well, way too long.  Ah the feeling of being back in spikes - you feel like a duck when walking in them, but boy they're nice to have when moving around an all-weather oval - 400 #2:  61.1  

After #2 I think the adrenaline was wearing off as I started to feel some of the soreness from before.  In addition, my legs were already getting tired.  (this should improve drastically after a few legit speed sessions)  I knew I had just run my fastest 400 for today, and all I wanted out of #3 was to go under 63.  The session was going pretty well, and if I could just hit a 62.x w/ all the work I'd put in thus far, I'd feel like it would be an excellent opening speed session.

After the first 200 I knew I was a little slow, but I was surprised to see that it was almost 32.  "Yikes, this is a problem I need to pick it up".  I was happy in that I did negative split this last guy, but I came in just over the wire in 63.1 - oh well, motivation for next time.  

Overall, a good session.  I got to experience some faster paces again in something longer than a 200m for the first time in a long time.  I also got back into the spikes which is always nice.  Lastly, I walked off the track no worse off physically than I walked on.  I think I've got about a week for the rest of this soreness to subside and then I should be back to 100%.  

Good luck to Rick in London tomorrow!!

Training:

Wed, 4/22:  Appointment w/ CMT - no running

Thurs, 4/23:  5-miles @ 7:02 (sore)

AM  Lifting (upper-B, abs) stretching, rolling

Fri, 4/24:  5-miles @ 6:53 (feeling a little better)

AM Lifting (upper-A, abs) stretching, rolling

Sat, 4/25:  3 x 400m 62-23, after standard w/u plus 5:15 mile to pre-fatigue the legs.

2x200m - untimed, Mile-5:14, 400s (62.3, 61.1, 63.1)

A Few 1000s

On the heels of Tuesday's difficult session, I awoke Wednesday to discover that my left quad was a little stiff.  Other than that, just a slight amount of soreness in the hamstrings and calves, which was expected.

I made sure to baby the quad for a few days - I have an appointment w/ the CMT next week, so I'll be on my own stretching and rolling until then.  

Saturday was long interval day.  Being that the Tuesday session was so tough, and I'm planning on running a bit of a progression on Sunday, coach decided to back off a little on the intervals.  Instead of a more typical 4 x 1000m at about 3:15, we were going to do 3 x 1000m at 3:15-3:20. (3-minute breaks between each)

We're in the middle of a mini-heat wave this week (about 92 degrees today), but I was able to hit the track before the temps got too hot (80 degrees)  I was planning on starting at about 3:20 and maybe ramping down slightly if I felt really good, but surprisingly I felt great from the onset.  

Times were 3:15 - 3:13 - 3:14, and although the HRs were a tad higher than usual (probably due to running in higher temps for the first time in a while), I didn't really feel it until the last 500m of the last interval.  Good short session.

I'm planning on getting in a few hard miles towards the end of my run in the trails today, and hopefully the quad doesn't stiffen up.  

Training:

Wed, 4/15:  5-miles @ 6:57  (quad felt stiff during the last 1/2 mile)

Thurs, 4/16:  5-miles @ 7:12 (quad OK)

AM  lifting (upper-B, abs) stretching, rolling

Fri, 4/17:  lifting (upper-A, abs) stretching, rolling

Sat, 4/18:  4-miles including 3 x 1000m (3:15, 3:13, 3:14)  3-min rests

Good Long Interval Session

Long intervals on tap Saturday.  The session was 1200m-800m-800m-800m, but coach threw in a bit of a wrinkle.  Typically my rest period after a 1200m is 3.5-minutes, and after an 800m it's 2.5-minutes.  Well, for this workout we kept the standard rest after the 12, but between the 8's I'd be getting a slightly longer, 3-minute rest.  The catch?  We were going to pick up the pace a bit. 

Target was 77-seconds/400m on the 1200 (3:51) and 76-seconds/400m on the 8s (2:32) 

(normally its about 3:55 and 2:35)

I really like having a 1200m to start these sessions - being 3-laps, it forces me to keep my concentration and run fairly even 400m splits (as opposed to going out hard and then having to throttle back)  And once I'm locked into the pace, I can then run the 800s with more even lap times.  Staying disciplined on these guys is still a work in progress, but I'm getting better - and having the 1200m to start certainly helps.

I did do my 2 x 200m as part of the warm, but I didn't time them.  

Seventy five on the first lap of the 1200, (not too far off) and I then settled into the pace and hit two 77s finishing up in 3:49.  Nice to hit my first sub-3:50 1200m in a LI session, but more than that - I wasn't gassed at the finish.  I felt fine, and that was a nice confidence booster.

I did the first 800m in 2:31, and then came back w/ another 2:31 on #2.  The session was going very well, but I could tell that I was getting close to the edge.  (even w/ the extra 30-seconds of rest between the 8s, the drop from 2:35 to 2:31 was taking a toll - amazing how a few seconds can make that much difference)  

On the last 800 I hit the first lap on target in 75, but the wheels started coming off soon after that.  If I were to be 100% honest w/ myself, I could have sucked it up and shaved a couple seconds off lap #2, but I was already so pleased w/ the session that I gave myself a bit of a pass - 2:35.  

Overall I was happy w/ the workout, but going forward I'd like to be a little tougher at the end.

With Easter it wasn't really possible to get the typical long run in on  Sunday - I'm going to run on Monday instead (my normal off day) and then get back to my standard schedule starting Tuesday.

Training:

Sat, 4/11:  4-miles including 1200m, 3 x 800m:  (3:49, 2:31, 2:31, 2:35)

Sun, 4/12:  Off

Making the Adjustments

Last post (which garnered several great comments) covered a few different topics that caused me to re-think some aspects of my training that would hopefully lead to me hitting my workouts better.

#1.  Cutting back the pace of my daily runs.  (days between workouts)

#2.  Keeping an eye on the pace of my warm up 200s to ensure they don't take anything away from the subsequent session.

3.  Getting more rest overall, and making sure I take my recovery drink post workout.

In short - doing several little things that would add up to me being fully rested and ready to give my best effort during the hard sessions.

Over the past several days, I started to  implement these ideas and the early returns are showing some positive results.

For starters, I cut back the pace of my Sunday 10-miler to 7:15.  Typically these runs are done between 6:45 and 6:55 and this 20+ second/mile difference made for a very easy run.  Second, I paid more attention to getting my rest over the past several days, and I also added some little things like getting back on the multi-vitamins, making sure I'm properly hydrated, and taking the recovery drink post workout.  

This led up to the Tuesday long interval session where the plan was 1200m-1200m-800m.  After my mile warm up, I made the decision to not time the 200s and just get in a good solid stride effort getting me ready for the intervals.  Target pace for the 1200s was about 3:55, and about 2:35 for the 800m.  

The workout went off without a hitch:  first 1200m - 3:55, 2nd 1200m - 3:52, and the 800m came in on target at 2:35.  I was pretty gassed afterwards and I believe some of that is due to the fact that I haven't done any short fast intervals yet (they're starting up next week, although they'll be in high volume at first and thus slightly slower than usual)  I find when I'm hitting the fast intervals once a week I do better on these longer ones, but right now we're trying to build upon the distance and threshold work to add some strength before getting into the speed.

Overall a good solid workout.  Unlike some of the previous ones, I didn't cut it short, didn't adjust any of the reps, etc.  I hit the workout exactly the way we drew it up.  That doesn't sound like much, but the way it's been going lately I needed to hit one of these before the confidence started fading.  Doing two 1200s at that pace was a big deal for me - there's a huge difference between 800m and 1200m on these intervals, and usually if there's only one that's longer than 800 I can kind of gear up mentally for that one rep - but when you've got two of them it forces you to be more disciplined on the first one, and concentrate more on the 2nd one, making for a challenging day.  I was very pleased to not only come through it w/ the struggles I've been having, but rep #2 was actually faster than rep #1.  Something to build on mentally.

The base period is now almost over.  I'll be transitioning into true "training mode" starting next week, so the importance of sticking w/ the 3-points above is going to be critical if I'm to have success this season.

Training:

Sun, 3/29:  10-miles @ 7:15

Mon, 3/30:  lifting (upper-A, abs) stretching, rolling

Tues, 3/31:  4-miles including 2 x 1200m, 800m intervals (3:55, 3:52, 2:35)

The Return of LIH (Long Interval Hell)

How can you tell when Spring has sprung out here in sunny CA. . . . . more precisely in Cupertino, CA . . . at the community college . . . near the track??  Well, it must be when that old guy is out there looking like he's about to die!!

The target workout: 

1-mile (5:20 pace - slightly slower than interval pace as it's my first session)  4.5-min rest

1200m (5:16 pace)  3-min rest

800m (5:12 pace)  2.5 min rest

400m (5:00 pace)

Unfortunately, I didn't do such a good job sticking to the target.  The focus of the workout was supposed to be the 1200m and 800m.  The mile was strictly there for pre-fatigue.  My plan for the mile was to run the quarters in (77-80-80-79) which would give me a few seconds to play with.  

Being that I haven't done anything faster than the cruise intervals to this point, I figured I'd need to make sure I didn't get comfortable and go out too slow, so that was my thinking as I started off.  In hindsight, I should have checked my split at 200m to monitor my pace, but I tried to run the first lap on feel and make any necessary adjustments after 400m.  Big mistake - when I came through the quarter I was shocked as hell to see a split of 67.  "Geez, that's nuts - I have to slow down".  Of course I didn't want to just go in the tank on the 2nd lap, but I made sure I slowed some.  

Second lap in 77, which put me at 2:24 at the half.  At this point I was sure I heard someone laughing. . . it was me.  I couldn't believe I was blowing the workout this badly - no way I'm going to get this whole workout in after this.  I thought about cutting this rep at 1200m to leave more in the tank, but decided against it.  Yes I probably blew it, but just slow down and do your best to do as much of the workout as you can, I figured.  3:47 at 1200m - I didn't feel that bad, but I knew I absolutely had to slow down - not only had I probably blown the workout, but the way these quarter splits were forced to come in after the first lap made even this mile a huge disappointment.  I finished up in 5:08 - nice time, lousy splits - and way off target.

Now the hard part - trying to come back w/ similar paced runs only minutes later.  For the 1200m lap #1 came in at a solid 74, but soon after I was really feeling it.  I couldn't shake a 5:08 mile that quickly.  Decision time - start slowing and do the 1200m or shorten the rep.  I decided to keep the correct pace and cut this rep at 800m.  No way I was going to be able to hit pace for the full 1200.  800m in 2:34.  

I was OK for the rest of the workout:  800m #2 in 2:35, and then to get back some measure of respectability I lengthened the final rep from 400m to 600m - 1:52 (on target pace of 5:00)

Overall - not a very good workout.  The mile was way too fast early which led to terrible splits and compromised the rest of the workout.  The 1200m which was supposed to be the focus of the workout needed to be sacrificed because I instead made the mile the focus.  However, I will give myself some credit for pulling it together and running the last two intervals well.

The good news (or bad news depending on how I look at it) is that I'm going to be doing a lot more LI workouts during this build - and now that I understand my current capabilities a little better, I should be a better judge of pace going forward.  

After the workout I headed to the gym for a heavy lifting session on legs, core and abs.  (I figure if I'm going to be sore, I better get it all in one shot)  I'm pretty dead right now and I'd imagine I should have no trouble sleeping tonight.

Training:  

Mon, 3/23:  off (scheduled)

Tues, 3/24:  4.5 miles including, 1-mile (5:08), 800m (2:34), 800m (2:35), 600m (1:52)

PM  lifting (legs, abs, core)  stretching, rolling

Some Good Data

For today's track workout I decided to do a "transition" type session where I'd start at a slightly faster than threshold pace and ramp down to interval pace - the vehicle for this - 800m repeats w/ 2.5-min rests.

I had done this workout before back in October in the build leading up to the winter season.  Here are the results of that session:

Rep #	Time	Ave HR	Max HR	HR- 128	HR Min
1	2:49	146	157	1:00	114
2	2:48	152	163	1:05	117
3	2:44	155	169	1:10	117
4	2:41	159	170	1:35	121
5	2:38	162	172	1:45	128
6	2:32	165	174	1:52

The idea is to get the body prepared for the faster paces (i.e. long interval sessions) that are coming.  The post from that workout can be seen here.  BTW - HR-128 and HR-Min are the time it took for the HR to get back to 128 and the min-HR during the subsequent rest period.   

I did today's workout a couple weeks earlier in the build than last time, but knowing I'm in considerably better shape than I was in October I penciled in the target paces as follows:  2:42-2:40-2:38-2:37-2:36.  (I was leaving a 6th rep as optional depending on how the session went)

The first rep came in as planned at 2:42, but the second rep started a bit quicker and stayed that way throughout.  I hit the watch and saw a 2:36 on rep #2 and immediately said, "damn, too fast".  I didn't figure I'd be able to maintain that pace, but that's in fact what happened:   2:36-2:37-2:36.  I was quite surprised - aside from rep #1 these were all very close to long interval paces.

But a quick look at the data shows that clearly this was not long interval effort:

Rep #	Time	Ave HR	Max HR	HR- 128	HR Min
1	2:42	150	159	0:48	105
2	2:36	155	164	1:00	112
3	2:36	157	167	1:17	118
4	2:37	158	167	1:27	118
5	2:36	158	168	1:31	121

In fact, the HR data is quite a bit better than the October data even though the paces here are faster.  I was again surprised to see that the HR never exceeded 168 the entire workout.  However, I will state that the last two reps felt more difficult than that HR data would suggest, but I think this is likely due to my legs being tired.  I did not expect to be hitting these paces today - if I had, I'd have made sure my legs were a little more rested coming into the workout.  Nine sub-7 minute miles yesterday on the heels of the 7-miler @ 6:44 pace the day before did not set me up well for a fast workout today, but again I wasn't expecting this workout to go as well as it did.  If I thought I'd need to go low 2:30s in order to get the HR up to 170-173 I'd have made sure the legs were rested coming in.  

Also, for comparison - here's what a 5 x 800m long interval session looked like back in December:

Rep #	Time	Ave HR	Max HR	HR- 128	HR Min
1	2:37	155	167	1:08	114
2	2:34	160	172	1:25	118
3	2:35	162	172	1:37	121
4	2:34	162	173	1:52	122
5	2:35	163	174

The paces of reps 2-5 are about 2-seconds faster than today, but at the cost of considerably higher HRs.  

In short, today I was able to hit close to interval paces (without that ever being the intention) at HRs that were lower than what I'd expect from a transition workout.  Maybe this will kick start the motivation again - hell, after the 5th rep today I even threw in a 400m.  

Training:

Fri, 2/27:  AM  5-miles @ 6:58 pace

PM 4-miles @ 6:56 pace

Sat, 2/28:  5-miles, including 5 x 800m (2:42-2:36-2:36-2:37-2:36) plus 400m (74):  2.5-min rests