Weather: 75F at 0415 and dew point 72F. Humidex = 147 at this hour. The torment starts early this time of year.
Pre-run: At 0415, YHC and Defib launched off into a 6.5 mile easy pace pre-run. Excalibur apparently forgot to set his alarm, so he missed the pre-run. But would he show for the main course? Read on to find out.
Welcome: Not much of an introduction needed as YHC and Defib circled-back to the skatepark to pick Excalibur up. Well, after a few minutes it was clear that the fartsack and Excalibur were fused together like superglue and fingers. Anyway, a quick shrug of the shoulders and off we went.
The Thang: today’s beatdown consisted of a series of progressions. After an additional mile to warm-up and get psychologically prepared for the pain, the plan was to increase pace by 15-seconds every 800 meters, starting at 09:00 min/mile. The goal was to increase the pace until failure, or basically once an 800 meter segment could not be completed within 5-seconds of the goal time, then the progression was complete and recovery miles were to be had. The catch with progressions is that there is no time for recovery like in repeats and intervals. The difficulty accumulates until the pace is too difficult to sustain, and yes, the progression was done going back-and-forth across the bridge for added elevation work where maintaining the intended pace up hill was challenging as the speed was increased.
All-told, we continued the progressions until 6:30 min/mile pace which turns out to be twelve 800-meter segments at increasing pace for a total of 6-miles of progression work. Together with the easy work and pre-run, we covered over 14-miles. That’s a good day!
To fill time, YHC and Defib discussed marathon options for the fall. At this point, we’re not sure, but we still have a few weeks to decide. There’s a decent chance we travel to Ohio for a marathon along the coast of Lake Eerie, but nothing is locked-in yet. Let us know if you have interest in an Oct / Nov marathon / half marathon either in FL or elsewhere.
Announcements:
- Sup and Run on May 25th
Prayers / Praises:
- Defib’s foot
- Healing for Excalibur’s alarm clock
“To do what others cannot, be willing to do what others will not.”
Gridlock