Got through my speedwork yesterday, but the whole session was peppered with lovely internal spewing.  It started before I left the house because I was really tired, not legs tired, just sleepy tired:

Me: “You just raced two days ago, you don’t have to do this, you know.”

Self: “But it’s my last key session, I might as well eek out everything I can from this body before race day.”

Me: “OK, but it’s totally cool if you take it down to 10k pace instead of 5k pace.”

Self: “Yeah, I guess, but did you not hear me?  It’s my last key session…”

Me: “Alright, then here’s another alternative, if you feel like cutting it down to 5 reps instead of 6, that’s totally fine, too.”

Self: “But then I’ll be mad at myself for not finishing the workout!”

Me: “Now see that?  You’ve done three already, you can bag that last one for real, it’s no big deal.”

Self: “But I’m on pace and it’s not killing me, but yeah, quitting early does sound tempting…”

Me: “C’mon, you’ve been working really hard all cycle, give yourself a break!”

Self: “Shut up Bitch, one more and I’m done.”

Workout was: 6×800@5k pace w/90sec. rec’s.  I used my new 5K pace based on Sunday’s race, so my split paces were 6:43 (oops), 6:33, 6:30, 6:37, 6:34, 6:38, average 6:36.  Plus 2.5 miles warmup and cooldown, so 9 miles total.

After that, besides my planned Easys, I’m doing a long tempo on Friday, then there’s a short speed session on Monday (3×1 mile @10k pace w/ 3min. rec’s.) and that’s it!  Definitely my densest cycle of quality work ever, but I have enjoyed it completely.

Now the question will be about taking raceweek days off.  Hudson calls for next Thursday and Saturday off though I’m at a higher mileage level than he expects, so I could get away with a 4-miler in lieu of Thursday’s off day.

Me: “You should just take the one day off, you’ve had this streak since March 2nd, why mess it up with two off days?”

Self: “Because it’s like those people who eschew gels on long runs, I’ll probably be extra fortified on race day by having two whole rest days after such a long spell!  Besides, tapering is for real, it will only help in the long run (yuck yuck) to lay off an extra day.”

Me: “You win.  But I’m still pissed that you called me a Bitch before.”

Self:  8-)

10 Responses to “The Speedwork Conversation”

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Race PRs
5K 20:25 (6/14/09)
5M 35:28 (3/14/09)
10K 42:40 (4/19/09)
Half 1:33:51 (9/20/09)
Marathon 3:28:29 (4/19/10)

Click here for more race times & reports

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