400m Repeats, Frozen

After a day off of running yesterday (Christmas shopping and a lot of cookie baking), I approached this morning's workout with some trepidation. I knew it was going to be cold, and the prospect of running a hard 15-20 x 400m workout in really cold temps was daunting, to say the least. We started this morning an hour later than normal, at 7:00 am, and with the sun rising and then out for most of the workout, that helped us all deal with the conditions. The numbers? 29 degrees, with a breeze from time to time dropping it lower than that. It was a beautiful morning, but cold.

We took a longer warmup than usual, per Gilbert's instructions, and the small crew of Gazelles (about 7 of us), cruised slower than usual for the 2.5 miles, about 10:00 pace, to the Austin High track. I wore a running vest and a long sleeved running shirt, which was perfect for these conditions (hat and gloves and tights, of course). The drills were fine, and then we commenced the program. Gilbert suggested a range of 1:45-1:50 for our group, to begin with, and then after 5 repeats, if we were feeling good, we could drop to the 1:42-1:45 range for the rest of the workout. He wanted me to do over 15, so I got started.

My initial group was Frank, Sean and Chelsea. I mostly hung around and let them set pace for the first 5 repeats or so, and after I lagged behind on the first one, I was right there for the next set. First 5 for me: 1:53, 1:45, 1:47, 1:45, 1:44. I was finally getting rolling after a sluggish, cold induced start. Next 5 were 1:44, 1:46, 1:42, 1:42, 1:43. By the 10th repeat, Frank had to leave to be with his family, and Sean had to get to work. Chelsea was only doing 8 or 9 repeats, since she's not marathoning. So, it was just me.

My solo intervals were (numbers 11-18): 1:42, 1:43, 1:43, 1:42, 1:44, 1:43, 1:43, 1:38, a very consistent body of work with just me doing the pacing. I was feeling good, and the pace was almost automatic. I pushed the last interval because, uh, it was my last one. I was very pleased with the day's work, in less than ideal conditions. Actually, once I got past the second repeat or so, the weather was not a factor. I was exactly warm enough, and my ears and hands stayed warm, so I had nothing to complain about in that regard.

I ran back to RunTex with Alex, Gretchen and Liliana, and we cruised that 1.6 miles in a relaxed 10:00/mile pace as well. After some chatting with Gilbert, I started putting on dry clothes from the car, and turned on the heater and heated seats, trying to warm back up after stopping.

It was a good running day, and my only worry is that I may have worked too hard today, considering I'm doing the Mt. Bonnell loop tomorrow morning. Overall day was 9.1 miles, average pace 8:25. 18x400m intervals were at an average of 1:43-1:44, 1:00 rest jog/walk between each. Now, I just need to finish up my Christmas shopping...