Zilker Mile Repeats [Entered 7/27]

Wednesday, we had perhaps the most physically demanding workout in the Gazelles canon, rolling mile repeats at Zilker park. Not the one I fear the most, just the one that seems the hardest. There was a tiny crew that showed up. As for Wilke, people tend to find good excuses to miss this one, and today it was really obvious. Gilbert was annoyed, mumbling something about how people won't improve if they pick and choose which workouts to do.

I had a nice warmup jog with the herd, and after drills, it was time to go. Gilbert wanted the first repeat nice and comfortable, with the second mile at least 20 seconds faster than the first, and he mentioned something about how the intent of this workout was to end up without having to gasp and choke at the finish. Then, he said he'd like us to be 2 seconds/mile faster, on average, than last time. We shrugged, and set off. My little gang was Richard, Brian, Emily, Marty, and Renee. Brian and I took the pace, and we ended up pretty slow, at 7:50 for the first mile. I messed up with my watch, so I'm not sure, but that's pretty close. That was too slow, really. I had hoped for 7:30 for the first "easy" mile.

A quick 2 minute rest, and we were off again. This time, Brian and I separated from the rest of the gang by a significant margin. We were running like we usually do on this workout, and I guess the other folks were sticking to Gilbert's plan of 20 seconds faster. Brian and I finished the second mile at 7:07, pretty much on target. Brian had to take a break, so I ran the third mile alone in front of the rest of the group, and clocked a 6:58 for my third mile. Gilbert said I could stop at that point, since I'm racing on Saturday (and I'm not doing a fall marathon). I felt fine, though, and I'm pretty sure I had another quick mile in me. My overall average of 7:18 was way off my usual time, but given the very slow first mile, I was okay with that. I'll be more focused next time.

Brian ended up doing four repeats, and did a fine job on his last two. The rest of the troops did each successive mile faster than the one before, so they did a good job on their four repeats. I ran back with Brian and Jan, and we had a nice chat.

This was my last Gazelles workout for a while, so I was pleased with how it went. I'm looking forward to cooler mornings in Asheville, NC, while I'm gone.

For the day, just under 7 miles total. I just did minor stretching today, out of laziness. Shame on me. :-)