Day 3: Tuesday, November 24th, 2009

Interval Work | 8 Miles | New York East River Park Track

I was lucky enough to have another mild fall day for this workout. After the long bus ride down to the New York East River Park Track in the Lower East Side, I was ready to run, but a bit nervous about the intensity of the workout.

(Actual results in red.)

• 1 mile warm-up @ 7:30 pace | 7:22 pace
• 4 x 1 mile (400m rest) @ 6:20 pace

1. 6:22
2. 6:28
3. 6:37
4. 6:42
   

• 6 x 200m (100m rest) @ 0:42 pace

1. 0:38
2. 0:40
3. 0:41
4. 0:40
5. 0:40
6. 0:39
   

• 1 mile cool-down @ 7:30 pace | 7:50 pace
• Total: 8 miles
  

The mile long intervals at my half-marathon goal pace (6:20/mile) proved to be too difficulty for me this early in the training program, but I did my best and ran each as fast as I could, always keeping in mind that a majority of athletic performance is mental (see this New York Times article: Pushing Past the Pain of Exertion). I felt much more comfortable running the 6 x 200m, probably because I've always been better at short, high intensity pieces/racing. I'm looking forward to making improvements on the interval training days.