When I switched up my rotation yesterday I didn,t think about running into my team mate Neil who was preposing the second of his"Michigan Workouts" a series of xc/trail and track repeats at Haverford this morning,I am actually interested about doing one of those but it wasn,t orignally going to be today due to yesterday being my planned 4x1 mile repeats,nor would it now be today given the switch in rotation,that said it was good to see Neil,Chuck and Ted when I arrived at Haverford by 9.30am.
BER!dispite the sun it was a tad brisk this morning,soon the old long sleeve dri fits will be getting pulled out,I was also cognisent of the leaves on the ground,we are afterall into the second half of October.
Stretches and mile warm up taken care of it was time to attack my fav repeats and dare I say my easiest repeat,mile repeats are my bread and butter,the 6x600m and 2x1,000m take me a little out of my comfort zone but the mile repeats,bring da noize!!!
#1,74,77,77,64-4.52.12,got a tad trigger happy on my final lap and surprized myself w/ a 4.52.12. repeat,the trick would be how I,d respond to that mile........................
#2,71,77,70,68-4.46.97,JAYSUS!!!,somewhere in Detroit right now GP is probably calling me every name in the book for that one,this was NOT premediated I swear,I feel I got "in the zone" and w/ Neil and Chuck lending encouragement on each mile as they ended their track repeats I was getting swept along at a brisk pace,could I maintain it?
#3,71,76,78,66-4.51.87.I was on pace to record the fastest set of mile repeats ever in my life,the June 28th series of 4.42.73,4.58.18,5.06.87,4.59.49and the following weeks first ever 4/4 sub 5-4.53.65,4.51.84,4.55.43,4.56.85,the old Cinderella classic"The Last Mile" played on the ipod in my mind as I got ready to have it.
#4,72,78,79,68-4.57.85.HUGE props to Neil and Chuck,dispite a 6 & a 1/2 repeat of their own they not only encouraged me from the finish line but on lap 3 Neil jumped in ahead of me to pull me along,I needed it believe,running mile repeats at the pace I,d set comes w/ a price and mile 4 was calling to collect!!!
Yet again I was forced to swing wide of the golf cart in lane 1,a small price to pay to use the Haverford track.
W/just over 400m to go Chuck replaced Neil and pulled me along,on miles#1,#2 and #3 Chuck had been cheerleader now he was pace maker,rounding the top bend he encouraged me to keep my form and go to my arms.......for a nano second I thought about dropping out,that happens once in a blue moon on repeats,I never cave to it,just dig a little deeper.
Going into the bottom bend I knew I was less than 200m from the finish,it could hurt all it wanted now,dregging up every last ounce of energy I had I drove up the home straight and fought the head wind that wanted to deny me a 4/4....................NOT TODAY!
No shame in my game to collapse onto the track at the finish,I usually reserve that for a brutal 6x600m repeat,todays 4/4 sub 5 4x1 mile repeats earnt such a distinction.
I couldn,t thank Neil and Chuck enough for their role on that final mile,they were colossal in getting me to a 4.57.85. repeat,and somewhere in the background Dionne Warwick,s classic "That,s What Friends Are For"should be playing................
A well earnt rest day tomorrow,next weekend see the begining of a three week xc race schedule so it,s off to enjoy{???} a weekend at home!
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