The Proverbial Game Of Two Halves

Final repeat before the season opener at The Armory on December 26th but not my final scheduled interval session of the year,hoping to get to Temple's track on New Years Eve for a second 5x1,000m b4 heading into 2012.
If yesterday morning hadn't prepped me for how brisk it was going to be at 10am nothing would,and the trusty billboard in the Fresh Grocer parking lot revealed 30 degrees.......BER!!!!

A few hardy souls on the track when I got there just after 10.30am as I warmed up for a mile,while I was content to shed my hoodie and warm up bottoms come repeat time the hat and gloves were staying put,I'm not sure I could've operated the buttons on my new stop watch had I shed the gloves!!!
So 8x800m,I'm not 100% sure an 800m race indoors is on my schedule,right now looking at my tentative schedule{which is always subject to change}nor am I sure if I'll race the 800m at Indoor Nationals in Bloomington in March,I can always use my 2.06 seed time from Feb at The Armory if need be but irregardless of there being or not being an 800m race 800m repeats would benefit my 1,500m/mile races so I figured have at it!!
I felt 2.35 was a legit baseline to work off of starting out,2.40 felt too soft and too low to set the bar for starters.

#1 800m 1.16-1.15-2.31.5. Not a bad start if I say so myself but I knew I had to brace myself for the wind down the back straight coming off the bottom turn.

#2 800m 1.18-1.16-2.34.1. Guilty of going to sleep mentally on the opening lap,need to be turned on to the repeat fundamentals{focus,knee lift,leg turnover,working the arms}from the get go.

#3 800m 1.17-1.16-2.33.8 If nothing else I'd been consistent w/ my pacing thus far,but w/ only three down and five to go a tad premature to breaking my hand patting myself on the back.

#4 800m 1.17-1.1.17-2.34.5. Half way there,this would be when the decision to go for 8x800m and not 6x800m would raise it's self to the surface.......

#5 800m 1.17-1.20-2.37.2. Bollocks!!!! the combination of the wind,fatigue beginning to set in and working hard to stay 100% focused caught up w/ me,I was in this for the long haul,if the remaining 3 800s had to be taken one at a time,one lap at a time fine,no raising the white flag now and pussing out at 6

#6 800m 1.18-1.20-2.38.4. The giant Grand Piano had been delivered and seemed to nestled on my back on the second lap,I like a sing song like the next person but could we at least wait till I was done w/ the repeats????

#7 800m 1.20-1.19-2.39.1. Good to know the brain was able to respond to an opening 1.20 and allow me to dredge up a 1.19 if I'm going down I'm going down swinging!!!!!

#8 800m 1.18-1.16-2.34.9. Yea! Good to see the fighting spirit is still intact,I'll take five out of eight at sub 2.35. for my 8x800m debut.

Like the opening 5x1,000m and 4x1mile repeats today won't put the world on notice but it's an encouraging start and hopefully over the coming weeks and months I'll greatly improve on all three of my repeats as I get ready to launch an all out offensive heading into the 2012 season.
Nice to be back at 50 miles for the week again,let's see if that can continue.