Keeping The Gun Powder Dry.....

Once again waiting an extra day for my track workout proved to be a prudent move on my part,Tuesdays rain was long gone by the time I set foot on the Temple track around 3.50pm yesterday afternoon,not sure of the temps but they felt similar to those on Sunday when I conducted my 4x300x200x300m which meant being able to go "minimal" where wardrobe was concerned,half zip jacket and running tights,I recall a 6x600m last January when I was bundled up like friggin' Nanook Of The North......

That old adage "one mans loss is another mans gain" seemed apt yesterday afternoon,while the track at Temple has always been the most accessable in terms of location being able to use it on a weekday has often been an issue as rightfully so the Temple track and field athletes have been utalizing it in the afternoons......however I read recently that Temple University recently cut funding to several of it's programs......including Track & Field which sucks for them but means I should be able to access the track post work on a weekday which will be huge for me moving forward this season,as it was I more or less had the track to myself again this afternoon a la Sunday morning.

W/ time being the issue as Hartshorne is now just over a week away and Indoor Nationals 8 weeks off my plan to increase my speed,leg turnover is 4x300x200x300 on the weekends and the always challenging 6x600m repeats aka The Death Cage during the week,it's not the easiest of repeats in my repertoire but is one of the most rewarding when it comes to the finished article over 800m and w/ 2 800m races on tap next month it's time to get the ball rolling b4 the March 16th M50 800m final in Boston.
Mile warm up b4 "once more stepping into the Death Cage"
#1 600m
1.14-35-1.49.8
A solid start,the 64 billion dollar question was had I "shit the bed" w/ such a strong opener?....
#2 600m
1.17-37-1.54.2
If I could hold onto this pace for the remaining four repeats I'd be ok.....
#3 600m
1.20-39-1.59.0
Look out below! sombody just dropped a Steinway Piano from a great height and it laded on me somewhere in the opening 400m.....
#4 600m
1.22-43-2.05.8
I kind of "mailed it in"over the closing 200m after a 1.22 opening 400m.told you that opening 1.14 was gonna come back to haunt me!
#5 600m
1.22-41-2.03.8
Marginally better but any 600m at plus 2.00 never sits well w/ me
#6 600m
1.23-37-2.00.5
Sliver lining a closing 200m in 37 seconds and  a faster overll time than #4 and #5

Obviously the last three 600s don't sit well,I knew it'd be a big ask on a week day to run fresh having been up since 5.30am and working till 3.15pm but such is the burden of  any athlete who works a full time job to help support their running,Peter Elliot used to work on roofs during the day b4 running in the evenings on route to his  silver in the 800m in Rome in 87 at Worlds and silver in the 1,500m in Seoul in 88 at the Olympics so I can't play the "I was tired" card.
Granted I haven't conducted 6x600m repeats in almost 12 weeks and on Oct 26th my times of:
1.50.2-1.55.4-1.58.8-1.58.7-2.04.9-2.01.4 weren't exactly setting the world alight nor was my first set of 6x600m back on August 31st:1.50.7-1.54.8-1.56.7-1.56.6-2.00.0-2.06.2 so I'm not going to beat myself up too much over the times.....that said next Tuesday or Wednesday I'd like to see an improvement on yesterdays times.