Elements 0 Top Cat 1

I,m not a morning person at the best of times so when ye olde alarm went off at 5am I could,ve been forgiven for not actually being "Suzie ray of sunshine"this morning.....
Several wacks of the worlds greatest invention......the snooze button!!!! later I arose at 6.30am very much a man on a mission,but first.......................COFFEE!!!!!!!!
Suitably fired up it was off to 30th St to jump the 8.19am R5 to Haverford,I couldn,t be 100% sure that the gates at Lower Merion High School track would be unlocked this early b4 9am so I went 1 stop further up the line to Haverford............and yes that,s one step closer to my "spiritual home"Villanova,I knew there were no gates to worry about my only concern was a soccer game on the infield,I needn,t have worried....yea!!!
The skies were grey and ominous as I got to Haverford and for a nano second I thought about ditching my stretches in favour of jumping into a mile warm up b4 my 4x1 mile repeats..............I quickly copped myself on and disregarded such a frivilous notion,I preach the importance of pre and post warm up routines and swear by my stretches,aside from the bollocking "Dibble" would,ve given me I also know better than to fly in the face of fate period muchless two weeks b4 5th Avenue mile,rain or no rain I would stretch.
Sticking to the time honoured plan I wanted to go out in an opening lap of 1.15 and aim for sub 5 minute miles and gradually make each repeat faster,it had worked last week even though the opening mile was 5.01.06 and the second mile was 5.00.15.
1.16 for the opener,I could live w/ that,1.18 for lap 2,2.34 at 800m and another 1.18 lap to put me at 3.52 at the bell, a 68 second lap would see me at 5 mins..........somehow I could only muster a 70 second final lap,5.02.27,I was not shy at voicing my displeasure at this.
Granted the air quality was heavy,heavier than it,s been for a while and also this is a track I,m not used to running on but even so I wasn,t happy w/ a 5.02 opening mile,and yes I know several runners would kill for 5.02 mile,sorry I,m not one of them.
1.16 for the opening lap on mile 2,followed by another 1.18,only this time a 1.17 on lap 3, a 69 second last lap for 5 mins...............71 seconds........!@#! 5.02.17
Prehaps I was guilty of not focusing 100%,I should have no problem churning out a 69 second closing lap,I won,t use the excuse it,s because it was early morning I wasn,t firing on all cylinders,I,ve done early morning Saturday repeats at LMHS and not had a problem w/ being focused.
By the time repeat #3 began my sleeveless dri fit shirt was hanging off me like a damp towel,I don,t think I was this soaked when I took a face plant into the Atlantic Ocean on July 16th in Ireland!!!!,do not interpret this a me copping a plea just stating a fact,the air was thick and heavy,per "Dibs" credo the first lap of mile 3 needed to be a little faster than miles 1&2,1.12,I then clocked my slowest mile of the session w/ a 1.19 but still managed my fastest 800m split 2.31,1.18 and finally a sub 3.50 split at1,200m 3.49,.............yet another 71 second closing lap 5.00.56,ok not sub 5 but also not on the plus side,I was going for it on the final mile.
1.12 again to open,b4 a 1.16,2.28 at 800m I tend to think I do better when my pace begins fast,it,s just a question of bringing my strenght upto par so that repeat #1 can match repeat # whatever depending on said workouts,I,ve learnt not to come out all guns blazing on the first if I want to still be gunslinging come the finale and I know the essence of repeats at their purest is to gradually make each one faster than the one b4.
1.18 on lap 3,3.46 at the bell,sopping wet dri fit shirt,heavy air,less than 100% focus be buggered,I was going to "have at it",last weeks finale saw a 64 second final lap and a 4.53.47 mile,today I managed another 64 second closing lap but a record low 4.50.51 closing mile.
All in all a good mornings work,granted the opening two miles could,ve been a shade faster but I,m hoping "Dibble" will look at the consistancy of each mile and the fact I got faster as the session wore on.
I returned home just prior to lunch time w/out so much as a drop of rain,till I had to leave half an hour later to go food shopping,given the choice of rain on my workout or rain whilst food shopping the latter wins hands down.
31 miles for the week and a well earnt rest day manana,5th Avenue Mile is two weeks away.