Close,It Only Counts In Horseshoes

"Today,just like yesterday I'm ascending and descending
Travelling,not arriving that's the story of my life
I've been close,closer than close,not close enough
Somewhere,I don't know where there is someone
Someone,Somewhere
I've been close,closer than close,not close enough
So close,so close,so close"
Close{The Journey Is Destination} The Alarm

After my last mile repeats two weeks ago at Villanova I felt I was knocking on the door of 4/4 @sub 5,something I haven't done since late on in the 08 season,I've been edging nearer and nearer w/ my last sets of mile repeats,the problem being they haven't been on a week to week basis due to scheduling,so between today and either 5th Avenue Mile or Masters 5K Road Race at Syracuse the following week I want to "throw the kitchen sink"at trying to get back to the plateau I was at two years ago.

I opted for the track at Temple this morning as I knew there was a soccer game at Villanova in the evening and I didn't want to risk not being able to get on the track,or worse still get half way through the repeat and be asked to leave,Temple has become my home track this summer since the nonsense of Franklin Field has made the track there off limits and to be honest I like working out there.
Mile warm up,20 mins of stretching and into my flats,by in large I had the track to myself and conditions were near ideal.....showtime!

#1 mile,1.10,1.14,1.13,1.12-4.49.0. Evidently easing my way into the repeats wasn't happening today!!
After opening in 1.12 on mile#1 and mile#2 two weeks ago,I had hoped to open in 1.14 today....in my defense I will say the 1.10 to open didn't feel like a 1.10,I felt I was cruising.

#2 mile,1.12,1.16,1.16,1.17.-4.51.5. W/ the "Genie out of the bottle" now I had to hope that the weeks of 45 miles a week training in June and the subsequent 50 miles a week since returning from Sacramento would pay off,my strength was going to get me through this.

#3 mile,1.14,1.17,1.18,1.17.-4.56.7. I could feel it getting tougher and tougher but I'm nothing if not a gutsy sob,I was gonna dig deep to try and do this....or at least go down swinging,each recovery found me telling myself to hang in,dig deep and go for it,after all I am the Iron Man of the track!

#4 mile,1.14,1.19,1.20,67-5.00.0. Son of a bitch!! I don't know how much closer I could've gotten than I did today.
Obviously the opening mile caught up w/ me at the end as laps 2 and 3 were my slowest of the day but rather than dwell on the negative and look at it as a missed opportunity,I take the positives,clearly w/ a tad more restraint on the opener I can take care of business next week.

Repeats over the other business of the day took center stage,chores,food shopping a quick catch up of the mornings soccer{yes I dvr'd the Stoke Spurs game at 10am so I could be on the track by 10.35am}b4 I head off out to the movies to catch "Scott Pilgrim Vs The World.....no chance of a rest day tomorrow,a 9 miler to round out the week at 50 miles,more food shopping and laundry....and then I can think about putting my feet up!