Today was the day to get back at some speed work again. I have laid off running hard for a couple weeks minus a small set last week with Bob. The plan was to run 4x1 miles at a moderate pace, not so hard I was hating it. I must say that I had a terrible time getting motivated to run at all today, let alone run hard. Master Motivator Michelle convinced me to do the set and see what I could do. After a brief warm-up and some strides, I took off around the sugar house park for the first rep. I felt fair, maybe a little out of synch, but moved ok. 5:40. The recovery time was 2 minutes. The second mile reverses the first and has the climb going up past Sizzler. I still felt I was running comfortable and cruised in at 5:40. I was pleased with the effort, but I also knew I would only do one more, just struggling upstairs. The last mile was probable the easiest, I cruised easy through the first half and ran a bit more aggressive in the second - 5:33. Pretty good set, just happy to have done something. My heart rate did not rise as much as on past sets which was good, first rep heart rate only reached 159, an indication that my effort level was in check with what my heart was doing. Hopefully I will start hammering some better sets next week. | 