Training is going so well. I don’t want to jinx myself or exagerate or put undue pressure on my training but this week I’m really starting to feel good, reap the benefits of a few weeks of work and feel like I’m getting stronger and faster.
Tuesday I went to the track for 6x8OOs. This workout always makes me so nervous because it’s one of those workouts I’ve done a million times and is a great benchmark for fitness. And there’s no hiding. Well, all my laps were between 3:48 and 3:45 which, for me, is very decent. And the best part is that I felt relatively comfortable until my last lap!
This morning I met my people at 4:45 AM for 8 miles including 4 of fartleks. And that went well too. My top end speed is coming back and each mile was progressively faster. In fact, with this group of friends I’m usually the slow, slacker guy but this morning I was setting the pace and encouraging everyone else to keep it going. Woo hoo! I think the weeks of slogging through some not so fun miles are starting to pay off. My “easy” pace has sped up a bit too. All good signs.
All this to say… if you’re slogging through speed work it really does start to pay off. And the only way to get faster is to run faster. Sometimes it’s fun, sometimes it hurts and most of the time it requires a lot of effort.
I’m looking forward to racing soon. I have a race in mid-February and I can’t wait to see what I can do. I finally feel ready to race and more like my hardcore, I can get fast and do anything self. Woo hoo. I still have many, many weeks before Eugene but things are looking up!
Running Commentaries 
woooooooot to racing. these speed workouts will definitely pump you up for it. it’ll likely suck during the workout but the payoff will be huge. but it sounds like you hit this workout on all cylinders.
Good stuff! Thanks for the reminder that speedwork pays off in spades. Mine was no picnic this week.