Total time of 1:00:17, running a little over 8.5 miles based upon course tool estimations
TLDR: 5 x 5 minutes hard with 3 minutes recovery
Full Version: I hadn't run a speed workout since the race last Thursday, and it felt like it was about time to run something faster again. I ran a 10 minute warm up, running uphill (frequently I like to start running downhill until I get warmed up, but I decided to switch things up today). I have felt good running the last couple days, so I was surprised to start off much slower than normal, hitting my half mile mark in 4:40, and my mile mark in 8:56 (the uphill was part but not all of the issue). This made me rethink my decision to run a harder workout today as I suspected that maybe less than optimal sleep the last couple days was leaving me more tired than normal. I ended up deciding that since I was just planning to run by feel it shouldn't be a problem to complete the workout.
I started my first 5 minute rep at the crest of the hill I was running up, running 5 minutes hard followed by 3 minutes easy from the 10-50 minute mark of the run. The first rep started downhill, but flattened out shortly thereafter until the 4:00 mark when I started running down a steep hill for the last 1:00. The second rep was mostly downhill for the first 2:40 and mostly uphill for the last 2:20. The third rep was mostly flat for the first 2:30, followed by super steep downhill for about 1:30, and more gradual downhill for the last 1:00. The fourth rep was mostly flat throughout although there was a slight uphill grade during the last 1:40. The last rep was either flat or mild uphill throughout.
After I finished the final rep I finished running back to the house, arriving at the 51:51 mark of the run (I have previously estimated this loop to be 7.39 miles long, so this gives me a 7:01 average pace up to this point, only 14 seconds slower than two weeks ago when I ran a speed workout on the same loop). I then turned around and ran down past a different 0.5 mile marker from the house down to the corner of Grove Dr. and 200 N before turning around and running back home, arriving in 1:00:17. Of the last 8:26 I ran after arriving at home, I ran the 0.5 mile out and back in 7:09, plus an additional 1:17 to make it to the corner and back to the 0.5 mile mark (I measured this stretch on the course tool at approximatley 0.18 miles). This gives me approximately 8.57 miles total for the run based upon all of the measurements that I have taken at different points in time.
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