4+ miles @ ~12 min/mi

Averages can be deceiving, especially during speedwork: the "12 min/mi" number above, for instance, includes a couple of dramatic-fast miles for CM Manlandro, interspersed with recovery sauntering. My physical therapy session this Tuesday morning goes well, and when CM and I arrive at the track it's our turn to trot. Is the old Blair High School asphalt loop 400 meters, or a quarter mile? Probably the latter, but the difference is only a few seconds—so who cares?

A tall young gentleman wearing a Cornell sweatshirt is training this morning, as are a few walkers. CM and I do a warmup mile together in 10:01, pause to drink, walk a slow lap, and then it's CM's turn to test her legs. I take lane 2 and plan to pace but she sets the initial tempo with a 1:45 lap. Whew! We slow to 1:55ish for the next couple of orbits, and then I implore CM to exert herself. So we throw on the coal and kick to finish in 7:26—a PR for CM by almost 20 seconds, just like the one two weeks ago. Brava!

I exchange a few words with Mr. Cornell as he glides by. He reveals that he's hoping to do a Boston Qualifying time next marathon season; perhaps we'll see one another at the Washington's Birthday Marathon, though that's a tough course to BQ on. CM and I chase him in a brisk but slightly-less-radical mile which we finish in 7:43—only the second-fastest time ever for CM at that distance. I taunt her, "Maybe you're a miler and don't know it?!" I also challenge her to come up with a good bumper-sticker quote for today. We walk to bring down our heart rates, then decide to finish up with a "fast lap", which comes in at 1:43. I salute Cornell as he cruises effortlessly past, and fantasize that some day I'll be able to train almost that hard and look almost that relaxed while doing a string of sub-8 minute miles.

As we walk away from the track CM observes, "That was a good dose of insanity!" Sounds like the name of the day, eh? See her report at [1].

^z - 2008-12-13