3x2k, 4x500

I was quite apprehensive about this workout. Yesterday I felt fairly rotten/tired from the second cold I've been battling. Runny nose, sore throat, and fatigue were dogging me. I went to the gym and did 30 min on the elliptical, hoping it would help, but it really didn't make me feel better; if anything I felt worse and wished I hadn't done it (one of those very rare cases where a workout doesn't make you feel better). At least I didn't have the 24-hr stomach flu like my boss, who had to go home sick yesterday - and he almost NEVER goes home sick unless he's half-dead, so you know that one was bad.

I woke up feeling pretty good this morning, though. I felt well-rested from the night's sleep, and had just a bit of a runny nose and that was it. The weather was lovely - 48F (9C) at home (though the car thermometer said 44F at the track), calm, and clear. I wore gloves and a long-sleeved shirt for the first time this season, though I did ditch the gloves after a couple 2k repeats. It was really dark, too, and stayed dark until I was almost done.

I warmed up for 1600m in about 9:30 and felt good on the warm-up. I did my dynamic stretching and then started the workout. The first 2K didn't feel too hard, and I was fast! Under 11 min, with 10:59.5! "Good," I thought. Now to keep that pace. I had 2 min rest between all the intervals today, and after my rest started again. I still felt good, to my surprise, and pulled off a 10:58.5. I was feeling pretty strong, and did the third 2k in 10:57.5. I worked that last one pretty hard, but I felt strong and good. Now for my 500s. I kept waiting for the workout to fall apart, but it didn't happen. All summer that's been the case because of the heat, but today it was just so nice and cool! My 500s were no problem. Yes, I did work them hard, but they were really fast and I felt good. I did them in 2:36.9, 2:35.8, 2:35.4, and 2:34.9.

What a relief! A good workout, finally. Now I can begin to feel a little more excited about the 30k. Hopefully this workout didn't take too much out of me and I'll be up for a good 20k on Saturday. I expect it will be fine.

Garmin data here.