Sat 1/9 - PM 75 minutes incl. track mile, 5k

Something of a bounce back from the previous effort on the track, which isn't necessarily saying much. Feeling a bit more tired and stiff than I would like beforehand, which led to some self-doubt. This was compounded by a poorly run operation with the rolling schedule that left all of us guessing up to the last minute as to when we should check in, when we'd be lining up, you name it. The meet has certainly increased in popularity but still a manageable size, I wish they'd put the PA system to better use. That said I got my heat assignment 10 minutes or so before the gun went off after being more or less held hostage at the officials' table for a while before that. In hindsight should have got more done in terms of drills and strides ahead of time. Stepped to the line feeling less than confident, tried to stay competitive. Became clear by halfway, reached in 2:23 and change, that any improvements over the race three weeks ago would be marginal. Not a huge surprise in truth. From there I tried to hold the line, reeling in some people along the way but not the lead pack. Had I been closer I might have had a shot at them but I wasn't capable of staying closer, in pacelock. Overall a slight positive split but at least a time improvement over the previous attempt at the mile in December when I locked up entirely the last 400m.

With a 5k later on in the schedule I saw an opportunity to do a double session. In truth closer to a race than a workout perhaps. The plan was to treat it like a progression, with the first km at 42 sec/lap, the next at 41, then 40, then whatever was left. Instead I did the first two too quickly, the third one dead on, and found myself unable to progress any further. In fact the pace slowed back down again, making for roughly symmetrical splits of 3:26.5, 3:22.1, 3:20.2, 3:22.1, 3:25.1. The fourth km was where it really became clear I wasn't going to be going any quicker, and as such I relented a bit on laps 20-23. Overall though it was a worthwhile exercise, and always fun to haul people in while not truly "racing" myself.