It is Summer in Florida Folks!

Today's track workout took place in temperatures in the high 80's... okay, it was 89 degrees out there although the humidity was normal.  In Orlando, that's still very humid, but not quite "swampy" yet.  Our seasons are a little different here.  Spring is in February and March, April and May are Summer, and June through August are Super Swampy Summer.  September and October are like Summer 2 and November and December are Fall.  Winter?  We don't need one.

I thought coach was going to give us mile repeats, but instead went with the slightly shorter 1000m repeats.  4 or 5 of them depending on how many you could handle in the heat.  I ran my times and didn't go out too fast on the first one, so I was able to keep it together for all 5.  That right there felt like an accomplishment considering most people don't even workout in these temperatures.  An indoor track would have been nice.  No doubt.

The goal pace was 5k race pace.  I looked at the chart and went for something that was 1 minute faster than my last race and still looked obtainable.  That was 4:20 per kilometer and I gave myself a 4:20-4:24 range.  That would be a 21:40-22:02 actual 5k if you strung it out.

Like I said, I went my pace the whole way.  The first one was perfect in 4:23.  Oddly enough, I thought I sped up just a hair on the second one, but I came in 4:33.  Who knows sometimes how it's going to work out?  From that point, I ran negatives.  4:28, 4:21, and 4:18.  I felt really good and the heat never really got to me.  I could see it taking the energy out of some of the other runners in my group, though.  Most of the runners opted for 4 reps and normally I would.  There was something in me.  My little voice inside usually whines about my feet, calves, hamstrings, and knees hurting.  But today, that little voice said that those pains don't matter.  Only a cramp will slow you down today, so run your workout.  And I did and it felt great!

As a note, I didn't run on Saturday or Sunday.  I spent most of that time recouping from not sleeping Thursday evening and staying up way too late on Friday night.  Thursday, my mother went into the hospital for an operation and I stayed with her overnight.  I did get a speed session on the track of 8x400m and at least got all my times under 1:30 except the last one which I hit right on.  Friday was a hard day just staying alert and working.  My mom got released that afternoon.  One of my coworkers is leaving the company, so we sent him off the right way.  With heavy drinking, of course.  All of that led to my eventual downfall on Saturday.  No way was I going for a run or racing for that matter.