positive spin...

i'm not going to lie - ever since i got ramon's description of the work out this week, i was scared of more sprints on wednesday.

i've been doing a lot of thinking about my training, and what to do about running the advanced. the thing i've been most worried about is not my pride - i'm not worried so much about being last, or working hard and getting red exercise face all the time - as much as pushing too hard and getting hurt. since i'm become addicted to running, and there are probably future marathon's on tap, i'm even more wary of injuries. mostly my damn shin splints, which have been increasingly sore over the last few weeks.

and so yesterday, i decided to downgrade from "remedial advanced" to "advanced intermediate." more positive right? so the idea is i'll run intermediate on wednesdays, and keep with the advanced mileage on saturdays. as long as i feel like i'm working hard and improving, i should be good.

and so yesterday, sk8 & the rookie upgraded to the intermediate so we were able to run together. well, sk8 and i did - we're a little slow for the rookie, and he ended up ahead with a faster pack. our workout was about effort levels - alternating between level 3 and level 2. level 2 is your typical run - you can hold a conversation with out heaving breaths. level 3 is a deeper breath, and you can still talk although not without a little more work.

we were running 6 lamp-posts "on" at level 3 and 2 "off" at level 2. warm up from e. 90th to 102nd street, then start the work out which ran us down the east side of the park, around the lower loop, and back up to e. 90th.

it was fun running with sk8, because except for little spurts at the beginning, we haven't really. the distraction of gossiping and also just having the general support of someone by your side helps a lot. as usually i was worried about holding sk8 back (she is in kick ass shape) but we seemed to find a good pace we were happy with. it was also beautiful out, the first run in the park sporting shorts and short sleeves. it was a gorgeous night for a run, and even though wednesdays are ass-kicking, i was as usual happy to have the excuse to be outside.

the rookie mapped out the route, and it turns out to be 5.2 miles. sweet.

yesterday's mileage: 5.2
season mileage to date: 54.5