First Speed Workout

Ladies,

I wish all of you could have done the workout tonight. Alas, once again, fate is cruel, and we were short several team members. Of the 18 members of the team, only 12 were able to do the speed work tonight. I'm sure several of them wished they were hurt by the end of it, but in truth, they did a fine job and will benefit from it in the end.

In line with this season's "just race" mentality I've been pushing, I sent the girls out with the instructions, "push hard, like you would in a 5k". Apparently to Carrie that means a sub-18:30 5k, because she drug the front group out in a 5:45 pace first quarter that had me stop the group for a clean restart. There was no point letting THAT go on!

Once the group got going again, things settled down. Let me show you the numbers so you can judge for yourself.

Runner	800	800	400	800	800	Total	Avg Pace	5k
Carrie	3:11	3:06	1:25	3:10	3:05	13:57	6:12	19:13:12
Baili	3:17	3:17	1:26	3:24	3:14	14:38	6:30	20:09:41
Danielle	3:32	3:24	1:43	3:24	3:18	15:21	6:49	21:08:56
Alannah	3:44	4:02	1:52	4:40	4:25	18:43	8:19	25:47:15
Ani	3:46	3:55	1:54	4:37	4:28	18:40	8:17	25:43:07
Katlyn	3:50	3:42	1:49	3:43	3:34	16:38	7:23	22:55:01
Delaney	3:52	3:44	1:49	3:50	3:44	16:59	7:32	23:23:57
Molly	4:01	4:03	1:52	4:12	4:02	18:10	8:04	25:01:47
Amber	4:04	4:10	2:04	4:17	4:15	18:50	8:22	25:56:53
Ali	4:07	4:27	2:17	4:49	4:30	20:10	8:57	27:47:07
Payton	4:47	5:06	2:38			12:31	10:00	31:02:29

I hope that all fits on. I tried my best to modify it so things would slide in okay. 

Starting at the top, Carrie was solid throughout. No surprise there - she's in top form and has done this for years. She knows what she is doing. 

Baili hung in there bravely, but is still facing a bit of the sick. The third 800 looks deceiving - I told the group to contain themselves on that one. She was running with coach like the good girl she is.

Danielle really grew tonight. She decided to keep in contact with Baili as much as she could. Exactly right! Maybe Danielle did slip a bit at the end, but no matter; little by little she will catch Baili. That's what we want. 

Alannah started fine but quickly faded. This is inexperience and a bit of the carryover of sick over the weekend. 

Ani blew up, pure and simple. The pace was way too fast on the first one, then way too slow at the end. a more moderate beginning would serve her well. 

Katlyn got stronger as she moved along. This was the first time this season she's looked like the old Katlyn, and I hope it gives her confidence going forward. 

Delaney was also solid, and got stronger as the workout went on. The hip appears better now, so if we could see more of this, the team will really benefit. 

Molly was pretty even throughout, and for the first speed workout, that's pretty darn good. The projected time from the workout would be quite a drop!

Amber struggled a bit in the second half, but this was her first time on this type of workout. Getting that early pace right is a challenge. No matter. The projected time is much faster than she's raced yet. That's how hard she worked. 

The middle part of Ali's workout fell apart a bit, but she brought it back at the end. What is important to realize is Ali was getting less rest than most of the other girls (since she was finishing her speed work behind the others). It's pretty impressive she hung in there at all. 

Payton really struggled. Her calf is bothering her a bunch. We talked about that a bit before I sent her for ice. I'm hoping she hit the ice and stretching when she got home. If not, well... practice won't get much easier. ;)

All of you - if I conservatively added two minutes to each of your times for a 5k total, you would still be faster than you've been so far this year. Understand, this indicates what you could do on a similar course (flat and perfect surface). Our race courses are anything but, so time would be added. I do think if you added 1-2 minutes to the projected 5k time on the chart, you could safely bet you could run that time on a regular course. That gives you a safe bet about what you could expect in the next meet. Anything can happen though, and remember, these are only ranges. Some of you could go significantly faster depending on conditions.