Steve - 6.5

Flyers Track workout. My maiden voyage in my new Japanese Running Shoes, which are Asics Sortie SuperMagic 2. They are really light, probably about 4 oz. I felt really fast in them, which is always good. I also felt like my stride was more natural and that I wasn't overpronating at all when my foot landed. All in all, I pretty much love them. If you are interested in getting some Japanese running flats, there is a website I know of that is currently under construction where you will be able to order them. There are many different kinds of Japanese flats and running shoes available only in Japan.

Anyway, the workout I did was 3 1600s with 400 recovery in between. Luke recommended I do them around 6:10 pace or so. The group was doing "Voimas", which are 2400 meters alternating marathon pace and 5k race pace. I decided to start my 1600s when the group came through on their second lap so I could have rabbits in front of me. I made the mistake of running a bit too close to them and my first lap was 88, which is 4 seconds or so faster than I was shooting for. I was back on pace for the next three laps and ran a 5:59 high split for the 1600. For the second 1600 I made the exact opposite mistake. I ran a 96 and then sped it up a bit for the next few laps to hit 6:15. Third rep I was right on pace for the first 400 and it was a bit of a struggle to maintain the pace. I really had to focus to avoid slowing down. I ended up with 6:13 and it was a pretty hard effort. It wasn't so hard that I was dying at the end, but I was tired. Pretty solid workout and I feel like I could run a 5k at least in 6:13 pace (19:19, 2 seconds off my PR). In any case, I will be running a 10k at the Santa Monica Classic on May 16th and shooting for a sub 40 10k. In case you are wondering, McMillan's Running Calculator says a 39:59 10k effort is equivalent to a 19:15 5k...

1.5 wup in 14
3x1600 (6:00, 6:15, 6:13)
2x400 rec
1.5 barefoot cd in 16:00