Wednesday Speed - 6x 1/2 mile Running Intervals

Yesterday I promised myself I'd do it.  Today it is done.  I've never really enjoyed speed-work but it is necessary for getting faster in races (go figure).  For added motivation I got a little gift in the mail yesterday from one of my sponsors:

A new pair of Rudy Project Genetyk sunglasses.  I already have way too many pair of Rudy's but heck, I like new gear as much as every other cycling, running (insert sport here) nerd.  These photo-chromatic  lenses were actually quite useful today since it was on and off sunny with occasional dark rain clouds.  Surely these will make me faster during the workout.

Equipment list:  Salomon XR Crossmax shoes (getting a bit worn out), XT 2 Lite Shorts, ActiLite short sleeve shirt but should have gone with a tight fitting EXO top cause darn, I got some chaff from 15 miles in the rain yesterday.

The run: first 2.5 miles easy (7:30 pace).  Using my Garmin to measure pace and distance I did six 1/2 mile intervals at about 5:15 pace with 1/4 mile active rest (8:30 pace).  I finished off the run with 2 miles of warm-down at 7:30 pace.  Total mileage - 9.  The route was flat, wind was light, temperature in the 50's (F) and mostly sunny.  Basically a mighty fine day for running.

This wasn't a particularly intense or long interval session but I wanted to keep the workout controlled since it's still early season and I'm trying to get 2 hard workouts per week plus race most weekends.  My next target race is the Zippy 5k so 3 miles of total intervals seemed about right.  Later this week I'll run some hard uphills for strength and power development.