Karl and Lauren met me at Marie Kerr at 5:30 this morning for some speed work. We did the same workout as last week. 1 mile, then 1/2 mile – repeat both 3 times.  This was the first time Lauren joined Karl and I for our workout. I have been trying to get her to join us. As I told her, in most sports, you get better by training with someone better (faster) than yourself. Now, I am not saying that I am faster than Lauren, but Karl is. Of course, if the run is long enough ….

On the first mile, I was a little surprised to see Lauren take off a little ahead of Karl. I followed falling farther and farther behind. My first half mile went by in a really quick 3:13 and they were already 5 or 10 ahead of me. My pace tailed off a bit on the second half, but the mile was still a really good 6:39. Their half mile was similarly faster than mine, but I was quite happy with my 3:10. The second mile was also in the 6:30 something range. I have to guess at it a bit, because I accidently hit the stop button rather than the lap button when I began the mile.

Starting my second half mile, I got a jump start on the two of them. I started 50 meters before the corner, ran by them and said, “Rabbit!”  Karl caught me about half way through the quarter, Lauren was gaining on me. She passed me after I completed my half in 3:11. After this half, my left hamstring felt really tight. It loosened up during the recovery and I did the 3rd mile in 6:43. Once again, the hamstring felt really tight after I stopped. When I went to start the final half, I went about 100 meters and it was not loosening up. I decided to shut it down and I jogged around to watch Karl and Lauren finish. I was able to run an easy mile recovery jog with them.

Checking back on the previous workouts with Karl, the miles were all in the 6:50s except one split at 6:46. Today felt like a giant step forward.

Thanks Karl, Thanks Lauren.