Day 3,004: Realized gains (5 x1K, 1/4-mile recovery)

I don't know why I never took intervals seriously until last year when my goal was to break four hours in the Marine Corps Marathon.

At every race distance, there's no better confidence builder for making time goals than when you can nail it week after week in workouts.

Today I ran to Piedmont Park to continue my interval training. They were setting up for the T21 5K but I knew I had more than an hour to pound away at the workout before the race would start.

Garmin Connect is having trouble with uploads today but the raw data really amazed me.

Interval 1: 4:25 (a little slower than 22 minute 5K pace)

Interval 2: 4:07 (a little slower than 20:30 5K pace)

Interval 3: 4:13 (a little slower than 21 minute 5K pace)

Interval 4: 4:21 (about a 21:45 5K pace)

Interval 5: 4:15 (about a 21:15 5K pace).

My PR is 22:20, set in the 2010 Race to Recycle 5K.

I looked back at the last time I did these intervals, which was on July 29. The above times are way faster at every level. (It was 73 degrees that morning, though).

I tend to look at interval workouts as somewhat theoretical, since the park is a relatively flat course, very familiar to me and there are no worries such as congested courses, etc. at the start. But I've found in the last two 5Ks that it's nice to look down at the watch in the middle of a race and know that I have run at certain speeds so I don't necessarily need to slow up for fear of running too fast.

Time: 7:51 a.m. 

Temp: 48 degrees

Gear: Technical T-shirt, short ( Doug Kessler 10K), shorts, Skechers Go Run 3.