Ironton Rail Trail Intervals

The weather really changed over the weekend and continued on through today.  I had a speedwork session to complete and I opted to run the Ironton Rail Trail.  I'd never run there before.

I was a little unsure of what to wear for the run.  I wanted to wear my BCR singlet, but thought it might be too cold.  When I put a regular shirt on, it was too comfortable though, so I opted for the singlet and some arm sleeves to keep my arms warm.  This turned out to be the perfect attire for the cloudy run.

Even though I knew I was going to be cold early on, I could tell I'd warm up in the speed segment.  I also knew in the beginning that this was going to be a good run.  Thanks in part to the temperatures, I felt great during the warmup mile.  My legs were in excellent condition and it was nice to not be dripping down sweat for a change.

This trail was excellent.  It is a paved loop of about 5.5 miles.  There is an out and back option too if you want to go further.  I just stuck with the loop for this 6 miles speed session.  There aren't big hills, but this route isn't as flat as most typical rail trails.  It is also curved, so it isn't boring and straight.  What is really cool though is how they incorporated some of the history into it.  They have a white rail crossing sign that says "Ironton Rail Trail" as well as some other cool signage.  There's an old cement plant next to the parking lot too.  Farther down the road, there's a spot that says "future caboose location."  It was a nice place to run and I'll definitely be back.

My legs came in very well and I cruised along during the first interval.  Usually, I have to work a bit hard to hit my goal because my legs aren't where they need to be yet.  I just cruised along and came under the 7:20 goal.  Today, I concentrated more on just running a comfortably hard pace during the now 4 minute intervals.  I wasn't concerned with time, but I ended up having no problem hitting my times.

The second hard interval was even faster and again I wasn't working hard.  I was simply cruising along.  I concentrated on form as much as I could and tried to be smooth.  I never needed to push too much.  I was a little worried because I increased the pace from 7:30 to 7:20 and also increased the interval time to 4 minutes and the recovery time to 2 minutes.  Looking back, I shouldn't have changed all three.  It worked out anyway though.

The third interval was pretty good as well.  I didn't need too much recovery time between intervals.  The two minutes was fine.  Both the intervals and recovery times just seemed to float by.  I did start to get a little tired at the end of my third interval, but it was nothing too bad.

The fourth interval started uphill.  Early on, my watch read 8 minute pace for that interval.  So I started to push.  I really didn't have to though and when it was under 7 minute pace, I backed off a little more.  I finished up under that 7 minute pace.  During the recovery period, a cop drove on the path.  I'm glad it wasn't during the interval.

I was starting to tire by the fifth and final interval, but I felt good.  I pushed a bit, but still had quite a bit more left in the tank.  I probably would've had no problem running all the intervals under 7 minutes if I tried it.  I don't need to work too hard though.  I just was happy to accept that I was faster than planned.

As I said earlier, there weren't any big hills, but there was definitely some incline.  It was never hard, but it just seemed like I was always running uphill during this run.  Obviously that wasn't the case, but it sure felt that way. 

For once, I didn't mind running the cool down.  Maybe it was the scenic course and cool temperatures, but it didn't seem to take forever like it usually does.  I ended up running 1.2 miles as a cool down too, so it was longer than planned.  Today was such an excellent run and very encouraging.  Let's hope the cool weather is here to stay.  One thing is for sure.  Even if it isn't, I need to do speedwork in cooler weather (like early AM if needed).

Tomorrow is an easy recovery day.  I need to get to Reading to prepare for my upcoming night race soon.  I might hit the trails there tomorrow.  We shall see.

6 miles - 47:42 (7:57 pace)