Delayed gratification

Sunday I went to Balitmore with Jess McGuire to watch the Kelly Shamrock 5k, a dubious choice because I don't care much for St. Patrick's Day or Baltimore. I ran for about 45 minutes around the city, but felt off, so I bagged the other 50 or so minutes I had planned and watched the race.
Dirk said I should take the afternoon off and not worry about my second run, but after a car ride to Bethesda and a long metro and bus ride home to Falls Church, I figured I could get an easy seven in without causing trouble for my stomach, since I had a steak and cheese sandwich at 4:30. I ran a Park Plus, averaging 6:47s and felt fine. I'm glad I did it.

Monday I did my first hill "workout" in a while. I warmed up with seven miles of Pimmit Hills, then started the hill portion.
It's complicated, but: 200m sprint steep up, 30 m recovery, 200m sprint steep down continuing into 200m sprint gradual down, 200m recovery gradual, turn around, run medium 600m up (400m gradual, 200m steep), 230m recovery steep down.

Initially, the 200m steep uphill sprints killed me, but I realized I was going all out too early. I adjusted the second time, and that was when the gradual uphills started to become a problem. I was running the gradual 400m too hard, and my tank was empty by the time I got to the steep part. I was totally dead by the time I got to the end of the fourth, and instead of doing it again, I threw in a few extra 200m uphill sprints. I felt like I was mastering those. After a mile cooldown, I had 13.

Tuesday I did a sedate Scott's Run 11.75 miles in 6:40 pace. My glutes were sore from the hills, and I worried I might have done too much, but hoped it would pass.

Wednesday I felt like total garbage when I got to the track. The warmup was a struggle, and there was a point where Lindsey was talking to me and I had no idea what she meant. I ran a medium 800m warmup and noticed I went 2:35, so somehow despite feeling like I was better off
I stuck behind Murph for the 2k- running pretty even for 7:25. I took the lead for mile and 1200, running 5:04 and 3:41. Dangerous Dave led the 800 in 2:22 and the first 200 of the 400. I took off at that point and finished in 66 high, probably my fastest 400 since 2008. I somehow put together my most complete workout in eight months after feeling like I'd be pulled from the track before we started. Steve's suggestion to get regular turnover work is really starting to pay off -- mentally, running 73s doesn't even bother me anymore, and I have the basic turnover to do it. The only reason I didn't try to run harder at the end of the 400 was the fact that I hadn't run faster than 70 seconds on a track for a while and wasn't sure if I could do it. The hills certainly helped my basic speed, and perhaps my residual soreness and lethargy worked in my favor Wednesday, bridling my enthusiasm until I really needed it. Maybe that's why I finished with a 66.