Group Run Win!

I'll start by saying that I think they were in the mood to run slow... either way this was a great run for me!  My favorite group run is when we all stay together so we can talk.  My contribution to the conversation is a series of short answers between gasps but the others are great at chatting while running along.  I'm seriously envious of this.

Our run starts at the old courthouse right in the middle of downtown.  It's pretty difficult to start a run here with the wonderful scent of food coming from every direction.  There are several restaurants all around the square, some with outdoor seating.  The courthouse is being renovated and the grounds around it are always neatly landscaped.  This little section of town has a great feel to it.

We head away from downtown and run through an old historic neighborhood with tree-lined streets.  This is just a two mile loop but the group is usually at a pace that forces me to take at least one walk break before we get back to downtown.  Last night I did not walk!

Our next two miles are in the opposite direction out almost to the highway and then back through another tree-lined street to downtown.  This loop takes us by Sonic Drive-In and last night they had a band playing in the parking lot. Yes, a band at Sonic! We thought it was a bit strange but at the time we were discussing whether we were smelling doughnuts or elephant ears... fall is definitely in the air and I think we might have mistaken french fry grease for the scent of the Cleveland County Fair.  It's almost time for the carnies to show up and set up those rickety rides.

Oh I didn't walk on this loop either!  As a matter of fact, I was leading the pack (not sure how I ended up in the front) when we came back into downtown and right by the outdoor seating at the new burger joint on the corner. I have to admit, that was pretty special.

I do love summer but today I'm daydreaming of fall temperatures and great group runs!

Speedwork... or something like that

Hey, it's me! I'm trying to remember to show up here at least once a week. On my long run Sunday, I discussed speedwork with another runner.  I like getting opinions on different ways to do effective speed workouts. 

My problem is that most include 400 meter repeats or even 800 meter repeats with a short recovery in between.  I never feel like I am getting anything more than intervals that are a little faster than my normal run pace.  What am I doing wrong?  Should I push myself harder?  What if I just suck?

So tonight, with mixed opinions from different people, I came up with what will work for me...for now.

At the track.  Goal is 2 miles total in around 30 minutes-ish.  Short and sweet with hard effort.

Walk 400 meters (one lap) to warm up my legs.
Alt running 100 meters and walking 100 meters to recover in between until I hit 2 miles total.
I prefer to run the straights and walk the turns...helps save my knees.
As I make the turn heading to the straight, I start slow run and end in a full sprint.  At the end of the back straight, my garmin had close to 6min per mile pace. Sweet!
Walk to recover and ease back into running pace at the front straight ending in full sprint again.  At the end of the front straight, garmin had around 7min per mile pace. Ugh...tired.
Do it again! And again! And again!  I made myself keep this up until I was pretty close to 2 miles and then I walked about 200meters to cool down. 
Stretch.  Done!

I'm going to try and make this my Tuesday night habit.  Might alternate hill repeats every other week since that awful stadium hill is right behind the track.  We'll see how this goes!