Intervals on the XC Course and Race Updates

Yesterday's in-service for teachers {which ended at 1:10 pm} allowed me to vote AND workout all before 3:30pm.  It was great!  I met Jesse at Monocacy Park, a local place that is decent to run intervals which is also the home of several high school cross-country courses. Because of Hurricane Sandy, there was more debris than normal such as garbage, twigs, etc...so at times I felt like I was weaving in and out of an obstacle course.  Overall, I was happy with the results of the workout.

To begin, I warmed up for about 12 minutes and did my usual drills.  The workout consisted of 5 x 1200 and 4 x 200.  Here's how it went...
   
5 x 1200, with decreasing times and increasing rest
1 - 4:48.8 {1:15 rest}
2 - 4:42.0 {1:45 rest}
3 - 4:37.1 {2:45 rest}
4 - 4:33.0 {3:00 rest}
5 - 4:26

4 x 200, faster each time on 1:30 rest {1 & 3 were slightly uphill}
1 - 42.6
2 - 38.6
3 - 40.1
4 - 36.3

2 mile cool down

Lately, I have been feeling a little sluggish {kind of like a cold is coming on} but it never arrives.  Some days it is hard to get motivated and out the door because of the colder temps we have been feeling.  Ugh, I am not ready for winter running!  But once I'm out there, I feel better and sometimes, I even surprise myself.

On the racing front, for the past few months I was planning on running  Berwick's Run for the Diamonds nine mile race on Thanksgiving Day as part of a team with my Moravian alumni friends {Kim, Carla, Justine and Cadee}.  

This book was written by my college coach, Mark Will-Weber.

This race is one of the oldest road races in the country and is very popular among east coast folk.  The best part is the overall top seven men win diamond rings and the overall top seven women win diamond pendants.  Because the starting time for the race is 10:30 am and Berwick is about two hours away from where I live, I just couldn't make everything logistically work with family plans.  It was impossible to run the race and be at the Thanksgiving table in time for the turkey, and therefore I had to nix the race.  On the flip side, I am possibly looking at a few 5ks and 5 milers to fill in the gap before the fall racing season concludes.  Hey...when family calls, one needs to listen...right? 

What are your plans for the rest of the racing season?  Do you have any big races coming up?