4x1200 Speed Work

Planned:
4x1200 @ 4:20, 400 jog between each

Actual:
1 mile w/u
4x1200 - 4:13, 4:16, 4:16, 4:15, 400 jogs (~2-2.5 min) between
half mile cool down
Total: 5.25 miles

Last night was the first track workout of my official Chicago Marathon Training (18 weeks!)  I pretty much have my training plan finalized, but only have Speed Intervals or Cruise Intervals defined for my weekly track workouts - no individual workouts planned yet...  So I was very indecisive leading into yesterdays "3 mile SI" especially having just run a terrible 5k Sunday evening.

I finally opted for 4 x 1200 at 4:20 pace or better (pulled from McMillan's Running Calculator).  It was warm (83 +) and humid, but the wind seemed to keep things feeling okay.  The pace seemed quick but pretty easy and the workout went by quickly without much mental struggle at all.  (I guess I should have expected 5:49 pace to seem very easy after going through the first 1200 of the 5k at 4:50 pace).

I've realized I may need to pay more attention to my speed workouts after this one seemed so easy.  Right now my speed fitness is far ahead of my stamina and endurance (not that that's saying much at this point) so basing all my workouts off my half marathon time may not be the best plan, however it should help prevent over training, and if training at these tempos feels easy, my goal marathon time (2:55 - also based on the half time) should be very attainable.  It's also early in the training cycle, so the distances are somewhat low but I may have taken too much time between intervals as well.  Obvious that more refining will be needed, but not a bad start to the training cycle!