Speedwork - 7 x 1 mile repeats. Could be injured...

Coach John had already warned us last Thursday that for those of us who did the Springbank Half Marathon, we'd likely want to take it easier at Speed Work this week. So my plan was to do 5 1-mile repeats at roughly a 7:15 pace, and then see if I felt good enough to step it up to a 7 minute pace for the last two miles.

But as soon as we went out for our warm-up run, I wondered if there was something a bit wonky with my left hip/buttock area. It was sore and it took a bit of running for me to be able to run without a bit of pain.

So I changed my plan. I didn't want to wimp-out, but Megan Jansen and Heather Barrett were looking to do their last speed work before their marathon and half-marathon this weekend, so Jenny offered my services as a pace bunny for their 2 x 2-mile repeats. I gladly obliged. We were aiming for 8 minute miles. Here are our splits:

7:58.28
7:56.95
7:43.64
7:51.11

So the third repeat was a bit quick, but the others were pretty even.

I was feeling sufficiently limbered up by the end of those 4 miles that I continued on with some faster repeats. I started going out for a 7:20 mile and was going to pull the plug after a total of 5 repeats, but I felt so good, I kept going. And then for my seventh, repeat, I stepped it up even further:

7:18.95
7:16.93
7:06.17

It is the last couple that usually tell the tale of how fit one is, so I was happy that, two days after running a tough Half, I was able to turn in this performance.

However, by the time it was all said and done, my hip/buttock was still hurting and continued to nag at me. So it is possible I have a bit of ITBS or hip bursitis. I'm going to take it easy and blast it with ibuprofen for the next couple of days. I may bail on my tempo run on Thursday, but I'm registered for a 5k race on Friday. We'll see if I'm feeling better by then.