Progression Run

Yesterday I ran my second key workout of the week, an 8 mile progression run on the mile loop in Lakewood Park. 8 laps on the same loop might sound kind of boring, but it's perfect for this workout as you'll soon see. The best way to run a progression is to do your first mile at normal easy day pace (it gets you warmed up) and then comes the fun part, running 10-20 seconds faster on each following mile until you hit 8 miles or can't go any faster. Yesterday, I started with a 7:42 and worked down to 7:13, 6:55, 6:42, 6:26, 6:19, 6:11, 5:58, which was a solid effort in mid-80s heat and high humidity. Normally I try to do the last 3 miles in 6:15, 6:00, 5:45, but, like everyone else, I find it hard to redline in the humidity. The progression run is a perfect workout for those training for 10Ks, cross country, and, also, longer races. It teaches you to keep running harder as you get more and more tired. I'm feeling good about my first week of 10K training, and look forward to tackling similar workouts in more ideal temps in the coming weeks.