Mile repeats

Mile repeats are a staple of competitive runners in races ranging from the 5K all the way up to the marathon. I've found that it's one workout where you can't fake your fitness. It's not that hard to run faster than race pace with ample recovery when you're doing 400s on the track, but when you crank the distance up to one mile with minimal recovery, you're in a whole new world. Today I drove to Lakewood Park to do 4 x mile on the marked bike path with 440 recovery jogs (I allowed myself 3:00 between reps) and I had my best workout of the fall. After an easy 3 mile warm up I ran the first one in 5:55 (trying to be pretty conservative) and it felt super easy. After that I got into a perfect groove and hit the next three in 5:46, 5:46, 5:45. The effort was @ 8K race pace give or take (I wasn't redlining like I would in a 5K race but it was definitely more aggressive than a threshold run). The last two weeks have really rejuvenated me. I wasn't 100% happy with my Youngstown race but I felt like I've turned a corner since then. My stomach issues have completely vanished -- I think it's a combination of finally finding the proper intensity/recovery ratio in my training and improved diet (gluten-free plus probiotics). Next up is the Twinsburg Turkey Trot 5 miler a week from today. Later this week I'll post the PDF of the course map, which includes an elevation chart. Basically a huge climb in the first two miles followed by some rollercoaster rolling hills the rest of the way!