Thousands

"At least it isn't cold" we joked as a steady rain fell well after the sun had set. It was already wet and dark and doing a workout in these conditions generally sucks. The track had puddles and the rain at times came down in sheets. Sucky weather. Misery loves company so I was joined by Wiggy, Murphy, Marren, Dusen, Charlie and Towpath for an 8x1000m workout (200 rest). Emily ran 400s and shouted encouragements as we swamped our way by. We started conservatively and I hit rep #1 in 3:09. Wiggy and Karl did most of the pace-setting duties, but Towpath held firm just behind the top tier. After rep #4 (halfway) I felt exhausted. I took the lead on number 5 and cruised home in 3:07. After #5 it only got worse. My stomach felt as if it were going to spill out of my chest, but miraculously it stayed put. Rep # 7 was just a tick faster and rep # 8 (which was supposed to be at 90%) felt brutal. I limped home in a 3:01 and immediately felt exhausted. Wiggy had run an impressive 2:40 and had beaten me by a straight-away. This was my first workout in weeks and I can't recall a workout that was more humbling. God, this is a tough business.

Splits: 3:09, 3:07, 3:09, 3:13, 3:07, 3:09, 3:06, 3:01