Like coming home

Still so pleased about Sunday.  But post-race celebrations have to end at some point.  You clean up the confetti, and go back to the drawing board.  Because there is always more work to be done.  There is always another race, another goal, another ___ to work on.  So Monday was back to normal.  And on Tuesday, I returned to the track for the first time since JUNE.  Over 3 months - the longest I've been off of the track since...early 2009? After my mile race in June, Sarah suggested time away from the track, to build up strength on the roads, and then eventually return to the track after a long hiatus.  And Tuesday was the day!  Time for the homecoming!
Now, if you live anywhere on the East Coast, you may recall that weather-wise, Tuesday was kind of insane.  20 mph winds, torrential downpours off and on - quite the setting for the return to the track.  This track, which is at my university, has hosted the majority of my track workouts since 2009.  It has hosted so many memories: mile repeats, 800s, cut downs, sprints, failed workouts, outstanding workouts, and everything in between.  And it felt so good to come back.  Even in the rain - especially in the rain.  If you've read my blog at all before, you know that I hate the heat.  I will take the rain, the rain that cools everything down, I will take that any day.  So, really, the weather had set up quite nicely for the big return.
All in all, this was not a record-setting or record-breaking workout.  I've done harder and longer iterations of it before:  2.5 mile warm up, 5 x 800 meters (w/ 1 lap jog in between), 2.5 mile cool down.    My times were 3:29, 3:24, 3:22, 3:18, 3:11.  The goal of the workout was to get the legs moving without being too taxing. Because...
I'm running another race on Saturday!  I am doing the Clarendon Day 5k - which I did last year, and the 10k there the year before.  Now that I know from Sunday's race that I still have a kick, I am much more excited about it.  It has a net downhill, and is a great PR course.  If I can go out in a 5 mile race and run the first mile in 6:18, I am sure I can take things out pretty hard in the 5k.  And, Sarah (my coach) is actually running this race too - the first time we've ever run the same race.  She'll be running at least a minute faster than I am, so I'll really be just watching her in the distance, but still good to be running the same race.  She has lead me through several time trials, and I've found that if I just do my best to hang on when it feels like we're playing a drawn out game of Crack the Whip, things go well.
And really, this is a race I've done for 2 years - time to come home again.