2020 so far...

2020!  Yeah.  I know - it sucks so far.  I'm with you.  But it has been a lot easier to balance the work/family/running - since i've removed the commute and basically given back over an hour each day (probably more than that - since i don't even need to 'get ready' for work either).

Pre-pandemic - i had started to do the old PFE hill work.  This starts at 6x60s - right up eastern; and 8 weeks later - tops off at 2x(45;90;120) - which i finished on 3/23. This march also marked the first time i ever completed the Strava hill challenge - 2000 meters or something like 6000 feet in climbing.

After that I transitioned to speed work - which I started April 1st - a 2 mile tempo run. I love this workout because it is challenging - you can go fast - but easy to recover from. Unsurprisingly I did the first one not so fast: 6:58 pace. I then bumped up the tempos: 3M, 4M, 5M, 3M - slowly getting faster - and mixing in some 6x400s and 4x800s. Finally, one week ago - I did a mile: 5:54 out at Emerson - about when the adro mile is. I wasn't thrilled with that - so this week I did another 6x400 and 2M tempo: (6:33 min/mile this time!). And I'll try another mile next week. Not sure I can get 5:50 - but can't hurt to try.