track workouts

This week in running has gone fairly well. It is Thurday and I have 52 miles in five days which is on pace for 70. I did track work yesterday 4 x 1200 with a goal of 4:45 which is race pace. I ran 4:45, 45, 40, 40. Of course this is not fast but it was my goal so I am satisfied. I am just trying to run smart and think of long term goals. Tomorrow I am supposed to run 6 x 1000 at 4:10 pace. Running on the track always makes me nervous. I am not sure exactly why, part of it is I question whether I can hit the goal times. The other part is I know it will be painful and it will take a lot of effort. It is easy to just jog around and add up the miles but running on the track takes mental effort and the willingness to put yourself in some pain. Another difficult aspect of running on the track these days is getting used to running slower times than I used to and comparing myself to my youth. I suppose that is unavoidable. I just try to remind myself of my goals and think long term. Eventually I am sure the track times will come down.
On a different subject... I am so lucky to live here. There are miles of trails and country road just out my door and an all weather track five minutes from my apartment. I have switched my track days to Wednesday, Friday because the track team is up there on those days. It is much easier to run hard workouts on the track when I am not alone. I don't think that they mind me using the track at the same time they are, though the interactions with them are kind of unusual. I used to greet the track team members when I saw them on the track, but the reactions were so mixed ranging from laughter to ignoring me to the occasional reciprocal greeting, that I have decided to let them initiate. But anyway they don't seem to mind and I appreciate the company.
Today Thurday I ran three this morning with Loran. Usually we run the same 3 mile loop together and when we get back I add on another 1 or 2. But today I was quite tired because of yesterday so I just did the 3 loop. After school i ran a 6.7 loop up through the tunnel and to the "rock". It was incredibly slow. I was crawling but I did it and got 9.7 for the day. With this increase in mileage a lot of my miles are so slow. I hope naturally they get faster as i get fitter.