5 mile fartlet/interval benchmark run

I had a break though fartlek workout July 31st.  I really enjoy the workout so I repeated it for a benchmark workout today.  (2 months later)

The plan:  1 Mile Warmup... .25 Hard... .25 Recovery... .50 Hard... .50 Recovery... 1 Mile Hard… .50 Recovery... .50 Hard... .25 Recovery... .25 Hard

Here's the results:

                                                                            July 31                                     Diff

Mile 1:  7:24 pace                                              7:56 pace                                     -32 sec 

.25 Hard:   90sec (6:00 pace)                             96sec (6:24 pace)                       -6 sec

.25 Easy: 117 sec (7:48 pace)                             114 sec (7:36 pace)                    +3 sec                         

.50 Hard: 3:18 (6:36 pace)                                  3:30 (7:00 pace)                         -12 sec  

.50 Easy: 4:08 (8:16 pace)                                   4:01 (8:02 pace)                         +7 sec

 1 mile HARD:  (6:43 pace)                                 6:26 pace                                   +17 sec

   

 .50 Easy: 4:04 (8:08 pace)                                  4:07 (8:14 pace)                         -3 sec                          

.50 Hard: 3:21 (6:42 pace)                                 3:10 (6:20 pace)                          +11 sec

.25 Easy:  124 sec (8:16 pace)                            120 sec (8:00 pace)                      +4 sec                    

.25 Hard: 83 sec (5:32 pace)                                84 sec (5:36 pace)                      -1 sec

Overall:

5.01 miles in 36:03                                              5.01 miles in 36:15                       -12 sec

7:11 Average Pace                                               7:14 Average Pace                        -3 sec

2.51  miles easy at 7:49 pace                               2.51 miles easy at 8:11 pace         -22 sec

2.5  miles hard at 6:30 pace                                 2.5 miles hard at 6:26 pace           +4 sec  

Overall there was possibly a small gain.  I ran the recovery faster but the hard slightly slower.  Probably would be better off running the recovery slower so I could run faster during the hard... but I guess that depends on what the workout is specifically targeting.  

I did run 5 yesterday at 8:00 pace plus ran some hill repeats with Maya last night so my legs may have not been quite as fresh either.  

Not a huge improvement I would say but not much lost... might have hit an initial plateau but I'll just keep putting in the miles and building the aerobic system and hopefully I'll break through.