Be Prepared!

I was never a boy scout, but I know their motto applies in many areas, and one of those is track practice.

Bring a watch! Some runners were able to write down all of their splits AFTER the workout was over. This is a good thing. No, they are not idiot savants, they have a watch that can remember a few splits. When we do workouts that have a fair amount of rest between reps, we can afford to write times down between each interval; in a workout like yesterday's, there is not enough time.

Bring extra clothes! Yes, I know all teenage boys like to show how tough they are by wearing as little as possible in cold weather, but that is not what's best for your running. Bring more than you think is necessary. You don't have to wear it, but it provides a nice insurance policy when the lake keeps things several degrees cooler in Webster than "at the airport".

Plan your food and drink intake! Skipping lunch and chowing down some pizza right before a workout = bad idea. Forgetting to drink water consistently throughout the day also = bad idea. You can get away with poor planning on easy days. On hard days, you don't want to make things harder than they are designed to be.