A harder workout

On my coach's suggestion, I've eased back (in total distance) on the long Sunday run in favour of some quicker tempo-plus running with strides thrown in. Once a month, I'll move from this type of quicker running to the traditional long and easy run.

I have been half dreading this workout all day at work as I new it was going to be fairly hard and I had been on my feet all day. I had a nice pasta dinner, Sarah was kind enough to make, and waited for the sun to go down a bit before heading out. I walked up to the track and then warmed up for a little over a kilometer. I decided to run the first 5k on the track to get the pacing down, and then hit the roads where I had measured (with my coach's and wife's assistance) out a relatively flat 5K. My plan was to run a total of 11K at tempo-plus pace with 4 strides thrown in during the run. This picking up of the pace, while already moving fairly briskly, would give me some practice at changing gears while racing.

I ran the first k on the track in the intended 3:53, but then shortly afterward my right shoe became untied and I had to stop which threw off my rhythm. I finished the 5K in 19:50 which is a bit slow but I figure the stop cost me 10-15 sec. I immediately dashed out onto the roads and ran my approx. 5K in 19:15. I think the distance is a bit short, as it seems a bit fast and it was measured roughly on the road using our car's odometer. I added another K to make the total run distance at this pace to be 11K. I threw in 2 X100m strides and 2 more on the road. A 3K cooldown followed which gave me 15k for the day. I felt good about today's workout for a few reasons: 1. It was a harder workout than usual. 2. I realized afterward that I didn't need to dread it as much as I did. 3. I'll be increasing this workout each week till I hit 15K at tempo-plus pace. 4. The strides are giving me confidence and helping my speed.

Next week, I'll be doing this similar workout in Victoria. That will be a nice change of scenery.