Saturday morning brought a swim/run brick workout. I did 850 yards in the pool and 2.85 miles or so running. My Garmin only measured 2.56 miles because it didn't get satellite reception until I had already run about 1/3 of a mile. Overall it was a good workout and I was wiped out when I finished up. The only real details I remember are swimming 300 yards non-stop, all without the pull buoy. I did a few sets of 50s, a 100, and then a few more 50s before getting out of the pool to run. It wasn't a great run. I was tired from the swim and had other things on my mind. I didn't push myself very hard. I just ran to try to average a mid 10's pace and I accomplished that.
I was supposed to run yesterday but didn't sleep very well, woke up just prior to the alarm going off with a bit of a headache and feeling really lethargic. I made an executive decision to take the day off and concentrate on getting some rest. I felt a little bad for not doing my planned run, but I think it was best to take the day off rather than push through the fatigue.
Today I was determined to get up and run. I have a 5k on Saturday and I need to stay on top of things going into that if I want to beat my previous time. I slept better last night and woke up feeling ready to run. I'm still not sure I'm 100%, but I felt well enough to run and I'm not completely exhausted post-run. I had no specific goal this morning other than to do 4 miles. I just wanted to get back out there and run after having wimped out yesterday. I started out just trying to find a good comfortable pace at which my breathing was steady. I settled in a little slower than 10:00/mile after running for about 1/2 mile. And maintained that pace for the first two miles. I was feeling good after two miles and my pace had been steadily increasing throughout the course of the second mile. The third mile passed in 9:52 and I was still feeling good so I pushed my pace a little faster. I wanted to push my speed to the point where I was right at the edge of maintaining a steady breathing pattern and keeping my heart rate below 160. This turned out to be around a 9:30/mile pace. I only really struggled when I hit the final hills. The one leading into the parking lot wasn't too bad. It got my heart rate up to 164 but my breathing was steady. I ran past my car and made the turn into the ball park next door which has a 1/4 mile hill with a pretty steep grade. I tried to maintain my pace up the hill (and into a pretty strong headwind). I was able to do it, but my heart rate and breathing paid a price. My heart rate peaked at 170 near the top of the hill. The saving grace was that I was then able to turn around and run down the hill, taking advantage of gravity and the wind at my back. I completed the final mile in 9:18, only really pushing myself during the final hill climb.
Today's Stats: I did 4.02 miles in 39:41 for an average pace of 9:51/mile. I was pleased that I did that pace without pushing myself too hard. This was basically the same pace as my last 5k, but I felt like I pushed myself much harder during that race than I did during this mornings 4 miles easy run.
Next up: I'll be back in the pool in the morning, then I'll do another 4 easy miles on Thursday before my race on Saturday. I don't have a strategy for Saturday's 5k. I want to average 9:30/mile or better. After Saturday's race, I'm going to ease off of running for a couple of weeks, just concentrating on maintaining where I am instead of pushing for more. I think I'm going to continue to push myself in the pool because I'm not yet quite where I want to be from a swimming perspective.
No comments:
Post a Comment