10.4 K Jog with One 1 K Time Trial

Feb. 12, 2019

4.1 K: 27:54.00

Rest: 1:00.07

1 K: 3:32.98

Rest: 1:00.39

5.3 K: 34:29.77

Total 10.4 K: 1:07:57

Six days to go before the Ohme 30 K Road Race. I was sleepy. And my legs felt heavy. I didn't know how to deal with my low motivation associated with these physical conditions. I spent almost an hour in my study, unable to make up my mind whether I should run or rest. When I finally threw myself into my running gear to hit the road, it was almost a quarter to 1:00 a.m. I decided to run the hilly shuttle course for a minimum of 6 K. If I was in a mood for it, I might do a few repeats of the hilliest part of the course. 

When I reached the turning point, which is exactly 3 K from home, I decided to keep straight to reach the water treatment plant an additional 600 M down the road, because I felt like doing a 1 K time trial around the 1 K loop next to the water treatment plant.

I rested a minute before taking off for the time trial. I immediately got in top gear and pressed on. I turned the first corner into the narrowest section of the loop that is only slightly going down. Passing an intersection at the far end of the narrow street, the course continued to slightly go down. I widened my strides for a time gain. I crossed another intersection, this time, to get into a slight upward incline. I shortened my strides and increased cadence to minimize energy loss. Once the upward incline was over, I changed my gear again and started winding up. I turned two corners, still trying to hold on to the same pace, but once into the final stretch I widened my strides to put on a last spurt. Tears welled up in my eyes for reason I didn't know. It happens sometimes when I'm running at a far faster pace than usual. Oxygen debt was now maximum. The legs would not move as well as I wanted them to. The light came nearer and nearer with each step that marked the goal. Breathing was hard. I gasped for air, but air just didn't seem to properly come into my lungs. Time seemed to have stopped. I felt like I was pushing through vacuum. A second passed. Then another. The next moment I stopped the timer on my Ironman, and my body suddenly relaxed. I bent forward and couldn't move an inch for a while. Then I slowly raised my upper body and started walking. The watch said: 3:32:98. It's almost 10 seconds slower than my PR for 1 K. I may have put on weight. Or I was simply too tired to give a go at renewing my PR. But either way, there was a tremendous feeling of accomplishment. I did something I would never have imagined I would be doing when I first left home tonight. I felt like shit at first, feeling heavy, feeling sleepy, and simply feeling unmotivated. But now I felt like I was in seventh heaven.

After taking a minute's break I started jogging around the water treatment plant counter-clockwise to cover the remaining 1.7 K of the periphery road. 

Once I made a full circle around the water plant, I went back where I came from, enjoying the physiological changes that inevitably occurred after anaerobic training. The legs are still slightly under the influence of oxygen debt experienced, so they tend to be tense and sore. But on the other hand, breathing suddenly becomes a lot easier. It almost feels like your lungs got two times larger, capable of taking in twice as much oxygen in one breath!  It's a great feeling. And it is this feeling that makes me go for fast-paced anaerobic training no matter how hard it is when you are doing it.

After coming home, I took a quick shower and sat on my computer to write this blog post. With my small study heated comfortably, my eyes got heavy, and before I knew I fell asleep. Next time I opened my eyes, my watch said 5:47 a.m. I slept almost three hours at the desk. The heater was already off. And the room was getting colder. I went to the guest room where futon was ready, and crashed. My mind went blank in a second.