July 7, 2019
6.3 K: 32:00.93 (5:04/K)
5 K: 24:02.68 (4:49/K)
5 K: 24:06.87 (4:49/K)
4.3 K: 19:32.46 (4:32/K)
20.6 K: 1:39:42 (4:49/K)
It was raining and winds were strong when I woke up in the morning. I had a slightly irregular working schedule this past week with a seminar at a distant national university on Friday, and a long train trip had gotten me more physically exhausted than usual. So I gave myself a longer rest than usual before going for a weekend run this morning.
I always try to achieve two goals with respect to my weekend training session:
1) Running a longer distance than on weekdays
2) Doing something challenging in terms of both pace and distance
The goal this morning was to run minimum 20 K at a pace equal to or faster if possible than the one required to run a sub 3.5 marathon. It's 4:58/K.
I ran without shoes, because nothing is more demotivating than running in wet shoes.
The course today is made up of three segments. The first one is 6.3 K. It's from home to the entrance into the 5 K loop which is the second segment. It's hill and winding. I like it because it allows me to use different muscles and also to pay attention to running economy.
Every time I run in bare feet, the soles feel sore the first 10 minutes or so, and a mere prospect of running at least ten times more feels quite depressing.
But seventeen minutes or so into running, there always comes a moment where initial discomfort in the sole is forgotten, and legs suddenly feel lighter. I love this moment. I can believe in the arrival of the moment like I know spring comes after winter...
My target pace for this segment was @ 5:00/K, but I was slightly over the target, but not too much.
The second segment is the 5 K loop below. My goal was to increase the pace here and cruise around it twice at the race pace of 4:58/K or faster. I ran both laps at 4:49/K. So the goal was achieved.
The third segment is 4.3 K. The course is shown below. It's from the end of the 5 K loop to home. The first half is rich in undulation. And then the last half is pretty flat. But the road condition is bad at some points, which makes it hard to sustain the pace that I injected in the first part. But I grit my teeth and bore as I listened to the commentary while running of London Marathon 2016 which Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya won by running a 2:03 marathon for the first time of his marathon career.
My pace in this segment was the fastest (4:32/K). But I don't think it reflects my real ability right now, because there were three brief stops at intersections due to the red light. They gave me time to recover. If there had not been those stops, it would have been a little harder from me to keep the higher pace than those in the preceding segments.
But overall, I'm happy with the result. Last time I did build-up training on June 30, I only ran 15.6 K at an average pace of 4:48/K. Today I ran a longer distance of 20.6 K, and the average pace didn't deteriorate so much. In fact, it was only a second slower.
Hopefully, next time I do it, I will extend the distance to 25.6 K, but still I will keep the similar pace, and ideally will run the last segment the fastest!
I love this feeling of becoming stronger and stronger with each effort.
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