Warm Up: Walk 770 M
<10 K Tempo Run (4 Laps by 2.5 K @ 11:22)>
2.5 K: 11:23.17
2.5 K: 11:21.59
2.5 K: 11:22.82
2.5 K: 11:01.53
Sub-Total 10 K: 45:09.11
Warm Down: Jog 770 M
Total 11.54 K
After doing intervals last Friday I gave myself two days of full rest before I finally felt recovered enough to go for a slow jog. But then after jogging two nights, I still didn't feel ready for another kind of speed training: tempo run.
In fact, I needed to rest a whole day on Wednesday before I finally felt like it, feeling as if all the clouds were gone from the sky. It's funny, because it didn't come gradually. It came in a flash when I finished writing a syllabus for a new educational event. So I guess our body and mind are inseparably connected. Hence, caveman's mindbody quest!
I hit the road in my thinnest adidas singlet, and shortest adidas running shorts, 'cause I knew it's going to be a tremendously sweaty session.
I tried to go easy in the first set as I knew that as I went along, it would be inevitably harder with each lap. The goal tonight is running 10 K at sub-3.15 marathon pace, which is running 1 K in 4:33. Tonight's loop is 2.5 K, so the target for each lap is 11:22. The first lap was 11:23. Not bad. Only one second behind.
In the second lap, I didn't increase the pace right away. I knew my pacing was right. I focused on my running economy and saved energy for the latter half. I paid particular attention to not being too bouncy. It takes a toll on your legs. The second lap was 11:21. Bang on time! So far so good.
As I was running the third lap, I was beginning to be surprised at how even each pace was. I wasn't trying to be. I hardly ever look at my watch. I only see it once after each lap. And that's it. And yet my body keeps hammering out the almost exact same time each time round. I figured my pace setting in interval training proves optimal. The third lap was yet again bang on time. I set off for the last lap.
In the last 1 K of the last lap I wanted to surge, so in the first half I ran economically by taking shorter strides, but slightly increased cadence. Running in wider strides allows you to gain speed, but exhausts a lot of energy, and you can end up running out of gas when you need it most. I mentally tricked myself by saying there is 1.5 K more to go when there is actually just 1 K left so that when the finish line is in sight, it looks a lot closer that you thought it would be. With 100 M to go, for the first time in the training tonight I widened my strides and rolled on to the finish! The watch says 11:01! The best lap for the night, and well under the target.
I slowly jogged back home, satisfied with the achievement. Interval training is paying off. I want to increase the number of sets from 6 to 7 next time. Hopefully this will enable me to complete a tempo run for a longer distance such as 12.5 or 15 K in the near future.
I will continue to believe what Eliud Kipchoge's mantra: "No human is limited," which in my case may be more accurately put, "No old man is limited."
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