Tempo Tuesday

Well, if Saturday's run was one where everything felt just right, today's tempo run was one where everything just didn't.  After intervals Friday, 19K Saturday, a 3+hour hike Sunday and ~13.5K on trails yesterday, my legs were TIRED. 

I waited until the afternoon to run because I couldn't fit it in earlier I wanted to rest my legs longer I couldn't get my lazy self out of bed this morning.  Still, the extra rest didn't feel like it did much.  I hadn't set a specific plan, but thought 8-10K would be good since last night's run was longer than I expected with the group.

Unlike last week, I wasn't pushing myself on hills with this run.  I just wanted to hit my tempo target of 5:30/km (8:50/mile) or faster, and I would be happy.  Once again, after a 2K warm-up, I had trouble finding my tempo pace.  Though my average /km pace is ok, every time I looked down at my Garmin, I was wildly off - 5:03, 5:47, 5:20.  After the turn around, I settled into a more consistent, if slightly faster than desired pace, but my legs were feeling it and I could feel my form falling apart.  I was tempted to take the shorter route home, but after I slowed down for the cool down, I knew I could trudge it out for the full 8K I'd planned (at the very least) to complete.

After 1K at an easy pace, the drizzle I'd been running in turned into a downpour.  Time to kick it up a notch again!  I made it home covering the last kilometer at my goal half marathon pace, and when I looked at the average pace for the whole run, it also evened out to my goal pace at the upcoming half!

I think it's time for a rest day!



....
2K warm up (5:57, 6:00)
4K tempo (5:22, 5:29, 5:24, 5:21)
2K 1K cool down (6:10)
1.13K HMP (5:41)
8.13K @ avg pace 5:40/km