1k fast - 1k slow -1k swimming- repeat!!

[SadlyBroke]

Wow, what a change in the weather! Having struggled with the recent heat and humidity, today's run in the cool, refreshing, (driving) rain was a welcome relief 💦 The plan for today's morning run was simple: try and run 10k or 60mins and in doing so clock up a decent 5k split for this week's (not)parkrun, however, within the first km and feeling like a long run might not be on the cards, I decided to try something a little different: one regular paced km then one slower one, repeat. As an experiment the approach worked surprisingly well and I lasted the distance but at times it felt more like a swimming session than a run 🏊‍♂️ 😂!! Amazingly, in the biblical rain that fell during 8-9km I found myself feeling fully recharged and managed to clock up my fastest km - I'm often struggling by this point! The final result was a sub-30min 5k and a 10k time of 1hr 0m 36s - a new pb (it only my third 10k) and so close to being sub-60mins!! Trainers are still drying on the line, and I suspect they'll still be wet tomorrow. Not sure whether I want dry or wet conditions for my next run!

[Grannyhugs Graduate10]

What a brilliant run at fantastic speeds - well done on your new PB. Sub 60min looks like it will be here soon. If you have and old newspaper stuff your shoes for quicker drying. Happy running 🤗

[SadlyBroke Graduate10 in reply to Grannyhugs]

Thank you. The speed found me today. Really wasn't expecting to come so close to 60min for 10k.

Just remembered that I left shoes outside to dry - in the rain 😩

I guess I'll need to make a trip to the local shops tomorrow to buy the Sunday paper.

[Grannyhugs Graduate10 in reply to SadlyBroke]

🤣

[Dtay1978]

Wow! What a great run, well done 😊

[SadlyBroke Graduate10 in reply to Dtay1978]

Cheers. Stamina seems to be building nicely after some steady post C25K consolidation runs. I'm trying to keep 10k slow and steady for now and leave the faster runs for shorter distances but the rain seemed to have magic effect on me today.

[UnfitNoMore Graduate10]

You got me... I looked at the stats before reading and was seriously impressed by your slow pace, and then was expecting Olympic golds and world records for the swim intervals! 🤣

Great run!

[SadlyBroke Graduate10 in reply to UnfitNoMore]

Thanks. I'm actually surprised how fast the slow kms were. They felt much, much slower (I don't keep track as I'm running, I just ease off on the pace and effort). Still learning how varying my pace, cadence etc effects the overall run experience, in particular how my knees and shins cope.

[UnfitNoMore Graduate10 in reply to SadlyBroke]

I often find that when it’s really smooth it feels slow, and the run turns out to be quite a lot faster than I thought! I have my watch vibrating every smile with pace, but rarely look at it... I like to run to perceived effort, my screen on my Garmin defaults to distance alone these days, other information is there if I scroll, but I try not to! I’m a strong believer that while I have all this nice data, not one of those numbers measures how that run made me feel, or (until my newly ordered upgrade arrives at least) what it’s given me in terms of health and fitness.

[ForestGrump63 60minGraduate]

I ❤️ running in the rain, always my best runs. Well done on the times and distance, amazing x

[SadlyBroke Graduate10 in reply to ForestGrump63]

I must confess that I did have a big grin on my face at times as I was hopping around puddles and wiping the rain from my face. Reminded me of wet walking holidays in Snowdonia when I was a youngster!

[Fionamags Graduate10]

Fantastic run/swim. What brilliant times too - you must be buzzing with that!!!

[SadlyBroke Graduate10]

And 24hr later still buzzing!

[Wimborne]

Wow! Your slow is quicker than my fast 😃. Fabulous run.... 👏👏👏. Really impressive 🤞