What a glorious morning for a run! Almost freezing, but misty with a promise of sunshine. No gremlins 😈 this morning. I was up and raring to go!
I was also a little apprehensive to be trying something different this morning for my mixed intervals run. My coach had suggested that I run using pace, rather than effort. I was reluctant as it was different (!) but she told me she really wanted me to try it. She explained that the pace range that she wanted me to use would show up on my watch for each zone as I was running. I had reviewed the different ranges and they seemed a bit slower than what I had been doing by effort alone, but I think this may have been her plan to slow me down a bit in some of the zones.
So off I went after my 10 minute walk. Oh, it was cold out, but I was dressed for it! I started my run and had to really slow down for the first 5 minutes part. I’m a slow runner anyway, but this was too slow even for me! I ended up doing it slightly too fast. The second 5 minutes at a slightly faster pace, I was spot on.
Then the first interval - the fastest one, for 60 seconds. This was the only one that didn’t have a maximum! So I ran quite fast, but I wasn’t really warmed up so it wasn’t as fast as I would have liked at 5:57. The 2 minute rest intervals I was able to jog today, where previously I had walked.
Continuing with various different intervals where my pace was limited by a maximum, so felt much easier. I jogged in the rest parts, until the last interval, another fast one, where I had enough left in the tank to make a reasonable attempt at 5:52. Last week, this last interval when I was exhausted was much slower at 6:23.
So this running by pace worked for me today. A much more consistent intervals run, where my 5K pace ((Zone 4) was slower because I was restricted by the pace range and it left me with energy at the end, to fly if I could! The whole run covered almost the same distance as last week’s run, which was identical, but I was exhausted last week. Today I was fine at the end. I learned a valuable lesson about not pushing too hard in the middle of a run. 😊
Zone 1: 5 mins, 10:15 mins/km
Zone 2: 5 mins, 9:44 mins/km
Zone 5: 1 min, 5:57 mins/km
Zone 4: 3 mins, 7:27 mins/km
Zone 3: 5 mins, 8:08 mins/km
Zone 4: 3 mins, 7:14 mins/km
Zone 5: 1 min, 5:52 mins/km
Zone 1: 5 mins, 10:33 mins/ km
Home for stretches, workout, coffee and porridge! 😊 Now waiting for my coach to say “I told you so!” 😊
first interval run with Coach Bennet
Intervals 😳
