30 mins: 3.6 km
Jul. 25th, 2014 12:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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c25kLast night I waited as long as I could for the temperature to get cooler but while the evening was light enough for running, which is a bit of a narrow window, but at least it wasn't too boiling hot and there was a pleasant breeze. I was aiming to keep at a steady pace of about 8½'' / km, which I didn't quite manage, I was quite a bit faster than that for the first half and quite a bit slower for the uphill stretch. But I did manage 3.6 km in 30 minutes, which is the fastest I've ever managed on this hilly route.
And I did the first 2 km (basically halfway, before I turn round and run back uphill) in under 16 minutes. That I think is the first time I've definitively managed 8''/km, my eventual goal pace which I've been working towards asymptotically since I started this running regime, over a substantial distance. I think I could probably keep that up for half an hour if there weren't pesky hills in the way, but it's still going to take some work to manage that 40 minute 5K.
I feel reasonably good about this. It wasn't one of those rare brilliant runs where I feel like I'm flying or like I could go on forever, and I wasn't trying to "race", I was aiming for a slightly faster steady pace than last time I tried to do a steady pace run. I think I was at about 80% of maximum effort throughout, which is to say that I never felt it was a struggle to go on, but by the time I got to the last five minutes I didn't have much left in the tank to try to speed up for the final stretch in order to get a better time. So I'm not celebrating the fact that I went a tiny bit faster than I have before, I'm celebrating the fact that I'm getting better at paying attention to my body and pacing myself sensibly.
And I did the first 2 km (basically halfway, before I turn round and run back uphill) in under 16 minutes. That I think is the first time I've definitively managed 8''/km, my eventual goal pace which I've been working towards asymptotically since I started this running regime, over a substantial distance. I think I could probably keep that up for half an hour if there weren't pesky hills in the way, but it's still going to take some work to manage that 40 minute 5K.
I feel reasonably good about this. It wasn't one of those rare brilliant runs where I feel like I'm flying or like I could go on forever, and I wasn't trying to "race", I was aiming for a slightly faster steady pace than last time I tried to do a steady pace run. I think I was at about 80% of maximum effort throughout, which is to say that I never felt it was a struggle to go on, but by the time I got to the last five minutes I didn't have much left in the tank to try to speed up for the final stretch in order to get a better time. So I'm not celebrating the fact that I went a tiny bit faster than I have before, I'm celebrating the fact that I'm getting better at paying attention to my body and pacing myself sensibly.
