10 km Training Walk

I was dressed and ready to do this walk yesterday. We dropped Philip's mother at the airport around 1:00 pm but I didn't feel like training in the heat of the day so we did some shopping then went and had a late lunch. I really didn't feel like walking after that so we didn't bother.

This morning I got up and made some blueberry pancakes. The plan was to walk leisurely the first few km down the hill towards Wellington and to start measuring the 10 km once we got onto the flat. I left it about 300 m or so before I turned my watch on because I was struggling to get up any speed. It was hot with a moderate northerly wind that was behind us most of the way. I never really found any speed or rhythm today and managed to average only 7:40 per km even though I was trying to do much better. My left ankle is feeling quite sore so I may try to see the doctor this week to see if I can have it scanned.

We ended up walking (not race-walking) back to town again before getting a bus home so probably walked around 18 km in total.

10 km Training Walk

Saturday 24 December - 3 x 2 km with 3 min rest, 2 x 1 km with 2 min rest

We dropped our friends off at the airport at 10:30 am then headed to the track for this workout. Philip was set to film me whilst I did all the hard work. I was surprised to find the track quite busy but the other users were happy to share. I started with a few laps in lane 8 to warm up and wondered if I would have a worthwhile session given how stiff I was at the start.

I was pleasantly surprised to complete my first 2 km in 11:41 but I was slow to get started again after the rest period. My next 2 km was 12:06 and the final one 12:14. I was a hot day and I found this session pretty hard. The first 1 km was 6:06 and the second 1 km 6:01 for a total of 48:08 for 8 km. I was pleased to have that one under my belt. I am sure these sessions are very beneficial but they call for a big effort!

I will add some photos and video clips here shortly.

3 X 2 km with 3 min rest + 2 x 1 km with 2 min rest