8 km fartlek

I had 8 km to today but there was a 5 km race so I decided to do 2.5 km before the race and the other 500 m at the end. I was stiff after doing a good 20 km walk the previous day. It was quite windy so I was pleased to go under 6 min for the first km. There were just a few minutes between my first 2.5 km and the race. I started the race at a steady pace and was surprised to see John take off a long way ahead of me. I pulled him in over the first 2 km and passed him a couple of times on my faster 500 m stretches. He passed me again just before the turn and finished about a minute ahead. I was happy with my race result of 30:50 for the 5 km given that it was part of my 8 km fartlek. I took a quick drink before starting the last 500 m but I was hot and tired by then and didn't manage to achieve the sprint pace that was supposed to happen.

5:54

3:09 + 3:05 = 6 :14

3:13 + 2:57 = 6 :10

3:02 + 2:56 = 5 :58

3:06 + 3:04 = 6 :10

3:13 + 3:05 = 6 :18

3:16 + 3:06 = 6 :22

3:14 + 3:34 = 6 :48

8 km Fartlek

Monday 9 January - 20 km Training Walk

After my big effort on Saturday I had little energy for walking on Sunday and the stormy weather made it easy to decide to make that a rest day. It was still drizzly when I woke up this morning but by late afternoon it was fine with a moderate southerly wind. I had an appointment with John the podiatrist as my toes had become very sore with pressure bumps between the big toe and second toe. He trimmed these and gave my spacers to wear between the toes. He is going to meet me at the track on Saturday to see me walk and is considering making an adjustment to my orthotics to try an reduce the pressure between my toes caused by my large bunions.

I decided not to wear the spacers for this walk as they did not feel that comfortable and probably need some trimming. I drove down to the Hutt Road where I could walk into town and around the waterfront with just one road crossing. I was averaging 6:50/km for the first few kms even though I was walking into the wind. That was a relief after not being able to go under 8 min/km on my last 20 km attempt. I expected to pick up speed after turning at the 10 km mark but tiredness was starting to kick in so I didn't manage much change. At the 15 km mark my average pace was 7:02 but my last 2 km were particularly slow so my overall average was 7:10 and average HR 135 bpm.

20 km Training Walk

Saturday 7 January - 10 km fartlek

I was a bit apprehensive about this walk after the poor speed on my last walk which was why I had given myself a rest day on Friday. I left the walk until late afternoon and made sure I did a small warm up and a loo stop before starting. It was great to see the speed I achieved on the first km 5:39 - I don't remember ever doing a km faster than this. The first 4 km were with a tail wind and the next 4 km into the wind which was quite strong. I then did 1 km out and back. My starting point was not far from the apartment building where Alana Barber lives and I passed Alana waiting at the bus stop about 200 m from the end of my workout. I worked hard today and was pleased with the results. My overall time was 1:03:15, average pace 6:17/km and average HR 153 bpm.

5:39 tail wind
3:08 + 2:55 = 6:03
3:13 + 2:53 = 6:06
3:16 + 2:51 = 6:07
3:25 + 3:03 = 6:28 into wind
3:22 + 3:02 = 6:24
3:24 + 3:05 = 6:29
3:32 + 3:07 = 6:39
3:32 + 2:02 = 6:34 tail wind
3:36 + 3:06 = 6:42 into wind

10 km Fartlek