15 km and 10 km

Thursday 11 October - 15 km Kickdown

I decided to split this into 3 x 4 km + 3 km. The paces I aimed for were 7:00, 6:45, 6:30 and 6:15.  The weather was fine but with a strong head wind for most of the return journey.  I was feeling pretty good thanks to the massage Philip gave me on Tuesday and managed a consistent pace at the start. The wind was behind me on the second 4 km and I found myself walking faster than I intended. I slowed a bit for the second half of that leg, wanting to ensure I was able to pick up the pace further. I worked hard at the start of the third leg, determined to find more speed, despite walking into a strong wind. I was amazed at how fresh and good I felt at that point. The wind was at my side for some of the last lap but the last km was once again into the wind. I had plenty of energy left to increase the pace again for a very pleasing workout overall.

The pace splits I achieved were: 6:56, 6:41, 6:21, 6:09.
I completed the 15 km in 1:38:20 for an overall average pace of 6:33 and average HR 147. The half splits were 51:06 and 47:14 - I don't think I've ever had such a big negative split. It does make me consider starting conservatively in the race next Sunday.

15 km Kickdown

Tuesday 9 October - 10 km with 2 x 6 min @ 20 km pace

At the start I was still feeling stiff from the two long walks at the weekend so I wasn't sure how the session would go and whether I would find any speed for the faster laps.  After the first 500 m I settled into a reasonable pace and felt pretty good. I managed a 5:51 min km for my first fast lap starting at 3.5 km. That was with a fairly strong tail wind. I started the second fast spell at the 8 km mark, completing that km in 6:02 without the benefit of the wind.

My overall time was 66:02 for an average pace of 6:36 min/km and average HR 152 bpm.