Hard but good Thursday

Before I get into Thursday, on Wednesday I just did 50 min weight training, mostly arms but some hamstrings (dead lifts), jumprope (calves) and heel walking (shins). My quads were still VERY sore and tender to the touch from Monday.

Today, Thursday, I still had slightly sore quads, but not too bad. I was slated to do 5x2k in Liberty Park. I warmed up by racewalking over there at an easy pace (it takes me about 12:30 to get over there from my house). The weather was perfect - low 60s (17C) and cool in the shade of the trees all around the park. I love Liberty Park! Flat, shady, beautiful, and much nicer than the track for longer intervals or tempo or threshold workouts. I get easily bored by the track! Anyway, on to my workout. I was FAST today, and felt so strong and awesome. I did the first 2k in 11:00, then 11:10, 11:20, 11:12, and 11:13 for the last one. Most of the time my heart rate was 155-160, though at the end of the last one it was 165. That's pretty low for how fast I was today (compare to the last time I did this a few weeks ago).

After doing one of the "2Ks" at 11:00, I wondered if it really was 2 full km. I mean, I don't think I could do 2K in 11:00 on the track! Maybe. But it seemed fast, so I got on USATF's MapIt website AND I drove my car around to see. It seems like it's more like 1.2 miles (or even possibly a smidge less), which is about 1.93 km - let's call it 1.9 km for approximation. That means that for 2km I'd have done 11:34 for my fastest interval, and 11:55 for my slowest one. OK, that seems more realistic to me for 2 km, especially for where my heart rate was. I wish I'd really done 2k in 11:00, but maybe someday :).

I felt like my form was really good today, all the way to the end of the workout. I'm really looking forward to tomorrow and Saturday - I'm taking Dave McGovern's racewalking clinic for the 2nd time, and I'm hoping he'll be able to give me a final form tune-up before I go to Spokane. I'll be sure to post about how it goes! I'm sure he'll have some good critique for me.