back to racewalking :)

I was happy to be back to racewalking today, though the workout wasn't the best. I was to do 14K with two faster segments of about 10 min each. I decided for simplicity's sake to do 2x2k fast segments - these were to be at 1/2 marathon pace (6:09/km is my goal pace) but as you can see I couldn't pace myself to save my life this morning.

My glutes let me know that I was racewalking right away. They were definitely still a bit sore, even though I felt OK when not racewalking. Still, they held up fine for the whole workout, though now (at lunch time) they are very sore and I'm cursing myself for forgetting to bring my tennis ball for a little massage.

I started off feeling fresh, fast, and strong. I did some downhill km at 6:19 and 6:17, then a flat km at 6:22. I was ready to go! I sped up for km 4 & 5, doing my first fast segment. I didn't push quite hard enough and ended up with a 6:11 and 6:15. Hmmm, not so good in the pacing department. I relaxed for km 6 & 7 and then did km 8 & 9 harder, doing 5:57 (!oops! too fast!) and then despite keeping up a reasonable pace (so I thought) the next km was 6:15. Darn. I was definitely disappointed with this.

I finished the whole workout in 1:30:49, for 6:29/km average, with ave HR 151. Really not my best. I have to admit I'm a bit discouraged about my prospects for Sunday. I talked to my coach briefly and he tried to cheer me up by telling me that my big races are next year. Nice way to basically say that yeah, I don't have much of a chance to do well on Sunday. I know it's true, but I should look on the bright side - my foot is well enough to walk, even if my glutes aren't up to speed yet with the technique changes. It's just frustrating since I've wanted to do this race for a while (several years) and I was hoping for a really nice PR. I could still PR, as my previous PR is on the slowish side from a hilly course, but it's not looking good for the sub-2:10 I'd really like to have. Well, you just never know. Everything could just click on Sunday morning. So I'll try to remain positive and hang in there, but it's challenging.

Garmin connect data here.