10K with 2x8' @20K pace

This morning the workout was 10K with two 8-min segments at 20K race pace. Not a hard workout, but in between a 12K kickdown and a long 30K it becomes harder. Actually, today was fine, but the 30K tomorrow will be interesting!

I chose a relatively hilly route here in Park City, about 30 minutes away from home. Loren and I are here while my parents watch the kids back at home. Ahhhh...kid-free weekend...ahhhhh. Our hotel is near Main Street, and I went down the hill and into an exclusive neighborhood (think BIG homes with gorgeous wood details befitting the mountain setting) and around a golf course. The first and last mile were very downhill and very uphill; the rest was rolling hills or flat or slight uphill. It was not a fast course, but I didn't care for the purpose of today's workout.

I started off very easy down the hill. About 2K I decided to do my first faster segment; it was still on a downhill but just a gradual one and so I could pick up the pace effectively. I did the first 500 in 2:55, then 500 in 2:51 (it was a bit downhill - really this was not a hard effort - just moderately hard) and then 2 more minutes fast to make 8 minutes. Then I eased up, and there was a pretty big hill not long after where my 500m was 3:35, but coming down it was 2:54, taking it easy! Just before 5K, at 29:30 on my watch, I picked it up again, and went moderately hard until 37:30. This part was flat, and my full 500s were 2:56 and 3:00.

Then I just cruised back to the hotel. Slowly. It was a good hard uphill, so I took it really easy, not wanting to push this at all with 30K tomorrow. I let my HR ease back into the low 140s (it was upper 150s on the last 8 min segment). I had some really slow 500s - 3:36, 3:50 - and then my GPS lost the signal again :(. Ugh. I may have to replace the watch :(. Anyway, it said 4:00 for the next 500 but it wasn't accurate on the distance, as it cut out a corner I went around because it lost the signal.

Total for the 10K was 1:04:39 with ave HR 145. With the hills and altitude and fast segments, that seems good enough.

My legs were slightly sore when I started out today (from the 12K kickdown I'm sure...), and they were definitely more sore by the end. The last 3-4km they were a bit tired. I hope that they will recover enough for a good 30K tomorrow. It will probably be a slow one. Hopefully it won't hurt too much!

Garmin connect data here.