nice fast 20K

Today's workout was another 20K, but this time I was to shoot for 6:10-6:15/km. Basically, Jim wanted me to push it a little bit harder than usual. So I did, giving it probably 80% effort. Though my legs were a bit tired from yesterday, I was able to coax them into a good effort for a couple of hours. In other good news, I had no GI problems, and the weather was seasonably nice. By that I mean that it was chilly, but that it was a pretty nice morning for late October. It was 40F (4C) and calm and clear.

The first 5K was a bit harder than yesterday, but at 30:26 I wasn't complaining. The next 5K was definitely a bit harder, but I got in a good rhythm and was able to hold the pace, and finished it in 30:45 for 1:01:11 for 10K. Nice! I was a bit worried my legs would crash on me, as they were getting tired, but they didn't feel heavy and nasty and glycogen-depleted. I had forgotten my water (but not my sports beans, thankfully!) so I had to make sure I was in Liberty Park at the water fountain around 10K and 15K when I ate the jelly beans. That worked out fine, and I pushed to make it back to the park at 15K, with splits of 30:40 (1:31:50). I did tire during the last 5K; however, it's a slight uphill, and noticeable when your legs are tired. I still finished it in 31:11 for a total of 2:03:03. That's even faster than the fast 20K I did on Saturday :). Of course, I did push harder, so I'm glad I was faster. I think my heart rate was probably close to 150 most of the time, and more like 155 at the end. My HR monitor is still not really working, but it did have some readings at the end that looked OK. I'm waiting on Garmin customer support to get back to me.

I had a busy day at work, so I'm just now finishing this up at 3:30 pm, and I'm feeling decent. My legs are definitely sore and a little stiff, but it's not too bad. Tomorrow is a cross-training day, so at least they'll get a little rest from racewalking before my 10K fartlek on Thursday.

Garmin connect data here.