10K fartlek

I was going to do this workout this morning, but when the alarm went off at 5:30 am and it was cold and dark outside, I decided I would rather do it later. It turned out that the weather wasn't really any better later, but at least it wasn't dark I suppose.

Speaking of the weather, at noon when I left work to go to the track it wasn't that cold at 35F (about 2C), but it was windy. Windy enough that it might have slowed me down a little bit each time around the track - maybe as much as 1-2 seconds? That would add 25-50 seconds to my time. It was the typical psycho-Utah pattern of changing every 5 minutes. First it was overcast. Then it was sunny. Then it was snowing hard and blowing the snow in my face each time around the track. Lather, rinse, repeat. It was kind of crazy.

I warmed up thoroughly and did some dynamic stretching drills. Then I started out, a bit conservatively because of the knee pain I'd had yesterday and also because it has been a while since I did a 10K fartlek. Turns out that was wise. This workout was hard today, and I was definitely a bit tired in the legs and didn't have much speed. My fast 500s were 2:48-2:54 and my medium speed 500s were 2:57-3:06. Yeah, kind of slow compared to recent 10K fartleks, but it was a lot faster than last spring. A lot. So I'm not worried. Just tired, and looking forward to a day of cross-training tomorrow.

My right knee twinged here and there from 8km-10km but nothing too worrisome. I tried very carefully to watch my technique and make sure my knee was coming through straight and that I was pushing off my toes well and bringing my hip through low. I think that helped, though it might have slowed me a bit. At least the knee is not any worse now (8 pm).

Total time: 58:55 for 5:53/km (9:29/mile) with ave HR 158 (low...tired legs, I guess!).

Garmin connect data here.