The weather was threatening rain and thundering, but it was actually quite nice! It was about 56F (13C) and overcast; the air was cool and pleasant, and I enjoyed watching the clouds and hearing the occasional thunderclap. Once I started my watch, I put a piece of tape over it so I could not see the 500m splits, hoping it would keep me relaxed. It worked pretty well.
I focused a lot on working on my technique, and I felt good for the vast majority of the walk. When I concentrated on it, I felt the proper technique kicking in and it was really smooth and fluid. I haven't had time to put together the videos from the race, but one thing that Becky Klein (the chief judge) told me about my technique really dovetails with what my coach Jim has been telling me. I put it together in my mind this week. Becky said I am "playing the piano" - i.e., my hands are too much in front. She's right...but it's a symptom, not the problem. The main problem is what my coach has been saying: I'm still leaning forward a little from the hips, and not tucking my rear end under. This causes my hands and arms to be in front too much. So, this week I've been thinking about standing up straighter, tucking my rear end, and using my left glutes more (the left side is weaker, resulting in my right hip hitching). This seems to be helping, as I do feel much smoother when I'm thinking about it. Now I just have to keep working on it until that is natural all the time. Of course I've been thinking about these things since last summer and haven't fixed them yet, but I feel I've made some small improvement and plan to improve some more if possible.
My total time today ended up being pretty good despite the hills: 10.31km in 1:05:25 for 6:21/km with average HR of 142.
Garmin data here.
***
Later, I rode my bike to work. That makes 4/4 days this week :).
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