Yesterday: 20 min stationary bike, then core/glutes, then biked to work and back home. Felt nice to bike again! My fingers are just now up to biking again, though it feels weird/stiff to grab the handlebars.
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Today: 32km (20 miles). I got up at 4 am to watch the last part of the men's 50k walk in the Olympics. I loved watching Jared Tallent from Australia claim the silver medal - he walked so strong. So when I went out for my walk, I think I channeled my inner Jared :) and had a great walk! Seriously, I thought of Jared and how I'd seen him walk and how efficient he looked. I kept technique in my mind the whole time, and I felt strong.
I started off fast, but I felt well within myself and kept the pace well considering the heat. It was quite warm, as it has been. It was 69F (21C) to start, and 75F (24C) when I finished; that is not THAT warm but it was more humid than it has been - 60% to start and 50% when I finished. I felt pretty hot from 5km onward and when I refilled my water bottles at the fountain in Liberty Park I doused myself liberally with cold water. It helped but it was still hot. Despite the heat, I was strong through 30km (3:04:10) and then the last 2K was hard - I felt a bit lightheaded and just focused on finishing - I was a bit worried I'd collapse, actually. My legs were quite spent; no way I could have done 8k more today, but that's OK. I will be well-rested for the 40K and will be able to handle it better. This week I've had a lot of hard workouts so not surprising that after an effort like this morning's I'd be quite tired!
OK - I'm totally glued to the TV (just watched men's 5000m after watching women's 20K racewalk - 2 fabulous races!) - so need to finish this up.
Splits: 5K: 30:16, 30:27, 30:56, 30:48, 30:42, 30:59, last 2km 12:29. 8K: 48:36, 49:21, 49:01, 49:40.
Total: 3:16:38 for 6:09/km. No HR data because my monitor would not even register a signal :(. Good think I have a new one on order, but it won't be here for a week or so. I did check my HR manually a few times when I stopped to refill my water bottles, and it was about 150-156, where I'd expect for that effort in the heat.
This is my fastest 20-mile workout ever. I have done the distance faster in one race, the Mesquite Marathon, but that was a SERIOUS downhill and today was flat. I'm feeling really confident now! I hope the weather will cooperate and that I can walk a great 40K in less than a month now.
Garmin data here.
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