rest; x-train; 5x1km w/3' rest

Sunday was a rest day, and Monday I cross-trained by doing 30 min on the elliptical and then biking to work and back.

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Today the weather was awesome for my track workout: 66F (19C)! Finally, under 70F for my workout. Of course, today it didn't matter so much as it was a shorter one - this is my easy week - but it was still nice to have good weather.

I warmed up in lane 3 going backwards, as the running club was at the track and heavily using lanes 1-2. I still did my 1600m (+) in 9:40ish with strides, and felt great. Then I did dynamic drills and got started on the 5x1km. The first one was quite slow - not sure why, but my legs just felt sluggish and unresponsive. Maybe I was just not quite all the way awake despite my warm-up? I don't know, but I only did 5:33.5 on that one, and was kind of annoyed with myself. I did enjoy the extra minute of rest today - 3 minutes instead of 2 - as part of my easy week/taper :). I was motivated to do better on the next one, and I did - 5:22.1 (note to coach - the 500s are off on that one - pushed the stopwatch slightly late on the 1st one). The next three were also pretty good at 5:24.7, 5:20.4, and I saved the best for last at 5:19.6. My heart rate was low 170s at the end of the last few intervals. I was super happy with the last two, and actually felt I could have done more. So nice that it was cooler!

And in case you are wondering, I did pay very close attention to my technique. I am sure I was legal. The knees were straight - I could feel it.

So, I'm feeling fast and confident. Portland-to-Coast relay is this Friday & Saturday and I'm excited for that. Just a couple more workouts until I go!

Garmin data here.