8K fartlek

Yes, I was supposed to do a 10K fartlek. But, because I have a life outside of racewalking, and because I enjoy doing other sports, yeah, I rode my bike yesterday up one of the canyons and it left my legs a mess. I only rode for 35 minutes uphill (255m), but that was enough I guess. My legs are sore today (normal DOMS, not weird soreness) and I had no gas in the tank for my track workout. On the plus side, I still did the workout, and I kept going until I could tell that my legs were ***DONE*** and it was hard to hold good form any more. Then I quit, which was at 8K.

Maybe I shouldn't have ridden my bike yesterday, but I think that it's not going to mess me up too much. I am feeling better now and I am not so worried about adding activities in to my schedule. I still have to be careful, but I can't live my whole life walking on eggshells. I figured that my legs might be tired today and that my performance would be compromised, but I am pretty sure I still got the desired benefit out of the workout. Yes, it would have been better to be able to do 10K, but 8K vs. 10K isn't going to be a big difference long-term, and I have got to get stronger somehow, and it's not going to happen by being so cautious that I don't do anything.

OTOH, if my coach says it was dumb to ride my bike yesterday, then yeah...I can see his point. I guess I will have to wait and see what he says.

At least I felt there was NO pressure on me today. I just went to the track and expected that at some point I might have trouble, and when I did I wasn't upset at all. In fact, considering how crappy my legs felt I am proud of how I did. Yes, it was slow, but I got in a great workout and made it to 8K on tired legs, which I think shows how far I've come in the past few months.

Total time for 8K: 49:00. Average HR 163 (high! working hard!). Yeah...slow! My last "fast" 500m was 3:00.8, and I knew I was finished at that point. Most of the "fasts" were 2:56-2:58, and the medium efforts were low 3:10s. Not great, but I went out there and got it done. One more workout in the bank. I'm getting stronger, physically and mentally. I feel tough even if it didn't show this morning by my speed - it showed in that I kept going until my legs were done, and I got a good workout in when I didn't feel like it, and I didn't beat myself up mentally about it. It was just a good hard workout.

The weather was great again :) 40F (4C) and slight breeze, but tomorrow rain and snow are on the way.

Garmin data here.