10K on indoor track

I could've gone outdoors; I was able to go midday when it wasn't as cold, and though it was snowing a bit this morning it was clear by late morning and the roads were OK. However, I wanted to get cross-country skis for the kids and the rental facility is in the same building as the track. Besides, I thought a soak in the hot tub post-workout would be relaxing. Finally, the indoor track is less distracting and I need to concentrate hard on my form right now.

So I went up to the track and did all my glute activation exercises and got started. 10K is just over 34 laps of the track, and I figured that 9948.7m would be enough :). I decided to do 9 laps and massage/do activation exercises, then 8 laps + same, then 9 laps, then 8 laps. I'm doing much better, but it still helps to re-activate several times during a workout. As for my injury, today it only bothered me a little bit on and off. I felt I was really good at maintaining my posture and using my glutes more. Hopefully in the long run this will pay off with fewer injuries and more speed. I am noticing that my glutes are fatiguing by the end of the workout, so I can tell I'm doing something differently.

While I was at the track I noticed that I was in the company of greatness. Nobel-prize winner Mario Capecchi was there doing a bit of running and some ab exercises. For 78 years old, he's in good shape, though I did pass him racewalking...and then he passed me back :). I haven't seen him there before but I also don't usually work out at the lunch hour. I recognized him because I've heard him give a number of very good talks and also see him occasionally on upper campus near our lab.

Back to my workout...I did very well. Total time was 1:04:28 for the 9948.7m, which works out to 1:04:48 for 10k. Yay! I did 6:29/km :). Still slower than pre-injury, but working my way back.

Post-workout, I wanted to soak in the hot tub, but it was closed :(. They have closed the pool for a few days for maintenance :(. Then I went to get skis for the kids. Well...didn't matter that I know their height, weight, and shoe size. They needed to try on the skis in person to be sure of the proper fit. Geez. More complicated than I thought. Hmmph. Maybe I should've worked out outside? Oh well :). I brought the kids back later and got the skis rented. We plan to have some fun cross-training tomorrow.

Garmin data here.