yoga; 3K fartlek

Yesterday: After my 10k in the morning I did yoga in the afternoon with a new DVD I got. It was shorter, which is good, because my current one is about 1 hr 25 min and is just tooooooo looooonnnnng for me to do all the stretches at the end every time, though I do all the strength moves and can finish that part in about an hour. The new DVD was OK; the instructor didn't have nearly the explanations and directions of how to hold the poses correctly, and it wasn't as challenging as my other DVD. It was short though...20 minutes, with 3 different routines (each 20 min) one for pre-run, one for conditioning/strength training, and one for post-run. So it could be useful when I'm crunched for time, but otherwise the other one is a lot better.

Today: 3K fartlek. I didn't do the workout until late morning because I had to decorate my co-worker's bench and desk for his 40th birthday :). I got in really early to do it and then went home to help the kids get to school, then back to work to finish the job. The photos show the final product, which I thought was hilarious! Finally, after I did some "real" work and saw his amused reaction, I went to the gym on campus to use the indoor track. The weather was so very nice (50F? 10C?) that I wished I could use the outdoor track, but as usual, lanes 1-4 were blocked off for public use. Grrrr. But the indoor track was OK.

First I warmed up carefully: PT exercises, glute activation, then 5 laps gradually increasing speed on each lap. My hamstring felt pretty good.

I did the usual for a 3K fartlek there: 2 laps fast, 2 medium, 2 fast, 2 medium, 2 fast for 10 laps, or 2926m. My times were: 3:22.3, 3:40.6, 3:28.0, 3:42.9, and 3:25.8 which equates to 2:52.8, 3:08.5, 2:57.7, 3:10.4, and 2:55.8 for 500m equivalents. Total time: 17:40, which would be 18:07 for the full 3K. My average HR was low at 157; I gave it a hard effort but I think I'm just not neuromuscularly efficient right now. And hey, that's not as dreadfully awful as I was expecting. My hamstring hurt a little, with pain 1-2/10 about like my walks lately; a little more pain than yesterday, but really, not a big deal. I kept a little mantra going to help me remember to have good technique: "stand tall - go to Perth" (reminds me to keep posture straight, with strong core and no anterior pelvic tilt), "walk wide - go to Perth" (reminding me to keep stride width), "quick steps - go to Perth" (reminding me to keep a quick cadence). It must be working 'cause the pain was less, and when I went to PT a couple hours later, the treadmill with sensors revealed my stride is a bit wider (6 cm instead of 3 cm) and my cadence a little quicker. I still need to work on both, but it's better. He gave me new exercises to do - they're good, and tough.

Garmin data here.