10K fartlek

It was still warm this morning, but not as hot as Tuesday's track workout and less humid for sure. It was 72F (22C) and 40% humidity when I left to go to the track this morning; the sun came over the mountains about 2-3km into my 10K fartlek and by the time I finished it was 77F (25C). Fortunately, the sprinklers were on at the track and that cooled the air a bit, and even cooled me directly, as they sprayed me a couple times. Normally that annoys me, but on a warm day like today, it just felt good.

I am still pretty sore from Tuesday night's glute exercises, but sore doesn't mean you can't do well, so I tried not to worry about it. I warmed up for 1600m with strides, and felt a little sluggish. I think it took me about 9:35 or so. My legs were just feeling a little uncoordinated - don't know how to explain it. After my warm-up I did some dynamic stretching and started on the fartlek.

For the first 500m I felt awkward. My legs just didn't feel smooth, like the fast twitch muscles were not coordinated properly. I wasn't slow, but definitely wasn't feeling good. I did 2:46 and 2:50 for the first two fast 500s, which was OK for the start of a 10K fartlek. I knew I had to be a bit conservative given the distance and the heat. I just went by feel after that, and after 3 or 4km was pretty concerned I'd tank; I was feeling tired and didn't think I could hold the pace. Interestingly, I could and did. This was one of the more consistent fartleks I've done, and I even had a bit left for a fast finish (2:46).

Edited to add: paused for <30 sec after each 2k to drink - needed it, and didn't want to carry bottles. This made some of my recoveries perhaps a tad faster (3-5 sec). 02:46.4, 02:49.7, 02:59.0 (med), 02:48.8, 02:58.0 (med), 02:50.4, 03:02.5 (med), 02:49.7, 02:58.0 (med), 02:49.7, 03:02.3 (med), 02:49.9, 02:58.9 (med), 02:48.4, 03:02.2 (med), 02:50.3, 03:02.0 (med), 02:49.7, 03:02.7 (med), 02:45.9 The first 5K was 28:52 and the second 5K 29:12 for a total of 58:04, my second fastest 10K fartlek ever. I don't know the average HR, because after 5K my HR monitor started going wacky. I am going to have to get that thing replaced (grrr!). Anyway, my HR was pretty high I'm sure - the last fast interval that seemed correctly recorded was average 164 and max 168 on the 10th 500. I'm sure my HR only went up from there. I was working hard today. Everything hurts now, in a good way. Legs are quite sore (ouch!). Good thing I have a couple days to recover for my 32km (20 miles) on Saturday. Garmin data here.