Totally Addicted to Pace!

Got the Elmbridge 10k coming up on Sunday, and today I decided to do something different, and rather than shuffle along doing base training, I decided to welly it. I enjoy my running more that way, even though it hurts more, and to be honest, it's improved my times in the past. I'm still fed up with heart rate drift, but perhaps if I can get a bit more speed at the top end, I can come back to training at a lower rate without having to constantly stop, which is what realy pees me off. Anyway - for today it was pace!

I actually started out a bit slowly, finding my feet so to speak, as I've really lost a feel for running at a faster pace. The first kilometre is actually a bit slow considering it's slightly downhill, but hopefully in a race I could get round that. Here's the figures:

The first half felt good, and although the HR did climb, it did so slowly, and on the flat I was really putting in some good speed as I flew along West Drive. This felt good! I got to the railway bridge just short of Nonsuch Park, which made me pant quite hard - this is the side of things which seems to be an issue - my HR shoots up on short slopes and takes too long to recover - maybe more reason to train more at the high end?

Anyway - I coasted the downhill, and into the park. It was great to be able to keep going here, even on the slight upslopes, and the third and fourth kilometre splits were looking great. I decided to stop at three miles (4.86 kilometres) rather than push on to 5k, as I wasn't quite sure where to take the route! Might work out a slightly longer one that allows me the option so I can make up to a full 10k.

The return journey saw the HR start to climb from just under 170, and I felt like I was working harder. It oscillated a bit for the next couple of kilometres, and then the upslope over the railway really hit me and as the HR climbed to past 182, it really kicked in and I took a short break. The down slope felt great though, and I was flying up to the end of West Drive, and the short but steep hill. A crowd of parents and kids completely blocking the pavement outside the school did nothing to improve my mood, and again I took a short break here, but then sped down the rest of West Drive. Mulgrave Road felt tough, but I kept pushing myself.

The final section was tough, as I'd let my HR get too high and it was uphill (slightly) but enough the really start to hurt my lungs here. A shame I couldn't get a time closer to 48 minutes, but the atmosphere was once again very muggy and made it hard to breathe.

So - to Sunday - can I break 50 minutes? I've done some good training runs, and the Bushy Park 5k time does leave me with an awful lot to spare, but that was set in less muggy weather, and if it's like it is today then I may struggle. There won't be nasty little upslopes to really burst my lungs, and then leave me in severe oxygen debt and need to recover, which I suspect will also help. Then again, it's at 10:30 so it'll be hotter. All in all I think it'll be a close thing. Give I did 50:42 at Dysart, and I've got rid of a lot of the effect of the chest infection, and done a month's training since, it will be disappointing if I can't knock at least a minute off that time, if not more. I'm wishing I'd done at least on fast tempo run per week now.

It's odd - 50 minutes never used to be much of a barrier to break, I did it in my first ever 10k, and although I'm a smidge heavier now, I wouldn't expect it to be quite so tricky. Still - I haven't done that much solid training, pre FLM I was just slowly building up the mileage, it's only the last two months when I've got down to more regular training.