Repeat

I ran today for the first time since a week ago Sunday. It was only 6k at an average pace of 5:07 per km, but it was a bit difficult.

I guess my cold hasn't completely gone.

Even though it wasn't an "easy" run, it was good to get back at it. Given that I missed all my runs last week, Ian suggested I follow last week's training plan this week and move this week's plan to next.

This means tomorrow night is track night. And from what Anne has told me about her expereinces the last two weeks, it isn't fun. In fact I may puke!

However, I'm up for the challenge and will make sure not to eat a big dinner before going to the track!   
  

Confidence builder

Last night (Wednesday) I was scheduled to meet my coach Ian, his spouse Michelle and a few others at an indoor track just east of Ottawa at 8pm for a speed workout. However, the Canadian junior hockey team was playing the Russian junior team in the gold-medal game of the World Junior Hockey Championship starting at 7:30pm.

I was conflicted! I wanted to run, but this was going to be a great game and in my opinion a sure win for Canada.

PVring the hockey game was not an option as we eliminated that from our cable package a few months ago. And the thought of going out into the frigid night was not appealing in the slightest. Have I mentioned how much I hate winter?

I sheepishly called Ian and explained my dilemma. I don't think he was moved by my predicament, but did agree that converting the track session to a speed workout on the treadmill another day this week would be just as beneficial.

So I bailed on the track. As it turns out, I shouldn't have.

Canada blew a 3-0 lead in the third period and lost 5-3 in what is likely the biggest collapse by any Canadian hockey team ever! It was shocking and I'm sure the entire country was reeling this morning. I'm still stunned.

Anyway, I did the speed workout today at lunch. I warmed up at a 5:15 minutes per km pace for 1.5k. Then I did four repeats of 600m each at a 3:50 minutes per km pace, with 2-minute jogs at a 6:00 minutes per km pace between each repeat. That was followed by 4 repeats of 400m each at a 3:40 minutes per km pace, with 3-minute jogs at a 6:00 minutes per km pace. The session finished with five repeats of 200m each at a blistering 3:26 minutes per km pace, with 3.5-minute jogs at a 6:00 minutes per km pace.

And while my legs are a bit tired now, the session felt great and was not nearly as difficult as I thought it would be. In fact it wasn't tough at all. I felt great through each repeat and was easily able to hold the pace for the required distance.

This run indicates to me that I'm faster and stronger than I was when I started working with Ian and I'm feeling more confident than I was when he revealed my goal time for the race next Saturday.

I have to admit, the last few days I've been worried about that goal time of 1:28:30. As I mentioned in an earlier post, that's a full six minutes faster than any other half marathon I've ever run.

However, today I'm almost convinced....I just hope I don't finish the race the way the Canadian junior team finished their hockey game last night!