Wednesday, April 27, 2011

A Small Confidence Builder

My running since being sick back in the middle of March can only be described as "blah". I haven't been able to do anything but easy pace, but at least my mileage this month has been back to something resembling decent.

With the Sporting Life 10k coming up this Sunday I was a bit concerned about how my body would react to running faster than the plodding paces I've been managing. I really didn't intend to test myself at all prior to the race, where I am planning on running in the steady state pace range of 4:17 - 4:24/km and not actually racing, but today's run worked out as a bit of a confidence booster.

For some strange reason my alarm was not on this morning and I didn't make it out for my planned 15km run. I'd planned on making that up while Owen was at his baseball practice, but then as the afternoon progressed a big thunderstorm warning for the City of Toronto came along and washed out that plan. I got caught in the downpour on my bike ride home from work and since the practice got canceled I had a small window of time to fit in my run before picking up the boys. I didn't have enough time to run the entire 15km I had planned, and perhaps the fact that I was up against the clock to get the boys from after school care, so I  picked up my pace a bit more than I normally would. I didn't even notice that I was doing it really, it just kind of worked out that way.

Also, heading east along the loop I chose I had a strong wind at my back and this allowed me to run at a decent pace without much effort. Of course, the way heading west meant that I was running with the wind straight in my face. It was strong! And it's also a bit uphill in that direction.

Nevertheless, I ran along and managed three loops before heading home to grab the car and some clothes that needed to be dropped off at the dry cleaners. My splits were in and around 4:30/km for the most part and if I chop off the first and slowest kilometre (5:25) I managed to run a 10K in 46:45! Not bad, all things considered. I'd like to get under 44:00 this weekend, so this really did give me a boost of confidence especially that I didn't find it all that taxing.

The splits after that first kilometre are worth a look:

1. 5:04 (still in warm up mode heading towards that loop)
2. 4:52 (with the wind and finishing at the corner of Woodbine and Cosburn)
3. 4:50 (into the wind and uphill)
4. 4:33 (with the wind again and really easy)
5. 4:32 (against the wind again and up hill, but maintaining good turnover)
6. 4:30 (back with the wind and seemed easier than it should have been)
7. 4:27 (up hill and into the wind, but suprisingly fastest split of the lot)
8. 4:47 (noticing that it was time to head home I slowed down a bit and continued into the wind)
9. 4:36 (I guess the slowing down allowed for a bit of a recovery and my pace improved)
10. 4:30 (last half of this split was with the wind and a good effort)

The total for the run was 11km in 52:13 for an average pace of 4:43/km (7:36/mile). I'm planning on going for a short run tomorrow morning, but will do my best to go really slow.

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