That Time Again

True genius resides in the capacity for evaluation of uncertain, hazardous, and conflicting information.
Winston Churchill

I knew I had run a bit too hard over the weekend so I made double sure to slow down on Monday. It was really windy, which took me completely by surprise, the weather forecast had made no mention of it. The first half was into the wind and rather challenging (not to mention cold!) but obviously I got re-paid on the way home. For some reason it had taken me 25 minutes to get ready in the morning, which meant I had to cut the run short by a mile; I did not want to be late for work. The pace was the slowest in quite some time – a fact that actually pleased me. Mission accomplished!

My legs were surprisingly sore, I’m not entirely sure where that came from. The weekend runs had not been THAT hard. There was still some lingering effect on Tuesday morning, but I felt well able to do another evaluation run. These evaluations are the only time I’m allowed to run at a decent pace and I’m always looking forward to them. There is never a thought of “oh no, speedwork” as I used to in previous training cycles when intervals were on the program. They are a rather moderate workout, just challenging enough to leave you satisfied but never exhausted.

I knew already that the figures would not match the ones from a fortnight ago, but they were better than 4 weeks ago, and better than I expected. I have no idea where the “you don’t lose fitness over three days” saying comes from but take it from me, it’s complete bullshit. I’m hopeful that by the time the next evaluation comes round I will be back to on pace, as long as the injury does not come back and as long as the next predicted cold spell will leave the roads in a runnable condition.

Anyway, the figures for today’s evaluation, run on the same stretch of road as last time, were:

Mile 1        6:51 (HR 161)
Mile 2        6:53 (HR 161)
Mile 3        6:56 (HR 161)
Mile 4        6:55 (HR 161)

Time to 130     36

The pace was a good bit slower than last time and the recovery to 130 took longer but I’m very pleased to see how well I was able to hold the pace. Again, I let the coach do the interpretation but I think the stable pace is a very encouraging sign. I might have lost some speed over my short enforced absence, but other factors are better than ever. Conditions were absolutely perfect for running, by the way; temperatures about 2C/35F, very little wind, a lovely star-spangled clear sky. I love it!

13 Dec

9 miles, 1:12:01, 8:00 pace, HR 143

14 Dec

11.7 miles, 1:25:13, 7:17 pace, HR 151
incl. 4 miles evaluation:
    6:51, 6:53, 6:56, 6:55; 36 seconds to HR 130