Last night I returned to our group interval workouts. The shin felt pretty good, all things considered. In fact, the only thing that made it really hurt were the high knee drills we did. So I skipped those.
Our workout was a change up from our usual stuff and something I've never tried before. Nx1:00 minute at FAST.
What the heck does that mean?
Essentially, we were to run fast, but not all out, for 1:00 and then jog back to our starting point and do it again. Do that as many times as you feel comfortable, but not more than 12. At least for the first time doing them.
And what is fast exactly? Well, there was some discussion about that. It kind of depends. Apparently fast can be anything from your dream 5K pace to your 10K pace depending on your race goals.
I decided to run mine at my goal 5K pace. I figured I want to break 25 minutes so why not aim for a 7:50 pace?
Except, you know, it's dark and you can't really see your Garmin and they're not always that accurate for such a short distance anyway.
So, I just ran hard. Some of the intervals felt easy and some felt more difficult. Could I have sustained some of those paces for an entire 5K race? I have no idea. I think so much of my running road blocks are mental and I'm notoriously bad at being able to "feel" what pace I'm running.
Which may be why my paces were a teensy bit faster than I had planned.
1st 1:00 - 7:03 pace
2nd 1:00 - 7:06 pace
3rd 1:00 - 7:01 pace
4th 1:00 - 7:15 pace
5th 1:00 - 7:30 pace
6th 1:00 - 7:13 pace
7th 1:00 - 6:50 pace
8th 1:00 - 6:15 pace
9th 1:00 - 6:34 pace
10th 1:00 - 6:38 pace
Plus warm-up and cooldown
Total mileage: 5.8
Uh, yeah.
But, like I said, some of those felt pretty easy. Which amazes me. Only a few of the last ones felt rough at the end of the minute and I could definitely feel the burn in my quads toward the end of those.
My shin felt fine afterward and when I woke up this morning but then I had to run to catch the train and now it's bothering me again. I also seem to be developing a touch of plantar fasciitis on that same leg. Sigh. Can I just get a new left leg, please?
Regardless, it was a good, fun workout and I'm glad I was able to go. Not sure I did exactly what we were supposed to do pace-wise but I bet I'll get that figured out soon.
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