plan called for 6x 400M at mile pace but after that enlightening post from Alan, I decided to pull back on speed a bit and did them at 5K pace, or close to what I think my 5K pace could be on the perfectest day, which is about 4:00/km. I also opted not to walk during the rest periods.
A 4:00/km pace makes for a split time of 1:36, some 9 seconds slower than the prescribed 1:27 time when doing the intervals at mile pace.
My actual 400 times this morning:
1:35.0
1:35.1
1:32.6
1:31.2
1:34.0
1:31.8
I'd like to say that doing them kinda slower made it easier but nah, still was hard work. Average heart rate stayed a little lower than last week's 12x400 (144.7 vs 146.3 last week) but the rest HR was higher (139.8 vs 132.8 last week), so I was getting less rested in between pushes, so overall, the intervals were indeed easier, they just didn't feel like it.
There still were some gusts of wind this morning so parts of these were done facing some good headwinds so it might have played into how it felt.
This was my last hard session before Sunday's 10K and I'm getting to the point of writing down goals...
A goal) probably unattainable but it remains my top goal, that is to someday break the 40 minutes mark on a 10K. I'm probably not there yet but if there's a place where it could happen, that downhill course could eventually be the place so that's my top goal. I do have some mental barrier with seeing a number in the 3:xx for current pace on my watch though, as though I'm about to spontaneously combust or something...
B goal) my best 10K stretch during my half marathon was done in 41:38, that's a 4:10/km pace. That stretch had about 100m of elevation loss, kinda similar to what will be in Sunday's race but I wasn't pushing with the set goal in mind to run 10 km and then stop for a banana. For this reason, I'm thinking a 4:05 to 4:07 pace should be achievable. That'd be a finish time between 40:50 and 41:10 so breaking the 41 minutes mark makes for a reasonable B goal.
C goal) my last road 10K pace test goes back to last November and I did it in 43:10 for the 2nd Any Way 10K on Strava. I don't think it reflects in any way where I'm at right now. My latest 10K pace test was done back in April but on the treadmill in 42:20 for a 4:14/km pace. Not too sure how it being on the treadmill translates to the road but I'm thinking I would be somewhat disappointed with anything slower than that so that'll be my lowest of goals, to at least beat 42:20...
Bib pickup is Friday evening or Saturday in downtown Quebec City. Waiting for them to show a picture of the shirt on their FB page but I just checked the running store where they hand the bibs (Running Room) that has also become my running store of choice and I see that they have received some Brooks Ghost 7 shoes. I'm currently running with some Ghost 6 and they have only discounted them 10 bucks. I'm now up to a little over 330 miles on them so I'd like to introduce a pair to alternate between the two and will probably pick up a pair when I go get my bib...
FM