2013 training - week 9

As the weeks go by, the hard work I have put in is starting to show more. Looking at my stats from week one compared to week nine (thanks Garmin), You can see in the stats the gains are there. I am not only moving faster from the first week compared to this week, my heart rates have also dropped slightly, meaning I am getting more efficient while running. YAHOO!!!

Gratefully, my body is adapting beautifully to the grind of marathon/long distance training and I am starting to frequently flirt with my best marathon times from when I was in top physical form last year. I credit the workouts Steve and I are putting our bodies through early in the regimen. While our distances aren't terribly high yet, we have taken our bodies to the extremes when possible, especially in our interval and tempo runs. Hopefully the body will continue to hold up, and come race season, a new PR in the various distances will be no problem.

Also, the weather is starting to work in my favor. This trend will only continue the further we get into spring, until we are in the blistering summer heat, which I enjoy by the way.

Today's run was particularly good! The weather was ideal for a good run. Temps in the high 40's, LOTS of sun, and some nice clean roads. As I started my run, my body quickly got into a groove. Usually there is some laboring still going on in the first mile, today however, was a different story. The first mile came and went quicker than my marathon pace. I quickly checked my hearts rates to ensure I wasn't going to crazy on this easy run on my down week. My heart rate was just about the same as usual my a beat or two per minute faster was all, nothing to get concerned about.

After the first mile, my pace continued to pick up, while maintaining the same heart rate, the second mile quickly came and went , as I surged not only significantly past my last marathon pace, but had also put some distance on my fastest recorded 5K without really even trying. My last mile was much of the same, considerably faster than my virtual marathon pace man (thanks again Garmin). I finished my 5K in a record time, 25:08. I was EXTREMELY pleased with my run, considering I was just out for a leisurely stroll. Let's hope these times continue to improve as the training season continues. 

Lastly, I am curious to know what is the fastest I could run a 5K, as I have never really tried before. Hmmm maybe one day for fun I will experiment.