Going Long

Pretty good ten mile result this year.  Shaved nearly ten minutes off of my time from 2008.  Felt strong over most of the length of the course, only a few momentary lapses of concentration.

Weather was warm, but not unbearable.  Good field, and saw a few friends from HP RR before and during the race. 

Splits show a continuous improvement throughout the race, peaking in a sub 5-minute kilometre in my dash to the finish line.  Quite amazing, given I took my last walk break just past 15k on the course. 

815 of 1724 Overall Classification

107 of 148 Category Classification

585 of 892 Gender Classification

1:28:42 chip time,  5:39/km pace

Gun splits: 

5 miles 46:21

10 miles 44:23

Garmin splits:

5k  27:53  5:35/km pace

10k  27:32  5:27/km pace

15k  27:23  5:21/km pace

16k  5:55  4:55/km pace

Nice AM tempo run this morning.  Set out for on my normal route, but ended up going down Runnymede to Bloor and then west to South Kingsway.  Hadn't been down that stretch of road since Learn to Run clinic days, I think.

Added a km and a bit to get back to the entrance of High Park, and walked home from there.  Although it was a good run, I didn't feel like pushing it up toward 8k on my tempo training.  Figured my race result gave me some leeway to cut it where I did.

Time  43:02

Distance 7.2 k (4.5 mi)

Pace 5:59/km (9:34/mi)

HR Zone  140-160 bpm

HR Avg 152, Max 173

In Zone 90% of run

Ran home from work after 11 pm tonight.  Got out on Front St, and found it drizzling rain.  It was still warm, and not much wind.  In the last five weeks of being re-deployed because of the municipal strike, this was a moment where the purpose and benefits of what I was doing was abundantly clear.  I dove head first into the night.

Found it interesting that the difference in total time between my tempo pace and my steady pace is not very significant.  I wonder what that means?  If I do 10k in 1:02 at tempo pace, and do 10k at 1:04 at steady pace, what is the payoff for pumping 10 beats per minute faster over that hour?

As I get more accustomed to the heart rate training program, I see that time matters less than quality of a run.  By that, I mean the amount of time I stay in my target heart rate zone for a particular type of run.  Tempo, Steady, Hills, Long Slow Distance - I'm starting to feel very comfortable at all paces and distances.  I remember how much I struggled trying to stay with the recommended training times in my previous programs.  Now I've released myself from "the tyranny of the stopwatch" but have completely bought into the "tyranny of the heart rate monitor"!  hehehehe

It is nice to score a big PB as I did on Sunday, but PBs aren't something for every day.  Staying in my target zone IS.

Time  1:05:21

Distance 10.2k (6.4mi)

Pace  6:24/km (10:15/mi)

HR Zone 130-150 bpm

HR Avg 141, Max 169

In Zone 90% of run

Short, steady run in advance of a long run on Sunday.

Time 37:59

Distance  6k (3.75 mi)

Pace  6:19/km (10:07/mi)

HR Zone 130-150 bpm

HR Avg 141, Max 153

In Zone 95.7% of run