Wk17 – 4.3M Maxwell Park pb!

After spending the whole of Sunday in the garden, and having only done 2 runs last week due to days off work and the long cycle on Friday I was itching for a run.

Sunday was a beautiful sunny day, but I spent most of it in a shaded and not very warm garden round the back of the flat (from 830 -1730).  I nipped out at lunchtime to go to homebase and realised how nice the weather was and what I was actually missing. 😦

Nevermind.  The garden is looking great now anyway.  Still a bit of work to do, but it’s getting there.  I’ll post before and after pictures later.

After the gardening my hamstrings were sore and I’ve managed to strain a muscle in my right forearm, but I noticed yesterday as I jogged over to one of the shops, a run would be a great way to loosen off.  And I didn’t need to use my forearm much to run anyway. 😉

So I was determined to get up on Tuesday morning and go for a run.  A ncie wee easy Maxwell Park run.  No pressure on time, just run.

I was out the door for 645am.  It was a nice bright sunny morning but pretty chilly.  I wore shorts and a singlet and I’d wished I’d worn a long sleeved top.

I ran the first mile steadily and ended up doing it in just under 8 minutes… I was surprised and decided I’d try and push it a little to see if I could do a faster run than I had planned.

I picked up the pace and did the second mile in 7:12, the third in 7:28 and the fourth in 7:07.

I finished in a pb for the route, of 31:42! (by almost 2 minutes!!)  Quite a bit of a confidence booster ahead of the 10k race on Sunday.

If I run like that on Sunday and manage to keep that pace for the whole 10k I’ll do it in 45:46 which will be a pb and a 45 minute 10k… I just need to consider what pace strategy I’ll have on Sunday.

It was a good run anyway.  The rest last week, plus maybe the gardening, seems to have given me the break I need to come back stronger and faster.

Run: 4.3M, 31:42, Pace: 7:23, Calories: 423
Ave HR: 157 (83%), Max HR: 179 (94%).