Strong tempo

Had a strong workout at Lakewood Park today. After a three mile warm up, I ran a 3 mile tempo in 18:16 (6:05 pace), staying comfortably at 85-90% of my maximum heart rate reserve for the last 2.5 miles (it took about a half mile to build up to 85% which is pretty standard for this type of session). A week and a half ago I ran 18:36 for this same workout, so this was a significant improvement, especially since my average HR for both workouts was identical. My splits were actually slightly positive today, hitting 6:03, 6:05, and 6:08. That said, the effort in the last half almost felt too easy, but the point of this workout is to stay in the heart rate zone and not go over 90% even if this means slowing down a tad, unlike in a race where you redline, especially in the second half. I could have easily run the last mile ten seconds faster, but that isn't the point. Very happy with where I'm at now as January winds down and getting antsy to race again.

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Tempo Time

Had a really great workout this afternoon at Lakewood Park. This was probably the most perfect day for running all fall. 50 degrees, sunny, and not too much wind coming off the lake. After an easy 3 mile warm up with some light strides I ran a 20-minute tempo on the park's marked mile loop hitting some precision clockwork splits. My 3 mile time was 18:30 (splits: 6:14, 6:10, 6:06) and I continued at the same pace for the extra 90 seconds to hit the full 20 minutes. Famed coach Jack Daniels advocates doing 20 minute tempos at 90% of current 5K fitness and I pretty much nailed that on the spot. I raced at 5:38 pace in less than ideal conditions last month, which meant my target range was right in the 6:10-6:15 range.After a lazy 2 mile cool down I headed home for some much needed coffee, possibly the world's best recovery drink.

This has been my best week in about two months as far as health issues go. I've had zero stomach issues and haven't taken any meds. Hope this continues. My next race will be the Twinsburg Turkey Trot on November 12, which is a challenging 5 mile road/trail race. Two years ago I ran 29:34 when I was in 17:00/36:00 shape so it will be a good benchmark for me to see where I'm at.

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