Week 7 to go

First: MY BOY ROCKS. P did his second ever standalone 5k and broke 20:00! The first time doesn't count as he was pacing me until I blew up and sent him on his merry way.

Week 7-to-go gets a 7 out of 10, so far.

1- I entered two races. The Great Forest Half on 31 March and the Rotorua Marathon! Yes- week 7-to-go is a bit late! Especially since we booked our accommodation in February! I also have a 10k this weekend- it's not a race I like much (too hot, and the paddocks are too hard to run on) but it's fun from a social point of view, and there;s wine on the course. I'd like to run under 50, and I should, but we'll see. Even if I do a good PB I will be the team tortoise! A is my speedy training bud, and her friend M also does a 5k under 22:00. P is the last member of our little team. Riiight. No pressure! I might try to add a 5k one Tuesday, so I can cover all the distances.

2- Speedwork: OK. I get a B- for it. The workout was 1k, 2k, 1k, 1k with 400m rest intervals. I played with my borrowed toy (GPS) and was excited to see that my distance markers are quite accurate (or at least identically inaccurate to the GPS). Going by the markers, GPS says the distances were 1:00 (4:40), 2:02 (9:16), 1:01 (4:22), 1:01 (4:43). Laps 1, 3 and 4 are the same stretch- laps 1 and 4 going into the wind and lap 3 with it behind me. Lap 2 was different- 1k out and back from the end of my lap 1 rest. It was pretty windy too! My goal pace is 7:15, which means about 4:30/k. So I missed pace pretty badly. BUT when I had the wind behind me I was under, so I am thinking that wind was strong! Also, when I look at my Macmillan paces, these were within the range for long-distance runners (I have used 1:47 and 1:50 half marathons as my base values). So not toooo bad. But I could and should have done better.

3- Tempo: is being fudged again this week. 10k on Sunday. Will tru to add 3miles by warming and cooling, but can't promise! I will be vigilant about tempo from now on!

4- Long run: 13 mi before work this morning. Awesome run! The GPS (which I had set to ks after speedwork instead of miles which I prefer when I go long) only picked up 20k but I did at least 22. The first 18.5 km (downhill and flat) took 1:38:50 for 8:32 pace, but the last hill killed me, so my average pace was more like 8:40. It's a darn steep hill! I was keeping 8:00 pace on the easy bits of hill, but on the steep bits it was another story all together (they used this hill for the World Mountain Running Champs last year- though they ran a MUCH harder way up!) I'm pretty pleased with this and am looking forward to my half. From now on, I'm following the programme for my long runs!

5- My new shoes came. running warehouse you ROCK. I was so pleased with the service and I can't wait to break in my new adrenalines. SUCH a bargain for this kiwi.

6- Paying our credit cards. And then enjoying a romantic dinner to celebrate each of us, and "us" too. (my credit card is no longer paid, but it will be paid for good soon)