It's been a cracking day today. The sky was blue and the day started with a bit of frost. No rain is such a treat and it led to a nice session at lunchtime.
My calves were a bit tight this morning. Looks like the 5 miles yesterday evening was a little too much on the back of the hill session on Wednesday. I'll need to remember that as the real objective of the week is to be strong for the Wednesday and Friday sessions.
The target today was 6 miles at tempo pace which is around 7:20 min/miles for me. That means I can run steadily under my anaerobic threshold and in theory not suffer from a build up of lactate acid in my muscles, meaning I can run again comfortably tomorrow.
I decided to head down to the A1081 and run along the path. It's relatively flat and from what I'd seen in good condition. After a warm-up I was off. The wind was a bit of a factor on the way out making the work rate a little high but I sustained a good effort and pace for 3 miles out.
At the turn I regrouped. Just reminding myself what the pace/effort was supposed to be and to concentrate on my form - good cadence, strong core, high chin, lower arms.
The way back was slightly downhill and I found the pace was a bit faster. A negative split is unusual for me but very pleasant.
The effort was manageable and I probably could've sustained a few more miles. That's what I'll need to do at next weekend's Berkhamsted Half Marathon.
Overall I completed the 6 miles at an average 7:09 pace. Slightly quicker than intended and I'll see how I recover. An added bonus was to log another Strava segment and end up second overall behind the legend Simon Speirs. Happy to be in his company.
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