improvement

This week has been a little slow on the running front.  Well, it feels like it, but I think I am actually doing well.  I took a rest day on Wednesday, but I am run today instead.

I did a interval run on Tuesday - 3 x 1600m.

Split	Time	Distance	Avg Pace
Summary	54:56.0	6.00	9:09
1	10:37.8	1.12	9:31
2	8:26.4	1.00	8:26
3	3:07.9	0.25	12:32
4	8:19.7	1.00	8:20
5	3:04.6	0.25	12:16
6	8:04.0	1.00	8:04
7	2:43.3	0.25	10:53
8	10:32.2	1.14	9:16

I am happy with this.  My training plan says to go faster, but I think that is too fast.  I don't know where I got those numbers from - I think I need to re-evaluate my times.  These 1600m are meant to be at race pace, so I was going for anywhere between 8:20-8:45 minute/miles.  I tried to stay comfortable, but hard.  The last 1600m was a little tougher though, but I really wanted to push myself.

I did read somewhere if you can't run a certain (maybe under 8 minute mile) pace you should do 1200m repeats instead of the 1600m ones.  I forgot about that, and set my watch.  I think it worked well, and I may implement more 1200m repeats at a later stage so I can attempt to run closer to a 8:10min/mile for all repeats.

Then my hill run. I had a 50 minute tempo run on the cards, but I opted to run up a big hill again, instead of the tempo.  Hal says I am allowed to do this.  I ran on a flat path for a mile, then started up hill.  My main goal was to try and keep going for at least 15 or so minutes, so I would be half way through my run.   Really, I just wanted to go further than my last run.

Split	Time	Distance	Avg Pace
Summary	52:06.6	6.00	8:41
1	9:31.6	1.00	9:31
2	9:32.4	1.00	9:32
3	9:22.9	1.00	9:22
4	7:44.9	1.00	7:44
5	7:07.0	1.00	7:06
6	8:47.8	1.00	8:47

My elevation gain was 447 feet, as opposed to two weeks ago, where my gain was 365 - almost 100ft more.  That was in half a mile of running, as I added on an extra mile to the total distance.  You can see in my splits above where I started running down hill!  I am happy with my splits - Especially the 7:06.  I am trying to push myself downhill too - working on my leg turnover and letting gravity help me.

To compare with my hill run (same road, same warm up) from two weeks ago.  I am extremely happy that I ran one mile more and my average pace is down 8 seconds per mile!  That is a win!  I was honestly expecting it to be a bit slower.  My goal is to go a bit further every time.

Split	Time	Distance	Avg Pace
Summary	44:05.3	5.00	8:49
1	9:23.1	1.00	9:23
2	9:24.6	1.00	9:25
3	9:12.3	1.00	9:12
4	7:24.6	1.00	7:25
5	8:40.7	1.00	8:41

Then last night the husband and I went into the big smoke of Honolulu to catch a college baseball game.  What an amazing stadium for a college!  You can even see views of Diamond Head from the stadium.