Very happy with today’s run. For the first time in my life I broke 6 minute km while keeping my heart rate below 152 bpm. Also, for the first time during this challenge, each km split was under 8 minute km pace! That was even with hills.
Ran 4.2 km in the 30 minutes at an average pace of 7:08 (!!!) minutes per km, average heart rate of 150 bpm.
I ran in my Adidas indoor soccer shoes, which are lighter than the Dunlop Volleys I’ve done the rest of my 90 Day Challenge runs in.
Also had a strange almost-pain in my left Achilles the whole way. It wasn’t too painful, more like someone giving me a strong massage the whole time and it subsided as the run went on. Not sure if it was caused by the different shoes, running a lot earlier than usual (9:30 am as opposed to mid afternoon to evening), or by not doing a decent warm up (wanted to beat the rain). Something to watch out for.
Running in different shoes is good because it changes the stresses on your legs, relieving stress in some areas, increasing it in others. It helps prevent stress fractures and muscle imbalances. I don’t do it often, but I need to do it more.
The speed, I think, was due to a combination of running in the morning, it was pretty chilly, lighter shoes and (perhaps) less coffee (only had one so far today). I hadn’t eaten before the run, which caused problems in an earlier run with heart rate fluctuations. Didn’t have that problem today 🙂
If week 2 was off to a good start, week 3 has started magnificently!