My first 8km fartlak

Today I was to do my first 8km fartlak; This was to be done in 500m segments.
I am not sure that I completely understood the concept and I feel I may have done something wrong. I think I was too slow in my recovery 500m's and perhaps too fast in my fast segments.

BUT....mental note to self.........DON'T GO AND DO A 10KM RUN ON YOUR X TRAINING DAY!!! I woke this morning with very sore muscles and thought to my self...oh oh....this is going to be a painful 8km.

The weather was against me tonight - not that I am offering excuses...but it does explain why the fast segments going out were not as "fast" as the home stretch ones, as I had a tail wind on the way home. I found that this workout went really fast. By watching for the 500m to chirp on my watch my work out went by extremely fast. I did however bugger up my watch again at the 3km mark as I stopped briefly to put something in my daughters letter box.....another note to self...when stopping .. PRESS the STOP button, not the lap button, I think I had a moment of delirium again and completely forgot what button to press, but I got it sorted and carried on.

Sore legs and all I actually felt really strong tonight and surprised myself with my fasts 500m....will be great when I can carry on that pace for further than 500m. Dont get me wrong, I certainly felt it when pushing but my lungs weren't bursting as bad as a week ago so I do feel fitter and that adds to my confidence alot.

Total time for my 8km was 49:20 avg was 6:10/km

Tomorrow is an easy walk and then Friday is another kickdown of 12km

My Garmin Data with lap splits
8km fartlak at atawhai by kyisis at Garmin Connect - Details