5km fartlek - Atawhai Drive

Last night I did a very gentle and very slow 3km. During this I was to concentrate on my new style for the whole distance. I felt very awkward and slow but did persist in sticking to it for the 3km. My glutes did feel used when I had finished. So I headed for home as we were doing a BBQ for tea. Got home took my shoes off and headed inside - just as the cat and dog were headed out side. We had a good collision in the door way with me connecting with both animals and also the door jam. With much swearing and jumping about with me holding my foot....I sat down to check the damage. I had a good tooth mark in the top of my foot but where I had slid down the door jam on the bottom of my foot there was a big black bruise forming already and it hurt!! So I grabbed the ice pack and arnica and tended to my foot while Shane cooked the BBQ - Yummy.....blue/rare steak for me and salad.

So this morning for my training it was a 5km fartlek. My foot feels sore and stiff but once I got shoes on it was much better. (I actually didn't feel it when I was racewalking) It was also not as hot today. It is over cast and gusty winds - but still shows as being 22degs, just no sun. I felt great this morning and was really looking forward to putting in a good time. I wanted a sub 29 or as close to it. The wind had stopped when I drove down to the walkway and I hoped that it would stay that way for the next 30mins.......that's not too much to ask I felt.

I did a short warm up and then went for it. 1st km was tough (it always is) I was breathing hard and just begging the k marker to bleep on my watch. My first Km was 5:29 and I was not gasping for air like I was a month ago .. I was rapt. Now I was into the 500m section, I like this part better. So I eased up to get my breath back, went for it again (with a road crossing in this fast section - but the cars stopped for me today) Everything was going great. I turned at the 2.5km mark and punched it again, I was about 100m away from the 3km marker when the wind started up and it gusted!! It was a head on wind and it knocked me around and it was here that I let myself down cause I mentally gave up. The wind continued to gust giving me moments of calm and moments of a good gust. I tried to keep up the pace and push through it and by the 4km marker I was fair telling my self off. So for the last km I tried to dig it in again. I did manage to get 29:51 but I was hoping for a much better time than that.

But as I sit here coughing away (due to the exertion) I know that this is just the start of it all and that I will have great days and I will have bad days, the key to it is to own the bad days and not lay out a million excuses. So my lesson for today....wind blows...it blows all the time, I just need to stay focused.

My data for anyone keen to peek-
5km fartlek - Atawhai Drive by kyisis at Garmin Connect - Details