10km out and back - railway reserve

Today is the first day of my training for Sacramento......oh I so couldn't wait for this.

So first up was a 10km walk. I picked the railway reserve as it was a simple out and back from home. It did mean tackling the Beatson Street Hill on the way back but as I have found...this is not such a bad thing and although it does effect my over all time ...it also helps with cardio as I power walk up.

I felt great today as I headed off and was most surprised to see I had completed the first km in 6:12.......a normal time for that part of the walk is 6:40 - 6:50 as its an up hill gradient. Then the next km is the full down hill of Beatson and I normally do this pretty quick so it makes up for the slow first km.....so I was already up on my time. It was a nice day out today with high cloud and a very slight breeze, which helped keep the temp down to 23degs. There were a few familys out on the walkway so I had a number of trikes to dodge and kids on scooters that had little control of where they were going. I must becoming a regular as a number of them commented about seeing me so often :)

I made it out to the 5km turn point in 29:27 min.....Nice!! and I was feeling great too, a little thirsty but nothing to major. I pushed back along the track and was conscious of the fact the hill back would soak up any time I had up my sleeve. If you look at my data you will see km's 8 & 9 pace drop as that is where the undulations start and the 9th km is the hill back up. I was still zipping along at an ok pace and reached the base of Beatson's Street with enough time up my sleeve that I might actually do a 1 hour 10km......I punched up Beatson's and managed to racewalk almost 3/4 of it but that last 1/4 is just too sharp and I power walked up that section. The you pop out on to the sealed walkway that leads back to home....1km to go. Gosh if I push hard I might just make my goal......so off I went. I was feeling tired now and my head was starting to throb.....guess I really did need a drink back at the 5km, but I kept on going and stopped the watch at 1:00:48 ... I am most happy with that. Yes its closer to 1:01 but its still one of my fastest 10km times for that course.

10km out and back - railway reserve