10km kickdown

10km kick down was on the list for today.

I was a little nervous of this as my knee and ankle have been playing up in the last week.

I woke up to a perfect day for training.....cloudy with a very light drizzle. It was still muggy - about 20degs.

I went down to the Atawhai walk way and headed out. I wanted to aim for 6.20, 6.10, 6.00 and 5.50. So this time when I started out I took it easy as I remembered last week I went out way too quick and made the whole walk harder than it needed to be. I was pleased to see the first km click over at 6.20 so I was on the right pace. I felt good. No aches or pains and I was working hard on keeping my form and brining my knee through straight. It felt nice, smooth and very easy.

I continued on and picked up the pace at the next kick. So far my knee was holding out and I felt good. The test would come when I turned at the 5km mark and started to pick up the pace. I felt good at 6km but at 7km there were some twinges starting. I kept going but was really listening to my body. The last kick was the biggest test. Could I hold 5.50 pace for 2.5km. My knee held up with just the odd sharp pain but mostly it was ok.

Total time for the 10km was 1:00:56

1st kick = 15:48 - avg 6.19

2nd kick = 15:25 avg 6.10

3rd kick = 15:16 avg 6.06

4th kick = 14:25 avg 5:46

10km kickdown