5km fartlek - Atawhai

I woke this morning to the sound of pouring rain and strong winds. Ugh....the thought of attempting to do a walk in that was not pleasant .. let alone a fartlek. I opted to wait it out for a little bit and that way I can have some breakfast. Hubby came home from work at 7.30am and surprised me with Hot Cakes from Macdonalds for my breakfast......SO naughty but I do like them and it has been a while since I have eaten junk food. My husband works 12 hours shifts - 2 days and 2 nights. So at the moment he is on night shift.

I sat quietly out in the lounge listening to the howling weather willing it to clear up. By 11am it was starting to sound quieter outside and by lunch time the sun was trying to peek through and the wind had stopped. Right, its now or never. I got changed and headed down to the Atawhai Walkway. Its a nice flat walk way and I did think about using just 1km of it and going back and forth......but once I started I just kept going.

My first km I felt really stiff and slow....I didnt feel I was getting into a good rhythm at all. I was breathing hard and pushing to try and get a good fast km. My watch chirped and I slowed for my recovery.....I was breathing hard and felt like my legs were jelly. Gosh where has my fitness gone??? The next 500m came up way too soon and I pushed hard .... I wanted to do my fast 500ms in 2:45 or less and I wanted to keep my recoveries under 3.10

I turned at the 2.5km mark and had to give myself a wee pep talk as I was feeling shattered. My legs just felt empty. My style had improved - I guess I was pretty warmed up by now. I just kept driving my arms and forcing my legs to keep moving. My last 500m was the hardest......I was gasping for air and really struggling. I am actually surprised to see in the data that is was not my slowest 500m as it sure felt like it was.

Total time was 28:53

Here is my data if you want to peek.
5km fartlek - Atawhai