Faaaart lek

Run type: fartlek
Distance: 16.25 km (to and from Komazawa Park, four laps)
Average pace: 4:31/km
Average heart rate: 142
Weather: cloudy (12C)
Sleep: six hours

A really enjoyable run. I had penciled in the same distance with 4 by 1600 meter cruise intervals. But I really didn't think my leg/hip had recovered enough since Wednesday to stand up to that, so I decided to bin that idea. But I didn't want to be doing that workout tomorrow, one day before squeezing out the last long run, so I decided to just do a fartlek and take it as hard or easy as my legs dictated.

I ran to the park at an average of HR130 (4:58/k). By then I'd decided the farts would be just 1-km per lap, the uphill km. That meant getting straight into it as soon as I hit the park. So it felt like I was sprinting the first one and it produced a time of 3:46. Maximum heart rate was 167 (I never saw anything that high!) and the average was 152. Between farts I ran at about 4:40 pace with average heart rates of 138, 137, 139, 138 (that last one a bit slower than the others at 4:54/k). The other three farts were all within half a second of 3:47. Heart rates (avg/max) were 156/174, 157/167, and 160/171. I can't help thinking that 174 is spurious, but maybe not. After the park I ran home and included some shorter farts (brrt), and literally did these as a proper fartlek, whereby you just fix on a point in the distance or known landmark and fart all the way to it. It was fun (well, farting is fun, so I don't see why its running namesake shouldn't be). The average pace was 4:29.

Leg report. Well, through all that the leg and hip were actually really well behaved. I did one set of oyster or clam or whatever it is called before leaving the house and wore tights. One other thing I did that might have helped is try to take smaller strides and get my legs moving faster. I think that helped a lot, especially during the farting. The hamstring got a bit sore towards the end of the run, but basically with no fast running scheduled for the next couple of days, it is looking pretty good. The cold symptoms have also retreated for now, but I think there is a little bug in residence just waiting for a chance to take over. Just have to keep the little bastard at bay for 12 more days!