I like 1-km intervals

While I am still regarding this week as part of the reverse taper after Ohtawara, I wanted to do the Namban Rengo workout last night. The first Wednesday of the month is 1-km intervals (or 800-m should you so choose). This is my favourite interval workout for reasons I am not sure of. Maybe it is the simple maths, and ease of getting your head around the times, splits, and run versus rest cycle. Or maybe it is because this was the very first type of workout I did the first night I came to a Namban Rengo track workout. Anyway, I like 'em.

And last night I found myself as the most senior member of the group and had to lead the workout, which I certainly didn't mind doing. Juergen turned up later and helped with timing -- he had been detained for several hours of interrogation by the finest of Japan's police force for riding a bicycle not registered in his name (following a random check).

Anyway, I had a nice set of repeats last night: 3:35, 3:31, 3:28, 3:29, 3:25, and 3:30. I'm not sure what got into me on that second last one, but it felt nice to run that fast. I felt a little bit sore in the left lower calf after that and backed off on the last one, but was surprised that it still ended up at 3:30. I'd have to go back through my records, but I think that an average repeat of 3:30 would have to be close to the fastest I've ever done for this workout. It suggests that the fitness is there, but has been masked by fatigue from marathon training, and that perhaps the marathon itself was run with too much residual fatigue, OR that I am overcoming this digestion problem that I suspect had a little bit to do with me running out of steam in the marathon. Anyway, from next week I'll be doing more speedwork sessions as a part of my training strategy for Tokyo...