Notes
Finally nailed a workout! Plan was to do 4x2K at goal 10K pace (3:54). Weather was really good with maybe a 10 km/h wind from SW. Wanted to do 2 reps out and then 2 back. First one started off a little shaky but not too bad, ran it really controlled and didn't have to push too much to maintain pace. Recovery was way too fast so I was a little worried I would pay for this later. 2nd rep started in TT and was into a consistent breeze so I really focused on pushing hard and not letting my pace dip below 3:54 (the goal throughout the workout was to push the first 400m of each rep hard so I didn't fall behind pace). Finished the rep still in tempo mode but I could tell it took a lot out of me.
3rd rep started really relaxed with the slight wind behind me. By 800m I knew I had the workout in the bag as I was still feeling very comfortable and pace was below the prescribed pace. Ended up finishing the 3rd rep very strong without leaving tempo effort and this ended up amazingly not only being the fastest rep but also the easiest. Took my time to recover and then started the final rep into a slight wind. Thought I was pushing ok but pace was barely below 4:00 for the first K. At this point I made up my mind to give it everything as breathing accelerated to race effort but the legs willingly responded and I was able to close the last K very strong finishing under pace.
Average pace was 3:51.4. Even if I say this effort was closer to an 8K pace effort this would still put my 8K time at 30:51 which suggests 18:46 5K or 39:03 10K. By far my best 2K workout ever.
Left hip flexor is extremely tight after and throbbing quite a bit, hopefully it is nothing too serious but it is in the same area where I felt it tighten after the 20K long run.
500m splits were:
1:56
1:57
1:54
1:56
1:57
1:57
1:56
1:56
1:57
1:55
1:56
1:51
1:59
1:56
1:56
1:52