Notes
A bit colder today and I barely had enough clothes to be just right with the little amount of wind. That is, until I abandoned my headband any only kept my hat halfway through the run, then my ears got cold.
Today's plan was 3 x 9 minutes, with each broken down as 4 min half marathon, 3 min 10k, 2 min 5k.
1) Paces: 6:17, 5:47, 5:27. I should have done some tempo in my warm-up as I started very slow. And it didn't help that I was starting uphill and was fumbling with my watch for probably over a minute. I increased my pace appropriately but it wasn't enough to make up for starting slow even with the downhill.
2) 5:44, 5:30, 5:26. I switched shoes to my racing shoes and immediately got a boost. I felt very smooth for 4 min and was quite happy with 5:44 pace. Then I picked it up to a not so smooth 10k pace. 5:30 was not ideal. Then I somehow worked much harder and only went faster by 4 sec/mile.
3) 5:46, 5:39, 5:25. Again I had a pleasant half marathon pace before struggling after. The last 5 minutes were into the very slight wind but the slight downhill should have negated it. I really worked the 5k piece and STILL could barely get under 5:30. I'm hoping it's just some rusty legs or maybe the cold really stopped me from picking up the turnover.