I really really despise these tempo runs. They remind me too much of running when I was in the Army. We'd do lots of what we called, "Indian runs," where we'd be in 2 lines, the guys at the end would sprint to the front, pretty constant...or we'd do fartlek running. If I didn't know that they were good for me, I wouldn't do them. In the Army, I somehow managed to get my 2-mile run from 15 min+ down to 10:30. I've avoided things like this for a long time, but my recent running really hasn't gotten any better...so now I'm trying to do them once a week and see what happens.
The temp was 88F, 33% humidity...lingering clouds from a mini-monsoon last night (there may have been a couple drops of rain). And some wind. I commented in my Facebook status, "Temp was 88F when I got out for my run this morning, 33% humidity, with a little breeze. Felt about as pleasant as being in front of a warm-air hand dryer next to an open oven for an hour."
The Garmin stats--
Time: 01:03:02
Distance: 7.59 mi
Elevation Gain: 178 ft
Calories: 1,015 C
Avg Pace: 08:18 min/mi
Avg Moving Pace: 08:15 min/mi
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/38822824
Again the goal was--
2 mile warm-up
four rounds of:
1/2 mile fast
1/2 mile moderate
moderate back home, with a sprinty finish
Last week I let the music guide me, but this week I got annoyed at the selection given to me (same playlist, but songs just didn't work right), so I actually used my Garmin. It really isn't too tough remembering when you went fast and watching for 1/2 mile to go by. Before I left I thought of trying to change the laps on my Garmin from 1 to 1/2 mile, but didn't feel like messing with it. I'll have to see how difficult it is. Since I was using the distance, I held much closer to my 1/2 mile breaks.
I have no idea where that elevation change came from, I don't think it is correct. I was along the canal as usual, which is flat as a pancake. Last week's run, which was identical, had an elevation gain of 7 feet.
Ordered a new pair of zoomers yesterday (they're kind of like swim fins, my prior pair that I'd had for 4-5 years tore yesterday), along with a couple other things from Amazon, and the package already arrived today!!! Fast service. Pretty quick and much easier than driving around town trying to figure out where to get them. The price was slightly higher than Swimoutlet, but with no shipping charges it worked out better through Amazon.
My swim coach wants me to swim the 1500m in a meet on July 30. I've done the 800m a couple times and it wasn't too horrible...but never done the 1500 at a meet. Odd thing is, as far as time, I think it would be similar to running a 5k, which I consider a short run. Anyway, I use Thursdays as solo swim days, last week I went to a city pool and did a 1650 yard, among other things, with kids jumping in along the way. Today hopefully the gym pool will be open, and I'll take another stab at a 1650. Would be nice if all pools were some standard size, outside the US most are 50m, but here they vary considerably.