4 X 1km

Blue skies, sun high above, and temperature
way up there!

Joy here...Okay, so I had a workout planned that looked like this:  Drills + Strides + 4x1km @ 3km pace w/ 1/2 recovery + core.  What that means is that I had to warm up (around 15 minutes), and then do my running drills, followed by 4 strides, and only once I did that was I to get into the "meat" of the workout, namely 4 sets of 1km distance at around 4:45min/km, with around 2:20min of rest between each set.

Follow me?

Basically run your ass off for 1 km, catch your breath, and do it all over again 3 times.

I did this workout once just before we left, and it was H-A-R-D, so I knew what I was getting myself into.

Sort of.

You see, it wasn't 35C and humid when I last did this workout.  I wasn't as out of shape when I last did this workout.

The first 100m straight section of my
four-sided 500m-ish loop around the 'hood.

I started, already sweating in the mid-morning sun, and did a little 10 minute run warm up (as if I needed to warm up!!!).  My pace was 5:26min/km, and while that's not fast, it's well within my regular range, and so I was taking it easy and not pushing things from the start.

And then I reached the first corner where I was about to start my 1km portion - essentially two loops of my taman.

Now when I last did this workout, my times for each 1km set were 5:04, 5:05, 4:51, and 4:32.  Obviously, I played it pretty conservatively in the first two sets, found a good groove for the third, and pushed it for the fourth.  Really the times should be the same, so I should probably have run those sets at 4:50 or so.

When I last did the workout, I was running on a straight stretch of land, and so I would set my Garmin for 1km and run my little heart out until it beeped.  Same plan this time.  Only this time, I had to run two loops of my taman in order to make the 1km mark.  And let me tell you, it is psychologically waaaaaay harder to run two .5km loops than it is to run one 1km straightaway.

Time to put those feet up and relax!

You see, at the end of each loop (only half way there), psychologically my mind and body were like, "phewf, I'm done," but then I had to keep going!  When your body thinks that it's passed the finish line and your head agrees, it's really hard to convince them both that really you haven't.

So I had to push myself through the second loop like I was whipping a recalcitrant mule uphill, with one of the 100m sides having a slight, 3% incline that sucked the will out of my feet and heart.

But in the end, I finished the workout.

And then I nearly collapsed.

This time I did the workout in 5:02, 4:51, 4:51, and 4:41, followed by a very slow walk around the taman so that I could catch my breath.  And by slow, I mean S-L-O-W, shuffling.  So I shuffled my way around the streets of my new KL neighbourhood, sweat running into my eyes, the salt stinging, my breath laboured, but strangely feeling better than I have in a long time.

Over and out,
Joy