Mini Tempo Run

On Thursday, at 6:50 p.m. I met with my brother at the usual point in the Turia Park, but today I had planned to do 2k in a time of 10:00 - 10:30 so 5 -5:15 per km, it has been a long time since I have tracked pace, because when I ran in Madrid there was nothing measured, so my tempos were by effort and basically all my runs were my effort. Today I would track pace very closely, so as the Turia is marked every 100m I would look at the watch every 100-200m to make sure I was on pace and not over do it.

My brother had planned a 5k tempo, so before starting I decided that I go with him till the halfway point so 2.5k. We warmed up  around 10 mins, then He stopped to finish up his warm up and to wait that the watch get the signal, I kept jogging back and forth till starting the fast part.

The tempo started and my brother took the lead. I started at a good pace and luckily I was right on pace, I crossed the 100m in 30 seconds, then tried to replicate that same pace, some 100m were a bit faster but some were slower, then started to look every 200m, the goal was to run 1 min per 200s, again, some 200s I was running 61s and others 59s, first km was in 4:55 feeling pretty good , my brother crossed in 4:53, He had built  gap of around 10m, I stayed focused on the watch and my pace, second km for me came in 5:05 (10:00), felt good but a bit labored, but very controlled to be honest, then in the last 500m I accelerated a bit when a couple of guys passed me, of course the surge was controlled and gradually, in that surge I could catch my brother just to turn around, I got to the 2.5k mark in 12:28, I was feeling good and I was about to continue to the 3k mark, but after the 1st km, my calf had been bothering, not to the point of stopping, but I could feel it, so I think I made the right decisión in leaving the workout in 2.5k, that was the goal before starting after all, but I felt good aerobically, and as my brother was doing the whole 5k, I wanted to serve him as company for longer.

After the 2.5k I just turned around and continued running easy, did not need to stop to catch my breath or nothing, I just ran easy and came back where We started the tempo in 27:49, so 27:49 for 5k. My brother slowed down a bit and finished his tempo in 25:28, which is not bad.

After We met in that point We ran easy where We started the run, so I ran around 48:44, which is my longest run since April. I would take today`s effort and I am very happy with the way I felt there, I think I am not in that bad shape, but a lot of work needs to be done.

Since June I have not trained properly, because in that time the calf strains started. I felt surprised that I could hold sub 5 min per km with that " ease" given my current training for the past month, I only have around less tan 2 weeks that I started training consistently again 20-35 mins. On Thursday I really wanted to push a bit, since the leg had been behaving and all training cant be easy.

After the run, the calf was bothering me, but I took Friday off and it does not longer bother me, so when I run this evening I think I ll be just fine.  We Will see as its raining pretty hard since this early morning.

Another thing that I wanted to mention is that I am not training a lot, but my nutrition has improved since I came from Madrid as I am cooking my own food and I basically eat the samething every day. A ham and cheese whole wheat bread sándwich and chocolate milk for breakfast, then for lunch I would have rice or pasta ( with tomatoe sauce) with pork or beef, for dinner I would have 2 whole bread sándwiches, 1 with ham and cheesee, tomatoe and 1 egg, the other could be tuna, tomatoe and 1 egg, or as I am doing lately is 2 whole bread hamburguers ( beef, cheese,tomatoe, and 1/2 egg for each sándwich) with a couple of glasses of diet soda. I sometimes eat a slice of bread with peanut butter 1.5 hours before my run if I am hungry ( that is what I did before the tempo). That basically sums  my diet these days. I feel leaner, feel great on my runs and I enjoy what I am eating, plus is cheap and is cooked fast.

I am one of those people that could eat the same thing everyday for a long time without getting bored, I mean, if I enjoy the food, why I would change? plus variety means more food expenses, I am not into that right now. The thing that can be improved is to add fruits and more veggies to my diet, but I think that my actual diet is what I could consider healthy, a good balance of carbs, proteins and fats.

See you in a few hours!