The Unplanned 5k and a Brick

Yesterday was a bit of a milestone for me.  It was the first extended run I've done outdoors since probably high school.  The training plan called for a nice, easy 30-minute jog, and my last jog was 5 days ago for 20 minutes on the treadmill with a pace of 11:57min/mi.  Clearly I have no sense of pace outdoors because my jog turned into a  5k in 30:18.52.  That's a pace of 9:47min/mi.  Wow, that was unexpected!

The run was an interesting experience for me.  My body is adjusting to the pounding it takes in this sport.  For the first couple minutes I'm acutely aware of my knees, always unsure if they'll be able to handle it.  After that initial warm-up though I never notice my knees again.  I guess Coach Joey knew what he was doing giving me 4 weeks of plyometric exercises prior to the first jog.  The thing I do notice is my calves (I see compression socks in my future).  My sister has a set of compression calf sleeves for me to try out but I have yet to swing by and pick them up.  The only other thing that really jumped out at me was that I felt parched the moment I began running.  That caught me off-guard because there was absolutely zero chance I was dehydrated even the slightest amount.  Still, my throat went dry instantly.  Perhaps something in the suddenly warmer air this week?

This run was also my first use of the Garmin FR60 I mentioned last post.  The stats showed my pace stayed fairly consistent once I settled in and found my groove.  My cadence was extremely consistent.  On the downside, my heartrate really climbed too much for what was supposed to be an easier effort.  Here are the stats:

Mile	Pace	Avg.Cadence	Avg.HR
1	9:23.75	78.3	154(86%)
2	10:01.32	79.0	166(92%)
3	9:56.34	79.2	170(95%)
.1	9:56.39	80	175(97%)

Preparing for the duathlon:  No sooner was I in from my run than Angelia was on the bike (indoor trainer). She spun out 45 minutes then did a quick transition to a 2mi run.  As Julian will be relaying the duathlon with me, he joined her to get some training time in (and break in some new shoes).  She reported the run hit her a bit harder this time compared to her last brick workout.  The right calf started tightening up around the half-mile mark but felt better after a mile.  Overall, she felt it was good progress towards Sunday's race.

Addendum to the last post:  So, on the 9th I reference Joe Friel's blog in my post.  Then on the 12th I write about training with heartrate.  Then 2 days later Joe writes a post on his blog about pacing with heart-rate monitors.  Check it out.