It was a short week at school this week – we’ve got today and tomorrow off. I thought I could use the time off to get in an extra training session or two. My plan was to head over to the park and do 800m repeats around the lake at a 7:00/mile pace.

Unfortunately, those plans were hampered by shopping.  Boo.  Had to buy some new shoes and go with the wife to pick out a new couch.  By the time I got home, the sun was going down, and there are no lights in the park.  I didn’t want to be running in total darkness.

Instead, I ran the usual 5k steady state run. It started off great – about 7:00 for the first mile. Although the second mile seemed to start off fine, I definitely lost some time somewhere. I pulled in to the second mile at a disappointing 15:35 – about 8:35 for the split. The third mile was just as slow, and I hit the 3 mile mark around 24:05. That works out to an approximate 5k time of 25:00.

This is somewhat disappointing. On Monday, I had a great run and finished in around 24:00. I was hoping to do the same or similar.

But, on the other hand, it’s still a sign of long term improvement. Just a month or two ago, I would be struggling to complete the 5k in under 25 minutes. Now, it’s a problem of getting the pacing right. I have a feeling that taking the first mile out so fast led in part to the disappointing miles. I plan to hit up some 800m repeats at the park on Saturday, and hopefully that will help work out the kinks.

It would also be nice to run a course that wasn’t quite so hilly… but I can’t do much about that.