Saturday - 20 minute threshold (+ 2 x 20 sec, 6 x 10 sec hill sprints)

I did my best to avoid the temptation of racing the Sun Run or Sydney Striders at Lane alcove this morning. My training is coming along very nicely, and I just feel that it is way too early in the season to be back racing just now. So up to North Head I went for my weekly threshold run. Much more pleasant than last Saturday, although surprisingly still fairly humid (97% according to my iPhone). Got stuck into the effort earlier than usual (I’m quite busy today), and many times throughout I had to consciously bring the pace/intensity back to just below that redline. I actually felt quite good throughout the first 15 minutes, but the final 5 minutes always starts to drag (nothing unusual there). It’s always tempting to really dig deep over the final minute or two to bring down the average pace of the session, but that kind of defeats the purpose of the run. I resisted the temptation once again today, and tried to keep the pace consistent until the end. Finished pretty much bang on 6km (3:20’s), which is the absolute perfect pace for me at this time of year. Happy with that (we always want to go faster though), and I have to keep it in my mind that I don’t have to run PB’s every time I do a session (especially a threshold run where the effort is by no means ‘all out’). Did a long cooldown back home, passing the last of the 7km runners in the Sun Run. Dodged the shower on my way to doing some hill sprints. These actually felt tougher today, I don’t know why? Got them done nonetheless.