Thursday - 16 km with middle 20’ at threshold

I set the up earlier this morning in an effort to avoid the forecasted downpour. It was sprinkling when I woke up, and didn’t really progress much beyond that for the entire run. I definitely felt a bit more flat this morning compared with last week, I think that Tuesday’s run took it out of me a bit more than usual with that extra rep and faster average pace. Like always, I did the 20 minute effort on feel, keeping a close eye on the heart rate. Actually, once I started the effort, I felt quite strong and composed. Once I got back to the stone arch (just over 4 km into the to 20 minute effort), the heart rate started to creep up towards the 170’s, so what was left of the effort was restrained to holding it back to keep it in the high 160’s (such an unusual sensation, as I’m so used to pushing the final bit of any normal session to ensure I leave it all out there - so to actually back it off towards the end is something that feels completely foreign). Ever so fractionally slower than last week, finishing the effort at 5.83 km holding 3:26’s at 166 bpm. I’ll blame the rain and the moderate southerly wind for that. Finished the remaining distance for a solid 16 km all up.