As I wrote about here, my most recent training block ended with my biggest ever three days of workouts. Days one and two were all about the bike, and day three was a big run day.
Day three was by far the hardest day. This was because I did my workouts saddled with the fatigue from the previous two days and because running is very demanding on the body. I did the following two runs yesterday.
- 2 hour negative split run plus 15 minutes cool down. The goal of this run was to increase my run pace every 15 minutes, starting slowly and ending faster than my half ironman race pace.
- 45 minute easy pace run
As you can imagine by looking at the chart in the photo above, I was ecstatic with my negative split run. My execution was excellent and even though I have blocked out the actual paces, I can tell you that I ended up with a pace much faster than expected. The run went so well, that it included my second fastest half marathon of the year (only my PR virtual race in March was quicker). I also covered the last 5km in my third fastest time of the year.
Negative split runs are so valuable. They help you prepare for racing this way and as I have written before, negative splitting a race is key to fast times.
After my first run, my legs felt very fatigued, so I was not looking forward to my easy pace run, several hours later. My intuition proved correct. The first mile of that second run was VERY painful. My muscles were sore and stiff. I kept going however, and gradually the pain eased up and the running became easier. I actually ended up negative splitting my easy run too, although my paces were a lot slower!!
So that was my big run day. A really tough day, but one where I emerged very happy and very confident that my training for Ironman Chattanooga has gone well.
