10:1 (x4)

Woke up to rain so went back to sleep. Fortunately when I woke up again at 8:30 am, it was now cloudy. After walking and feeding Bud his breakfast, I took the risk of a morning run, hoping the weather would continue to cooperate - and it did! Got in 10:1 (x4), 6.67 K, 6:36 min/K, with average heart beat of 154 bpm. Run was through the community at a conservative pace as I didn't want to injury myself. I must remind myself for a rest day tomorrow - with a week off from work (summer school starts next week!). LSD hopefully on Saturday. Continue to feel great during the runs.

YTD = 535.65 K

Re-read the July 2008 issue of Runner's World. There's an article, "Fast Forward" that talks about progression runs -- i.e., start slowly, gradually get faster, and wrap up at a fast pace. In iRun magazine (August 2008), one of the "50 Ways to Leave Your Training Rut" is the progression run:

"By incorporating fast finishes into the last phase of your training build-up, winding up so that the last quater of your long run is done at race pace or slightly faster. If you do all your long runs slowly, your body wont know what to do come race day. Fast-finish long runs prepare you for what it feel like to push on tired legs."

I'm thrilled to realize that I've been doing progression runs without knowing it. My runs begin slowly since that's my warm-up (since I don't stretch). Also, I don't think I can run fast at the beginning. As the run continues, the pacing just seems to increase automatically, eventually reaching a faster pace. What I did at the HBC 10K at the end was like what I did in the Mississauga half marathon -- it was fast race pace at the end. I always seem to have so much left over at the end that it does make me wonder if I've been too conservative in the first 1/2 of the race.