Taking Advantage of a Time Trial

Last Saturday was the end of my 10K training block. I was supposed to run a 10K race or time trial. While the energy of a race combined with chip timing is fun, there were no affordable 10K races nearby last weekend. I opted for the time trial, and I am glad I did.

Saturday was not the day for my best PB. The training volume for the last week was reduced. My recovery run on the day before my time trial felt good. During my 8K time trial two weeks ago, I went out too fast. I was much better with my pace at the start this time. Around the second mile, my legs felt heavy. I was running into difficulty fine-tuning my pace. I could not find a steady state to hit my splits. I kept slowing down and speeding up each tenth of a mile. In the middle of the third mile, I decided to try my attempt another day. I made the time trial into a 5K and picked up the pace for the last portion to make it more of a 3-mile pace run.

Looking back, I should have fueled better the day before and the morning of the time trial. While Friday’s recovery run felt good, I should have taken it a little easier. However, I am glad I did not have a race last weekend. The time trial lets me pick the day and time of my next PB. It doesn’t have the excitement of a race, but in this case, I’m glad to set my own schedule.

How has your week of running/exercising gone? I would like to read about it in the comments below.

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