Short Run @ MR25 5km Course

After my project meeting in the afternoon, I decided to have a short run at MacRitchie. With the new project having started, I am already feeling tired from the thought that I may not have much time for running at flexible hours anymore. I wanted to go for a good run to sweat it out, and clear my mind a bit.

I drove to MacRitchie at about 5pm, put on my Polar (this will be my first time measuring heart rate for a short run), did a little bit of warm up, and proceeded to tackle the MR25 5KM Course. For short runs like 5KM, it is important to do proper warm up to get the engines revving and sufficiently warm. However, I was anxious to get started and didn't want to spend to much time doing warm up.

Off I went at a good pace, legs feeling a little wobbly (still not fully recoved from yesterday's long run). I remember hitting the 2km marker in 3min+, and the first slope/opening in 6min+, and the second slope/opening in 8in+. This is slightly faster than my normal times for this course, as I would normally be hitting those milestones in 4min+ and 9min+. I went on to reach the 3.5km marker in 10:40min, and finished the small loop around by 12:34min. Pretty fast times.

On the return leg, my breathing was heavy, and I was feeling a little tired on the back. I was running pretty hard, not to lose the good progess I have made in the first half of the run. From the average HR of 163bpm, it seems that I was running at about 75% MaxHR, not really pushing that hard from the HR point of view. However, it is always my legs that slow me down.

I tried to put to test something I've picked up from Chi Running, a running book I am currently reading, which applies the principles of Tai Chi to good running form. I was trying to have a good lean forward, and pressing my legs backwards instead of lifting too high and forward. It seemed to be quite effective in gaining speed, and also less tiring...Hmmm..I must try it again next time.

The weather was a little dry, but the trail today was pretty quiet, though there were still the various groups of students doing their X-Country training. I reached back in my fastest time yet on the course of 23:15min. I hope to improve on this further in following months to sub 23min for this course, which will make me a 'DEER' in MR25 categorization.

Distance Ran:5km XC___Time:23min15sec___Pace:4:39min/km
Average HR:163bpm___Max HR:174bpm___KCal:334KCal