Slow build is tough when max and min speeds are close together

Thursday evening was a nice night for a walk, and there are only so many of those left, so we did a nice 40 minutes around the neighbourhood. I didn't even have to wear a jacket.

Today was the first time I'd done a run then a swim. Started with a short spin to help wake up my legs, with a bit of stretching. Then out for a 35 minute run, starting easy and gradually building, with the last 5 min being nice and easy. The problem is that I can easily walk 6 Kph, or perhaps a little faster, but I can't run as fast as 10 Kph for any length of time. Without a Garmin it's difficult to know your pace. So I started easy, then picked the pace up to what I thought I could hold for 10 K, then for the last 10 minutes essentially ran as fast as my legs and lungs would let me. No idea what those paces actually worked out to. Sometimes the effort goes up, but the speed doesn't. I'm sure glad I only wore tights and a long sleeve tech shirt because the sun came out and it got nice during the run. Maybe 5C or so.

It worked out better than I thought it would. My legs felt good, with light feet throughout. I played with my forward lean a bit and tried to run relaxed. My heart rate got up to 155 yet I still wasn't gasping or panting. I maybe could have kept that pace up for a bit longer. By the 30 minute mark was 4.8 K, which is a 6:15 per K pace. That's the fastest I've ever run over that sort of distance. For the metrically challenged, that's a 10 minute mile. 

Then I drove to the pool and found myself in kid hell. There was a zillion little kids in the change room. How you parents keep from strangling the little monsters is beyond me. The pool was almost empty at first, but gradually filled up to where I ended up sharing the lane with a slow breast stroker. Since I knew I'd be doing some of that I didn't give her a hard time. 1600 m with much drill, and some flip turn practice took up an hour. Fist and catchup is fun, but the 123 pause took a bit of figuring out to get the breathing right. Plus doing breast stroke. I'm not good at it, but it sure gives my hams a workout; 50 m is enough to start them cramping. Not my fave stroke at all. 

Afterward I was surprised at how good my legs feel. The run on Wed left me a bit stiff, and I thought I'd over done it a bit. But they were good to go this morning, and after the swim felt great. I got that number, for the first time in a while. Not much change in it, but my waist is getting smaller. That's all good.