Monday April 13

Day 3 of my U.S. running and today I was in for a tough one - 50 minutes of tempo, supposed to be at 5.15 pace. I headed on the same run as yesterday, beginning with a 10 minute warm up before beginning the tempo session. It felt pretty tough the first couple of KM, but I settled into it (or at least I wouldn't allow myself to give up) and managed a pretty good session, in fact a lot faster than 5.15 min pace. Around 3 of the 10km of my tempo were at 5.15 pace, the rest were significantly faster (one even sub 5 minute) - now why couldn't I do that at the Bridges! It was a tough session and I had one quick breather after 43 minutes (I'll push through the next one definitely) but I was really happy with the outcome. It was another cold morning - 1C though the apparent temperature was -3C! I rugged up a bit, but a lot less than the local runners seem to - just a long sleeve running top, running tights a hat and gloves, not the multi layers and jackets I saw out there. It's tough when you begin, but after 10 minutes I was very glad not to have so many layers and in fact halfway into the tempo I was wishing I had less. I've discovered a strange American phenomenon - the jogger. It's not something we see too much of in Perth; mostly people run or walk. Here many, many people are out there jogging at a pace that's barely faster than a walk, but good for them for making the effort. It's just a short step from jogging to running, after all.