The last week of running was pretty satisfactory effort. It was very different from the way I used to practice before, which was basically do short runs in the week, and long runs over the weekends, all at the same pace. But now that I have a visible time goal, I am doing all that is required to meet that goal, tempo runs, pace runs, repeats, and road racing.
The last week was 3rd of my 12 weeks towards Bangalore Marathon. Mid-week, I went to the JN Stadium to do the 6*400 repeats at a 2 min pace, and its was a very good feeling to be running on the track. In fact, it was the first time in my life that I ran on a proper track. And I felt pretty comfortable doing a lap in 2 mins.
Over the weekend, I went to run a 5K road race at the National Stadium. This race is run every Sunday, and fitted well in my schedule. There are not too many participants, but you have accurate distance measurements, and thats what I needed. I had this target of running the 5K in 25 mins, i.e. the same pace as the 400 meter repeats! and I knew that it would be difficult to achieve. I was able to finish the race in 26:36, and I was pretty happy with that time. Maybe a couple of 5K’s more, and I would be within 25 mins.
The only concern at this point is my left knee and right leg. I guess my left knee is not completely in shape since the Mumbai marathon, and I feel it before the race, but once I get going, that hollowness in the knee disappears. The right leg seems to be having problem with shin-splints. I have this problem on and off since I started running about 6 months back, and it has always affected my right leg. I have’nt done anything about it till now, but I guess I will have to do something so that this does not cause more problems.