Making Some Progress

We just got back from a weekend in Cincinnati, Ohio for the first Clinic of Excellence. It went so well! It was sold out so I was flown out to assist Tim and Jeff. It was soooo HOT and HUMID there! Living in San Diego, you dont get much of that so it was a bit of a shock to the system. It made training a little interesting. I had to stop my workout on Saturday because I thought it wasnt worth putting my body through the rough conditions. Whenever I help with the clinics, my training is definitely not the main priority but its worth the break because I really enjoying meeting new racewalkers and learning about them and watching them make improvements.

Training has continued to go well. I am feeling pretty good these days other than still having problems with my left hamstring but I know how to deal with that now so it doesnt disturb my training. Today I did a speed workout of 5km, 4km, 3km, 2km and 1km all with either 3mins or 2mins rest. I had done this workout on May 8th so it was nice to have something to compare it to. My body felt really good in the warm up but my heart rate was really high. My heart rate was high yesterday also but I know that it is because of the long days outside in the 90+ degree weather and getting home late on Sunday night (1:30am) from our flight. Here were my times:

5km: 25:00 (2.3 Lactate)

4km: 19:44 (1.4 Lactate)

3km: 14:35

2km: 9:32

1km: 4:39

Once I got past the 5km and the 4km it was hard to get myself going a little faster. My hip also made it hard with the stopping for the rest (unlike fartleks) so it was even harder to get up to speed. My times for the most part were very comparable to last time I did this workout but I know that my body was more tired than last time because of the weekend. My 1km was where I wanted it to be. Last time Tim really pushed me the last 1km and it was too fast so this time it was just right. I am very happy with the workout. Its showing good promise for my race in 2.5 weeks.

Now ill be home for another 10 days until I leave to go to Toronto for my Nationals. If anyone is interested in going to a clinic in Toronto, we will be hosting one there on the weekend of August 14-15th. You can find more information here.

Keep on walking,

Rachel