As has been the usual case recently on Saturday mornings, I got up early and headed out to Gainesville's Depot Park for their weekly free (and volunteer-run) 5K (3.1 miles) event. Already considering doing another purely speed-walking stint, my decision was solidified by the warm (73 degrees) and very humid (97%) conditions at 7:30 race time, with a blanket of clouds rolling in to replace the clear sky at sunrise. As I walked the four-lap asphalt & concrete pathway looping through the pretty nature park...loaded with egrets, red-winged blackbirds and grackles (not to mention a resident gator and turtle in the center pond)...I was intent on pushing myself harder in a cardiovascular sense than with the previous time I had walked this Parkrun. Still, although my clothes were thoroughly drenched with sweat at the end, I was hardly at a loss for breath or energy and finished with another 5K personal best (for walking, that is) of 38:58. During the recent few weeks I have employed a new strategy of training whereby my gym visits consist of alternating treadmill walks and runs at my maximum sustainable speeds. If I get to a mile covered at a particular speed, then the next time I go for the next higher tenth of a mile-per-hour. Last night I tried it and completed a mile running at 7.5 mph and a mile walking at 5.5 mph...next time I'll see if I can't go for at least a tenth of a mile at 7.6 and 5.6 each. I think this has sharpened both my running and walking form...especially so with the latter. I also think that I have the greater capacity for improvement with speed-walking as opposed to running and that, at my age of 67, it also represents more of my future. Not that I won't run the next race, though. Click HERE to see today's results...
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