Back to racing. Once again a 10k to try out the legs and see how my left achilles tendon holds with some more serious effort. I have been doing eccentric loading of the tendon (Alfredson Protocol) and some less run training complementing with static bike training. The past week I changed back to one day rest after each training and today wanted to see where I am at. The goal was to go easy, and if possible finish in about 45 minutes, similar to the past 2 10k's.
Is was a nice, sunny sunday morning. The start was early, at 8h30, but to avoid running in warm conditions the was actually a good hour. End last week finally temperatures had dropped a little and this morning it was not too warm or humid, though after warming up it certainly was not cold either. I started really easy, trying to navigate safely in the criss-cross of runners since this is one of the more crowded races. I was suprised to see the first kilometer went in under 4m30 pace, since it felt slower, and the second kilometer which has a slight uphill was similar, after on the 5k marker it is flat and somewhat downhill and halfway I pass in 21m52. The next kilometer I struggled and went somewhat slower than 4m30 pace, but afterwards I could pick it up again and more or less maintain that pace. After about 8k I started feeling the tendon a bit so I just maintained pace without sprinting in the end and finished in 44m38 which I am very happy with. Next race will be back to the mountains again!!
