Friday

19 laps, 2:1 lap run/walk ratio, 32:14 minutes

I started a bit late this morning, but got out there by 9:30. It was getting a bit hot, but was still okay. I decided to try speeding up my walk intervals, and found that I could do a lap in 1:45–1:50 minutes if I pushed myself, which is barely any slower than my slower running intervals! Since, at my long run 2:3 minute run/walk ratio, I'm walking more than I'm running—two thirds of the time, in fact—it would really help my overall time if I could walk faster. I figured that, if I can save 10–15 seconds per two minutes of walking, and I'm walking two-thirds of a marathon, or about 5 hours, I could shorten my overall time by 25–30 minutes or more. That's well worth working on. Today's time proves it, as I was running my usual 1:30–1:40 minute laps. I cut at least a minute off my usual two-mile time just by pushing my walking speed.

On my last three run intervals, I stopped running short of two laps, because my walk intervals were being shortened too much—I was only getting about 1.75 minutes of walking per over three minutes running, and it was tiring me out. It will be interesting to see how it works over a long run, with my 2:3 minute run/walk ratio.

I should also see if I can google some information on race-walking, and see if I can get some tips on form for walking faster and more efficiently.