For today's speed workout, I wanted to see how fast I could walk a measured 1/4 mile. There are 1/4 mile marks along the roads at Griggs Reservoir, so I did the workout there.
After a 1-mile warm up, I walked as fast as I could for eight 1/4 mile speed spurts with a 2-min rest in between. My first lap was 3:03. I got faster until I reached my last "lap" in 2:49 -- which would be the equivalent of an 11:16 mile, if I could keep up that pace for that long. I noticed my feet were starting to slap the ground instead of rolling. As soon as I consciously worked on "rolling" my feet, my pace improved and I had my fastest lap!
Though I was having difficulty moving my legs any faster, my heart rate was not near my max and I felt as if I was not breathing my hardest. When I can get the legs faster, I know my heart and lungs are ready!
In my cool-down mile, the cover of my left Yurbud earbud fell off. (I hate when that happens.) I went back to look for the bright red cover, but had no luck finding it. Ugh! I ended up walking more than a mile at a pretty slow pace for about 22 mins while I searched.
My goal is to get down to a 12-min mile pace for a half marathon. And the only way to get faster is to practice walking faster. If I keep up the speed workouts, I'm sure it will come!
My 1/4-mile laps.
3:03
3:00
2:58
2:52
2:51
2:56
2:59
2:49
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