3 km PR and Questioning My Walk Breaks

It is pouring rain right now and I can hear it pounding down on the canvas on our cockpit enclosure.  The Captain has gone to shore for a shower in our marina's very nice facilities, and he is going to get another one as he walks back down the dock to our boat.  Yikes!

I am pretty excited about our morning run.  It was only 3.0 km, but we did it in 18 minutes, even with a one-minute walk break in the middle.  And that translates to an average pace of 9.6 minutes per mile!  I am thrilled as it has been some time since I have been under the 10 minute mark.

Speed is not my forte; never has been.  And it is not really my goal.  But I have been reading a lot lately about increasing my distance.  I get that I should likely only increase the distance on one run per week, and so I am thinking that to mix it up a bit, I should do some shorter, faster runs, some mid-length normal pace runs, and a longer, slower run.

Does that sound right?

Anyway, today I wanted to run shorter and faster.  So we did.  The Captain is just so wonderfully agreeable.  Not giving a whit about running himself, he comes along to keep me company, encourage me and so is pretty much open to what ever kind of run I choose.

After sharing a cup of coffee and a small banana, we set out.  We did a few hundred yards at a normal pace and then kicked it up a notch, but at the 9 minute point into our run, I still felt that I needed that 1 minute walk break.  Then we ran a bit faster a few more hundred yards, slowed down somewhat, and then ran faster the last couple of hundred yards... my version of intervals today.

I have been taking walk breaks since I first began running many many years ago.  I was taught that this is a good way to help my legs recover from my runs, and I really believe that I would never have completed the half-marathon distance I used to run every Saturday for a few years, without them.  I think the only time I have not taken them is on runs of 2 miles or less.  I even did a walk breaks on the 3 different 5 km events that I have taken part in.

From time to time I have taken walk breaks at 6 minute intervals (on longer runs) and at 14 minute intervals, instead of the 9 minutes... but 9 is so easy to track on my watch.

I would love to know what other people think about walking breaks.  Ever do them in a fun event, or a race?

So my workout today:

W2 R18 @9/1 W2
streeeetch 8 minutes
12 real pushups
35 minute brisk walk before dinner