100%

1.5kg. That is what my run cost me this morning. I can't remember sweating like that since I left Darwin. Proper, ringing, dripping wet. It wasn't so much that it was warm, it was more due to the fact that it was about 100% humidity. It just crushed me. I am still working on getting hydrated again eight hours later. Good practice though, given that I am heading up to the Philippines to race in a bit over a week.

The run this morning went alright. Not stellar, but I am happy enough with it. It was a very tough session even without the humidity, 5 x 3km efforts. The first three efforts went well enough, on target etc, but I missed my target pace by a little bit on the 4th one, and then missed it by a lot on the fifth. Part of that can be blamed on the conditions I think, but I also didn't pace the efforts that well, doing the first two too quickly and then starting too hurt on the last ones. On top of all that, it is just a plain tough session anyway.

I have done similar session before, and they have gone much better before too. However, in the past the session has been three or four efforts. I have never done a set of 5 x 3km efforts before. That extra one really hurts. It was very nice to get through a 19km run session though. Good to get some miles.

Whilst I missed my targets, I am not reading too much into it. As I have said the conditions were tough and so was the session. The philosophy I take with sessions like this is that I may have missed my targets, but by being out there and working hard I am still making gains. The only negative to a session like that would be if I gave up and went home because I missed those goals. By staying out there and persevering, there are only upsides to this kind of session. If there a secret to getting quicker, that is about it. Not some secret silver bullet, or a new bit of kit. Just get out there and do the work. Nothing gets in the way of improvement like an excuse.

I have a similar run tomorrow afternoon and as well as nicer conditions, I am planning on trying to pace it a bit smarter. Just have a little bit of a ride to get through first.