Day 4: Tempo Run ✨
After an unusually good night’s sleep without any interruptions, I woke up feeling, if not exactly refreshed, then at least not completely exhausted, which is progress. Today, I decided to incorporate a tempo run based on yesterday’s thoughts about adding more variety to my training intensity and pace.
For this run, I went with one of Garmin's pre-made workouts: a 40-minute session with a 10-minute warm-up at my usual 6-minute per kilometer pace, followed by a 20-minute tempo at a target pace of 4:55/km and a 10 min cool down.
Stats for Today:
- Total Distance: 7.59 kilometers
- Average Pace: 5 minutes and 17 seconds per kilometer
- Total Time: 39 minutes and 54 seconds
- Average Heart Rate: 155 bpm
- Endurance Score: 5909
- Sleep Score: 85 (7 hours and 19 minutes of total sleep)
Most of the run was spent focusing on maintaining that tempo, which felt challenging but good. Sometimes, it is nice just to have a pace to focus on and nothing else.
Interestingly, Garmin threw up a message post-run, suggesting I might want to rest tomorrow—though I plan to stick with the daily runs and maybe just take it easy for tomorrow. The tempo run was a refreshing change, and I felt strong overall. It’s clear, though, that adapting to higher paces will take time. I’m curious to see if I can get more comfortable at faster speeds, maybe even setting a new 5K PR in the near future as a short-term goal.
Another quick thought for today: Garmin’s endurance score. While it feels a bit redundant with VO2 max (which measures aerobic capacity in similar ways), I’m tracking it for the challenge just to see where it goes. I may dig around on Reddit or elsewhere to see how I compare to other amateur runners for fun.
So, that’s it for today. Tomorrow will likely be an easier run, with some stretching thrown in later. I’m feeling strong and am pleased that, so far, there’s no sign of injury or soreness. Day 4 done!
