I decided to do another time trial around Centennial Park today. It’s been more than three weeks since the last one. On that occasion I ran the 3.85 km in 15:11. I have managed the occasional session of speed work since, so I wanted to see what effect it has had.

Today I was a whopping two seconds faster than last time, coming in at 15:09. It seems that you can’t get faster by training slower. I knew that anyway, but it was reinforced today. At least I ran the last 800 metres today in 3:09, which was eight seconds faster than last time. My overall pace was still essentially 3:57 per km. I’ll just have to work harder if I want to run faster.

It’s a bit demoralizing, as I’d stand no chance of running the City to Surf (as hard a 14 km run as you’re ever likely to encounter in a race) in under an hour, which I’ve never failed to do in the past. In fact, the last time I ran it, in 2009, my time of 54:10 was at a significantly faster pace, hills and all, than the short flattish Centennial Park of today. At least I have a target at which to aim.