I have a 10k race tomorrow and so would normally have rested for several days before to ensure my legs are 100%.
However… Steve (Doc) at Purbeck Runner swears by a stretch of the legs the day before a race and often does a slower tempo Parkrun the day before, so as an experiment (and to try out my new Newton MV3s properly!) I did a 5k Parkrun today.
Aiming to do it about a minute slower than full speed, we started at 4min k’s, but the Newtons wouldn’t let me go that slow for very long! They’re like running barefoot, on seesaws tipping you forward, begging you to speed up!
Finishing time was 19:47 which is about a minute slower than my PB. We’ll see tomorrow whether running today had a positive or negative effect on my 10k time.
**UPDATE**
So I did Parkrun yesterday and then did the 10k today. When I did the Parkrun I was raring to go and full of energy, hence doing it a lot faster than I intended. I did spend the rest of yesterday on my feet and when I woke up this morning, my legs felt like lead. I thought ‘oh no, I’ve ruined my legs for the race!’
I actually noticed that I got ‘in’ to the race a lot quicker than usual. Often it takes a good 1-2k for my body to realise ‘ah, you’re doing this running thing again are you, ok…’ But I was able to start quite fast. I ran the first 5k quicker than I run Parkrun sometimes, in 19:06. It was only towards the end, in the heat that my legs began to fail me…
Next Training
10k at Poole Festival of Running tomorrow.
Interesting, I really want to know how that works out for you.
I updated the post with how it worked out! A mixed bag… got in to my race legs a lot quicker than usual but did have slightly tired legs.