My 10K runs are getting faster without me trying

There are a lot of cliches out there about practice making perfect and the more you do of something the easier it becomes but for me lately, I haven't actually been actively trying to do better, it is just kind of happening, which is a strange sensation for me seeing as how when I spent the last 20 years weightlifting I was always recording my progress in a notebook and always pressing for just a bit more. I was no stranger to the 1.25kg weights that just look a bit silly next to the others, but that is a sure way to make just a bit of progress.

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But unlike with weight lifting, my only real objective when I go out and run a 10k is to run a 10k. I am not really paying any attention to how fast I am moving, I'm not micromanaging my pace and the only thing I do is on occasion I will look at my watch and look to make sure that my heart rate is in a certain range that I have determined is my "sweet spot"

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Perhaps it is the cold, which on many days almost convinces that little "quit" voice in my head to convince me to not go, but I do go. In the cold I find continuing to run a lot less difficult and if anything it encourages me to keep going because if you stop running you are going to get cold really fast

Now to be honest, this is a bit faster than I would normally care to go as far as my heart rate is concerned, but like i said, I am not constantly monitoring it. I could set alarms if I wanted to, but for the most part I simply try to stay in the top end of zone 3 or the bottom end of zone 4 as far as BPM is concerned. This is a bit around the lower middle portion of zone 4 which is a bit higher than I want to be but I was feeling good and wasn't out of breath or feeling muscle fatigue so I just went with it. I actually wasn't really all that aware that i was out of the zone I had intended until later because I am focusing on my surroundings and not running into people more than I am my stats.

I felt find, so I kept going .

This is only a teensy bit better than my last time and just like usual, I made my last km my fastest for two reasons. At the "finish line" there are people at the pub near my house that I know that might see me, and also because I like to finish strong.

This is only about 3 minutes faster than the last 10k that I did but to me at least, this is one hell of an accomplishment and makes me kind of excited about how much better I'll be if I keep on this trajectory.

There only one looming problem though that I hope is temporary. I have started to have lower back problems. They are kind of nagging lower back problems almost feeling spinal.

I read that running put a strain on your lower back even if you use good technique, so I am going to go get some medical advice about this.

Hopefully I just slept a bit funny and it is only muscular. Finding out it was some sort of spinal thing could be a real downer.