Saturday, September 30, 2017

Testing

Today's 10-miler was sort of a test. The temperature was 63 degrees at the start, a marked difference from last Saturday's run. I used the run/walk timer on my GPS, deciding to run at whatever felt comfortable. I thought a test like this on a "shorter" run on a day that might be more like race day would be a good thing. It turned out pretty well.

The first mile was slow, but as opposed to more recent runs with higher humidity I didn't start sweating until the one-mile mark. Usually it's a half-mile in when that happens. After that my miles, including the one-minute walk, averaged 10 minutes/mile or even 9:45/mile. At the end of it all my average was right at 10 minutes/mile. I never felt like I was going too fast during the intervals. The question will be whether or not this is sustainable over a full 26.2 miles.

Once again there was a race along my normal route. I saw some people at a couple of the turns, including a water station at the turn-around for what looked like a 5k. I never saw any runners, and thought the volunteers were setting up. Either the race already took place and I was coming in at the very end, or it all occurred during my out-and-back. At the water station they gave me a cup of water, where I asked if I was winning. They assured me I was. No idea what race it was, but on my back all traces of it were gone. Maybe it was just an elaborate prank.

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