Running With Jack

Last night was a cool 21C/70F, with dark thunderstorm clouds floating in as I suited up and headed out the door. I ran my 14K/8.7M run, tried to keep a reasonable pace, a bit faster than 'recovery speed' but not too fast either. I guess I kind of let my legs decide. As I came out of the forest (see the link on the right for my '14K running route') the wind was picking up and running became more challenging has I headed directly into this madness. I figured I’d get soaked about anytime then. I heard the thunder in the distance and could just picture myself getting zapped as I ran across the open fields towards home. I guess this helped motivate my pace, I finished in 1:21:00, which is an average pace of about 5:47/K (9:19/M). As I ran the first 10K at a much slower pace this means I probably ran the last 4K in around 5:00/K (8:00/M). I made it home just as the first large drops of rain started coming down. Two minutes later we had a downpour, with marble sized hail, the whole works!

Summary of Last Night’s Training:

Warm-up;
1 set 15 push-ups, 1 set 25 sit-ups;
Approx. 14K/8.7M run; total time 1:21:00 long run.
1 set 15 push-ups, 1 set 25 sit-ups;
Cool down.
Conditions: 06:35; 21C/70F, hazy, humid!
Feeling after training: Good.

Other Ramblings:

I was looking over the route that the Tour de France takes through our area, I think it will be almost impossible to try to get close enough for pictures. The newspapers are reporting that several hundred thousand spectators are expected, more than a hundred thousand at the finish line for the day. Based on the expected schedule, with luck a spectator can expect to see the lead participants for about 1-2 seconds and all of the participants will probably be through in a few short minutes. Traffic is expected to be disrupted for hours, including public transportation. Hmm, I am strongly considering staying home and painting my garage door. Am I a party-pooper or what?