Picking up the pace...

Last night I an hour late coming home from work, so the sun had already crawled behind the trees for a rest. The weather was much friendlier compared to the past weekend, 7C/45F, the snow was gone, the wind was still – I wasted no time suiting up and running out the door.

I was fresh and well rested from a week of tapering for a 50K race that ended up as a 25K long run. I quickly picked up the pace to around 5:15/K (8:27/M), but despite the creeping darkness kept picking up the pace as I completed my loop. I finished the first 10K in 50:53 (5:05/K or 8:11/M average pace), slowed down a bit to get through a muddy stretch, then sprinted ahead completing a kilometer of asphalt in 4:40 (7:31/M). I then slowed down a bit and took the last ~2K at a relatively leisurely pace. My average pace for the 14K/8.7M run: 5:10/K (8:20/M), quite acceptable for this old grandpa!

My next major race is a marathon on March 11th, I want to try to get in at least three 20+ mile long runs before the race. The marathon course is flat and run on mostly asphalt roads so my training will reflect this. I am really not setting any specific goals for the marathon, if the weather is good I'll shoot for a PR, if not than I'll just do the best I can.