More Like It!

Temperatures were in the low- to mid-sixties again this morning, as the Saint Croix Valley Runners gathered 16-strong to enjoy a comfortable morning run.  I decided to run the whole 5 miles, if I could, with no walking, but slowly, with a goal of finishing last.  It worked, too.  I ran all but perhaps 100 yards while we waited for one of us to pry a rock out of a shoe, and I didn’t even finish last.  Quite.

Four of us ran the "alternate" route, a.k.a. "Wayne’s route", which I prefer because it avoids Manning Avenue with its high-speed and high-volume traffic.  Time 50:03, distance 5.0 miles, pace 10:01.  It would have been slightly under 10 if that naughty rock had not jammed itself into the tread of a shoe.

This is the farthest I’ve run without walking (except briefly for the shoe) in a very long time.  I’d have to go way back in the logs to find another time.  It’s a hilly route, too.  I felt OK, but breathing was fast, indicating that I was working pretty hard even though the pace was quite modest.  Usually I can cruise at a breathing rate of one full breath every four footfalls, though it may increase to one breath every three footfalls toward the end of a race.  On this run it was one-per-three almost the whole way.  This will improve as I train more.

Whining: None!

Gluten-free Sunshine-made meat loaf with lots of organic trimmings