Excellent 12 miles

St Croix Valley Rec Ctr (Stillwater
Bubble).  Skating, soccer, & more.

We went to the Stillwater Bubble, where we can run either way around the loop.  For me this is a semi-long run, and I did a run/walk of about four to one, looking for a pace of about 10 minutes per mile.  It worked - the average pace was 10:08 for 12 miles.  This is a Boston-qualifying pace for a man my age if I could keep it going.  And I could have kept going, actually, but not for another 14 miles I’m sure.

Whining: The right hip flexors spoke up in the last mile or two, but this is not likely to be a problem.  In fact, history says that the hip flexors will probably not be a problem in the marathon if they do yell a little during the long training runs.

This was a great run!  I was very tired after hours of snow clearing and other errands yesterday, but today I felt fully recharged.  I changed direction every mile, took water every two miles, and downed a Clif Shot Mocha gel (w caffeine) at miles 4 and 8.

Splits: 20:31 (2 mi), 10:01, 10:02, 9:59, 10:14, 20:16 (2 mi), 10:01, 10:17, 10:07, 10:09, total 2:01:39, average pace 10:08.