The Salt Creek Marathon...or not

No, I didn't run 25 (or more!) miles today. I wish. Nope, I did 10. Same path as last week. The bike path I run on is part of a larger system of trails that apparently extend for at least 25 miles. Every time I see this sign I think that all they'd need to do is add 1.2 miles and we could run the Salt Creek Marathon. There would have to be a pretty low cap on the number of runners, though. The path isn't all that wide.

Anyway, I wasn't really looking forward to today's run. The temperatures are more like February than almost-April, it's rather windy, and there was the threat of rain. There's nothing I like less than cold, wind, AND precipitation. However, when I double-checked the radar before heading out I saw that the rain was still considerably south of us. I figured I'd be good for a little while longer.

For once, I actually started out slow. Not as slow as the training plan wanted me to, but slower than normal. And, as usual, my mile times slowly decreased as I went along. The first half of my run was uneventful. The most intriguing sight for those first five miles was the occasional abandoned glove and the lone running shoe sitting along the side of the path. I managed to avoid most of the wind and actually ended up taking off my fleece and mittens and pushing my sleeves up. Until I hit the halfway point, that is.

At mile 5 I stopped to eat my Sports Beans and drink more water. When I turned around for the "back" portion of my out-and-back run, I got hit square in the face with the wind. Back on went the fleece and mittens. The mittens came and went for the rest of the run but the fleece stayed on.

Shortly before hitting mile 8, I came across three deer grazing just off the path.


Click to see the picture bigger. Can you find all three deer?

Also, I decided that I was going to see if I could try something one of the more knowledgeable members of the LiveJournal Runner's Club suggested when training: run the last few miles of your training run at race pace. I still haven't decided what my race pace will be, so I decided to try to run the last few miles as if I was doing a tempo run. As you can see from the data, that worked for a little bit. It was hard, though. I'm still trying to figure out what my pace should be or if I have a goal time for the half itself. My original goal was to do it in under 2:30. Well, unless the wheels totally fall off, that time shouldn't be a problem. So I'm trying to think of a new goal. Any suggestions?

There were a few sprinkles during the last two miles but nothing significant. I'm very happy that I managed to finish my run before the rain showed up.

Overall, it was a good run. I even did it a little bit faster than last week's 10-miler. Neat. Next weekend the plan is to my last long run before the race. It will be 11 (or maybe 12?) miles. I'm really looking forward to it. The current plan is to run it with Lindsay since she's tapering for a marathon the week after my half. It's been a LONG time since I ran with anyone. Should be fun!

Finally, as always, the data I love and that you probably skip right over :-)

Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 623 ft Location: Brookfield, IL Elev. Gain: +0 ft Date: 03/28/09 Up/Downhill: [+236/-236] Time: 12:06 PM Difficulty: 3.6 / 5.0   Weather: Overcast   37 F temp; 72% humidity   37 F heat index; winds NE 20 G 25 Performance Distance: 10.02 miles Time: 1:41:07 Speed: 6.0 mph Pace: 10' 05 /mi Calories: 797 Map   Elevation (ft)   Pace (min/mile)

Posted from bimactive.com