Sunday, March 02, 2008

A long run and fall marathon plans

Absolutely beautiful day. A chilly but comfortable -2C with a little bit of wind. The sky is only spotted with clouds so it's sunny and nice. A good portion of my 16 miler (26K) route today was covered in snow so I was forced to run on the side of the road and about 5 miles in the snow/ice in the Beaches. But it was great. Actually, fantastic.

I wore three layers (silk base, a fleece/polypro top and a wind vest), a hat, tights and a baseball cap with shades. Also for once I brought my fuel belt and tried a pack of that GU sports drink (they gave out samples in DC last fall). Not bad tasting and glad I had the water to hydrate with. Also took out my iPod Shuffle loaded three episodes of This American Life. Yes, I don't often run with music but it's been my saviour this winter to get my mind focused on other things.

Started off with about a 8:29 mile pace, slowing during the snow runs but sped it up to 8 and sub-8 for the last four miles. Total run, 16.16 miles done in 2:18:27 with average pace of 8:34 miles or 5:19 kilometres.

Also, this morning I signed up for the ING New York Marathon lottery. Might as well start entering since I don't know how many tries it'll be. For my for-sure marathon, I have it narrowed down to a Toronto one or, more likely, the Marine Corps Marathon.

Well, that's for later, for now it's the Flying Pig Marathon that's coming up quick!

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