The conditions for today’s run were pretty much ideal for February. It was sunny and mild, again hitting around 10ºC. I went out in t-shirt and shorts and while the breeze was a bit cool on the walk down, it was about perfect one I started running.
Today’s theme was dogs. They were everywhere and in all shapes and sizes, ranging from the little yappy kind to the huge barky kind. At one point one of the large dogs decided he needed to evacuate his bowels just as I ran by. The way he squatted looked creepily like a guy (okay, a guy with a tail). I’m not sure what breed this massive black dog was. I want to say Great Dane but I don’t think it was so I’ll just refer to it as Great Dog. Its hips came up almost as high as mine. You need a man-sized shovel to curb that sucker.
On the run itself, I was a bit slower off the start possibly due to a subconscious effort to properly pace myself but I kept rolling along after and ended with my second best 10k time to date — a 5:25/km average.
One of the things I’ve noticed in my runs is that stamina is not an issue. I rarely find myself gasping for breath unless I’m pushing really hard, so the limiting factor is how my legs feel. Typically after the first few km as my legs tire my pace shortens, with the expected result of longer times. Today and on other ‘good run’ days I make an effort to keep my stride open when my legs start to tire. I find this doesn’t really cause the legs to be more tired or sore but does have the benefit of keeping my times up. This is most evident in today’s run where there is only a one second difference in my 8, 9 and 10k points.
I’m very much encouraged by today’s effort. Apart from a minor bit of cramping at 3k that went away quickly, I felt good throughout. Here’s hoping I can maintain the pace.
Trivia: the Nike+ site says I have run just slightly under 340 km since it began tracking back in September 2009. Not bad.
Results:
Total distance: 10.02 km (previous: 10.02 km)
Average time/km: 5:25/km (previous: 5:31/km)
Best time/km: 5:03/km (previous: 5:01/km)