I had a couple of goals for tonight’s run. I wanted to improve the time on my first km and tighten up the overall pace a bit. When I got into the final km, I created a third goal: beat the fountain. In my previous run I had finished a little ways past it but this time it seemed possible to finish before reaching it.
And I did. Woo. Plus there was only one bee again and this time it was down low so I didn’t have to shush it away when I went to get a post-run drink.
However, there were four soccer balls kicked into my path during the run. You’ll never get to the World Cup with that kind of ball control, guys! The guy on the scooter with the dog in tow also made a re-appearance. For awhile it felt like the jogging version of Groundhog Day.
There were two baseball games underway when I arrived but both wrapped up in the first 15 minutes or so. At one diamond they later resumed with some ad hoc baseball-ish game using a large plastic ball (the kind you kick around). It was a bit weird but everyone was very excited about playing. Almost too excited, if you know what I mean.
Speaking of which, for three laps a couple of guys were parked near the path smoking those funny cigarettes. It was a bit distracting.
For the run itself, it was 18ºC, with a mild breeze and the sun low enough to not be an issue. Yesterday we had winds gusting up to 70 km/h so there were a few branches on the path but nothing that couldn’t be easily navigated around.
My first lap time was a much better 5:10 and I had another strong, consistent finish. In fact, my 9th and 10th km times were identical. My overall pace was 5:30, a seven second improvement over the previous 10K. Overall I’m pleased with the progress.
Chart:
| Distance | July 13th | July 11th | July 5th |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 km | 5:10 | 5:15 | 5:10 |
| 2 km | 5:14 | 5:20 | 5:13 |
| 3 km | 5:18 | 5:24 | 5:14 |
| 4 km | 5:21 | 5:27 | 5:18 |
| 5 km | 5:23 | 5:29 | 5:21 |
| 6 km | 5:25 | 5:31 | 5:24 |
| 7 km | 5:26 | 5:33 | 5:27 |
| 8 km | 5:29 | 5:35 | 5:30 |
| 9 km | 5:30 | 5:36 | 5:33 |
| 10 km | 5:30 | 5:37 | 5:34 |
