Today I got up at 5:15 am to do a long, easy 12 miles. I completed my route (which was actually 11.94 miles/19.21 km) in 2:14:21. I kept it really easy - heart rate was an average of 132 (and my max is 191, so that's 69% of max) and my average pace was 7 min/km. When I finished, I felt like I could have gone much farther, no problem. If I ever do a marathon, I might shoot for that pace.
Of course, I am training for a HALF marathon, so I do plan to go much faster than that on race day (hey, 2 weeks from today!). I hope to do a 10:30 mile (6:30/km) for the race, to finish in 2:17 or less. We'll see. My previous PB is 2:20:35, but I did that in April only one week after I attended Dave's racewalking clinic (i.e., only 1 week after I learned to racewalk, since before that I was fitness walking, even though I was trying to racewalk). I have improved my technique and my fitness level a lot since then, so I don't think it's too ambitious to think that I could chop 4 minutes off of my time.
I'm feeling really great physically, except for some minor discomfort in my left leg, which flared up a lot after my 10 miler last Sunday morning. I stretched a lot today and am taking anti-inflammatories, so I hope that I won't have any trouble with it this time. So far, so good.
While out walking today, I "ran" into a couple friends in Liberty Park. I saw 2 racewalkers while heading down the west side of the park, and I thought "Racewalkers! I'm sure I must know them!". Sure enough, it was Nancy and Kat, who were just starting their morning workout (I was 1 hr 55 min into mine and almost done - had to start early to make it to church and to get home to help Loren w/the kiddos). We chatted for a couple of minutes about our various minor aches and pains and then I was on my way again, refreshed for having run into them.
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