fast 20K :)

Finally! A nice fast distance session!

Everything was great today - even the weather cooperated. It was 55F (13C) to start, and 61F (16C) when I finished. It was clear, with just a slight breeze, and really lovely. Fall here can be SO very nice. Of course, it can also snow randomly on you. Hopefully we'll get a few more weeks of nice weather.

I had no GI distress today at all. Zip. Zero. Nada. Now if only I could figure out why today was so good, and other days are so bad. I know that too much fiber is not good, and too much dairy is not good. But I'm thinking now that too much gluten also might be bad. Of course, too much food in general is not good either. Arrrrgh! Too many things to avoid. Seriously, I read somewhere recently (Runner's World?) that this one guy eats nothing but rice the day before a race. I'm thinking that might not be a bad idea!

I did the usual first 5K - 31:04, and was feeling good. I figured I'd tire soon enough; after all, I'd started out fairly sore from the last couple days of racewalking. But I was surprised to get to 10K in 1:02:07 (31:03), and stopped briefly for some jellybeans and water, and to refill my water bottles. My legs did get tired around 12-13K or so, but I was able to keep the pace and they never got heavy and slow like the last couple 20Ks. When I got to 15K in 1:33:10 (31:03) I was quite pleased and decided to push a bit to the finish to see if I could have a nice fast time. My last 5K was the fastest, in 30:59, which should total 2:04:09, but with rounding I guess it's not quite right, because my total was 2:04:06 :). Yay! That's the fastest 20K in a while. Actually, I just looked - it's my fastest 20K of the year besides races, and with really even splits too. Not too shabby at all! I'll take it!

Garmin connect data here.