Owls Count

This could easily be titled: ‘A good run with a friend.’ I am off on holiday in a few days – six days of orienteering in Switzerland – so I did not want to overdo it today. I had a vague plan of starting at nine minute miles and speeding up in the second half if I felt like it.

16:37
I was running with a friend and we started gently – we used the first part of the race as a warm up and slowly moved to a comfortable pace. This was faster than the intended nine minute miles, but it felt good and it felt reasonable.

8:37 and 8:02
I settled in behind a group and my friend went on ahead for a bit. Going through three miles I decided to catch him up and sprinted past a line of people – hence the uneven splits.

8:25, 8:35, 8:19, 8:20, 8:37, 8:29
Six consistent miles. I locked into a pace and ran with my friend. We talked, we overtook a few people and enjoyed the scenery.

8:44, 8:29, 9:05
Just before ten miles my friend sped up. My calf was feeling a bit tight – normally I would have risked speeding up as well, but decided I did not want to risk an injury.

0:41
Sprint finish and a fairly reasonable one at that. Just like a certain Manx cyclist, once I start my finish sprint no one overtakes me.

1:51 for the half marathon. A reasonable time and I feel fairly fine now.
(And, importantly, it puts the memory of blowing up in the heat last year to sleep.)