I am now in serious training mode for my upcoming Half Marathon, so there's no photos of yesterday's run. But it was a great one--not horrifically fast (about 10:54 mile pace, I think), but a good, solid, steady-state run.
The neat thing about most runners is that they support one another. All goals, small or big, fast or slow, long or short, receive kudos and encouragement. Sometimes that's in word, and sometimes it's in deeds -- like yesterday when the 63-year-old secretary of the running club ran 6 of my 9-mile-run alongside me. In the past I've done my long runs in segments -- run 20 minutes, walked one; run twenty, walked one . . . I just haven't been able to settle into a proper long, slow distance pace. But yesterday, with Butch pacing me, I did it -- I only stopped twice, once to remove my jacket and the second to suck a gel.
And with that pace locked into my head, I was able to maintain that first 6 mile pace, once I headed on alone to finish my run.
I also received encouragement in words from my virtual running partner, who is still slogging away in snow, ice and cold in upstate New York. After hearing my 9-mile story, he said he thinks that I have improved so much that I'll now beat him in Charlottesville, although he hasn't been timing his runs so he's not real sure about that. What I know, however, from experience, is that all his training in snow and cold is paying off more than he knows. He may be slow right now, but get him down here in warmer weather and dry ground, and he'd be amazed at just how many dividends he's earned through his winter runs.
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